It’s been 23 years, but George Clooney’s 1997 experience as Batman Batman & Robin he was so scarce, decades later, he apparently tried to jump between Ben Affleck and his big turn as the Dark Knight. In an interview with Howard Stern this week, the actor admitted that, despite his efforts to steer Affleck away from the role, he ultimately “was wrong.”
“I’ve been to both rounds,” said Clooney. “I’ve been a big flop. I’ve been bombarded in things, and I’ve had great successes. That doesn’t mean they are listening. Ben didn’t listen to me, and ended up doing a good job, and I was wrong. ”Laments Clooney,“ But I can only take my wisdom from my experience. I said, ‘Don’t wear shoes on the suit.’ ”
Just in case you thought his critical view of his turn as Batman might have mellowed over time, if anything, Clooney seems to hate it. Batman & Robin now more than ever. “It’s so bad it hurts to watch. It hurts physically. You return the channels, and it comes in and oh no, no, no! ”
“The truth of the matter is, I was bad at it,” said the actor. “Akiva Goldsman, Oscar winner for writing [2001’s A Beautiful Mind] since then, he has written the screenshot. It’s an awesome screenshot. He will tell him. I’m terrible at it. I’ll tell you. Joel Schumacher, who just died, said, ‘Yeah, it didn’t work.’ Clooney said, “We were all whistling at that one.”