George Clooney was happy to try on both goofy and handsome looks for the Oscars issue of the LA Times Magazine with Viola Davis on the cover, which is out on Sunday. The accompanying article is focused on George the prankster and chronicles everything from friends who have been on the receiving end of his famous cons to what he's careful about when choosing his targets. George recently said he's planning a prank on Brad Pitt that may "end his career." George and Brad are up against each other in the best actor category at the Academy Awards, though when it comes to practical jokes Mr. Clooney is in a league of his own. George revealed his best one ever, which involves a cat litter box, and a time when he backed off something he'd been working on for years. Here are highlights:
- Clooney on his pranks: "Humor only gets me in trouble when I forget that any joke I make will be heard by a lot of people and can be hurtful to someone if I’m not careful. I’m just screwing around...but you realize as you get home that it’s something that would hurt someone’s feelings, and maybe it’s not needed. You have to consider that a little more."
- Jerry Weintraub on one prank from Ocean's Eleven days: "I had a gold silk shirt-a very expensive gold silk shirt-Clooney hated. Once at the Bellagio when we were doing Ocean’s, I was having drinks with the guys, and Clooney sneaked into my closet and stole the shirt. That September, for my birthday, I received a big box wrapped with ribbon-and in it was my gold shirt. On the back, Clooney had drawn a picture in black marker of a giant penis, and he’d had everyone who participated in a charity golf tournament for prostate cancer in Las Vegas sign it, too. There were 30 signatures-Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Wayne Gretzky..."
- Julianna Margulies on an ER era prank with an unnamed man: "He asked George, 'Does my pasta smell funny?' and then pushed the plate into his face. Clooney took it all in stride, but he waited until the guy’s last day [on the production] and placed a license plate frame on his car that said, 'Honk if you like p--y.' The guy thought every-one was honking and waving goodbye to him. [George] was the master-and he had the patience of a Buddhist monk. He can create a joke that will take eight years [to pull off]."
See more pictures of George, Viola Davis, Gary Oldman and more at the LA Times Magazine website here.