George Clooney is voicing his opinions a month after Quentin Tarantino gained notoriety for criticizing actors Paul Dano, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Lillard. At the AARP’s Movies for Grownups Awards on Saturday, Clooney added this remark while winning his best actor prize for “Jay Kelly.”
By the way, Paul Dano, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Lillard, I would be honored to work with those actors. Honored.” “Jay Kelly” was “made by people who love actors — that’s an important part,” he said. “People I’ve known most of my life… actually, most of them are actors. I have a great affinity [for them], and I don’t enjoy watching people be cruel.”
He continued, “We are living in a time of cruelty. We don’t need to be adding to it.”
Tarantino created waves in December 2025 for several allegations against Wilson, Lillard, and Dano. He declared that he doesn’t like Lillard, dubbed Dano “the weakest fucking actor in SAG,” and said he “can’t stand” Wilson. The director also made fun of Clooney back in 2024, saying the actor wasn’t a movie star.
“Quentin said some shit about me recently, so I’m a little irritated by him,” Clooney said to GQ. “He did some interview where he was naming movie stars, and he was talking about [Brad], and somebody else, and then this guy goes, ‘Well, what about George?’ He goes, he’s not a movie star.”
The actor quipped that “the only way I was going to win anything is that Timothée Chalamet is too goddamn young” at the Movies for Grownups Awards. Clooney noted in the same interview that it was a “great time as a young actor,” a claim he probably still holds.
