George Clooney is coming to the defense of his acting comrades after they faced harsh criticism from director Quentin Tarantino.
Clooney, 64, was named best actor at the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards for his role in Jay Kelly on Saturday, January 10, and took a moment to give a shout-out to Paul Dano, Matthew Lillard and Owen Wilson.
“By the way, Paul Dano and Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard, I would be honored to work with those actors. Honored,” the actor said, per Variety.
The Oscar winner said his latest movie, in which he plays a famous Hollywood actor, was “made by people who love actors — that’s an important part. 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.”
Quentin Tarantino revealed his unlikely beef with actor Paul Dano in a December 2025 interview. The filmmaker raised eyebrows during an appearance on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” while discussing his top 20 movies of the 21st century. During their chat, Dano’s performance in the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood was mentioned. Tarantino named […]
“We are living in a time of cruelty,” the star continued. “We don’t need to be adding to it.”
Back in December 2025, Tarantino, 62, took aim at Dano and company.
Speaking on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast,” the Kill Bill director branded Dano “weak sauce,” adding, “He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy.” He further went on to call Dano “the weakest f***ing actor in SAG.”
The filmmaker also said that he “can’t stand” Wilson and that he doesn’t “care” for Lillard.
Paul Dano JB Lacroix/WireImage
“Oddly enough, I really can’t stand Owen Wilson. I mean, I can’t stand him,” he said of Wilson, despite naming Midnight In Paris one of his favorite movies of the last century.
Lillard responded to Tarantino’s comments during a December appearance at GalaxyCon in Columbus, Ohio, per Entertainment Weekly.
“Quentin Tarantino this week said he didn’t like me as an actor. Eh, whatever. Who gives a s***,” the Scream actor said.
He then added, “It hurts your feelings. It f***ing sucks. And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to somebody who’s a top-line actor in Hollywood.”
Matthew Lillard Savion Washington/Getty Images
Clooney and Tarantino have exchanged tense words in the media in the past. In July 2023, Tarantino insinuated that he didn’t see Clooney as a major movie star, unlike Cruise, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.
“It’s been a long while since I think George Clooney has drawn anybody to an audience. When was the last time that he had a hit in this millennium?” Tarantino told Deadline.
In an August 2024 GQ magazine interview, Clooney hit back, admitting that Tarantino’s comments bothered him.
“Quentin said some s*** about me recently, so I’m a little irritated by him,” the actor said. “He did some interview where he was naming movie stars, and he was talking about [Brad Pitt], and somebody else, and then this guy goes, ‘Well, what about George?’ He goes, ‘He’s not a movie star.’ And then he literally said something like, ‘Name me a movie since the millennium.’ And I was like, ‘Since the millennium? That’s kind of my whole f***ing career.’”
“So now I’m like, all right, dude, f*** off. I don’t mind giving him s***. He gave me s***,” Clooney added.
