Two-time Oscar-winning actor, George Clooney has come a long way since Stephen Gaghan-directed political thriller Syriana. The $94 million movie that got the actor an Oscar, also left him with a serious spinal injury while performing a stunt during one scene. As spinal fluid began to leak from his nose, the damage was worse than Clooney could have ever imagined. The injury he suffered on the set of his 2005 movie, left the actor with suicidal tendencies.
George Clooney Thought Of The Best Ways To End His Life
George Clooney has had everything a man could ever wish for – good looks, a parade of pretty girls, mega-fortune, and stardom. However, being human brings along a fair share of dark times. During an interview with Rolling Stones, the Ocean’ Eleven star spoke about a brutal spinal injury, he suffered while performing a stunt on the set of Syriana.
He said:
“I was at a point where I thought, ‘I can’t exist like this. I can’t actually live. I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm, unable to move, having these headaches where it feels like you’re having a stroke, and for a short three-week period, I started to think, ‘I may have to do something drastic about this.’”
Clooney also revealed that he thought of the best ways to commit suicide. He added, “You don’t want to leave a mess, so go in the garage, go in the car, start the engine.” He felt like it was the nicest way to do it, but was also trying to figure out “how to survive.”
The actor instead turned to alcohol to ease his pain. He still suffers from occasional headaches related to the 2005 accident. The irony remains that Clooney bagged the role of Bob Barnes after another actor dropped from the project, and had less time to prepare for it. The tragedy was worth it as the movie got him an Oscar.
George Clooney Still Suffers From The After-Effects
During the filming of Syriana, loosely based on Robert Baer’s 2003 memoir See No Evil, George Clooney fell off and injured his head during a scene where his character, Bob Barnes was being tortured. As a result, spinal fluid began to ooze out from his nose. But again, the damage was worse.
Clooney got himself hospitalized in the United States as soon as he returned from Mexico. In a previous interview, he discussed the aftermath of the accident and revealed that he knew immediately how serious it was. Clooney said:
“I thought I’d had a stroke. It was like a train horn going off in your head, and you can’t see, and you can’t stand. “Then we started doing these things called myelograms, where they shoot contrast into your system, and you can see what’s leaking out. I had a two-and-a-half-inch tear in the middle of my back and a half-inch tear in my neck.”
George Clooney soon got back to work after a “suicidal phase”, and went on directing historical dramas like The Idea of March (2011) and war film, The Monuments Men (2014). He received an Oscar for his supporting role in Syriana. For co-producing the political thriller Argo (2012), Clooney got another Oscar. That’s classic Clooney!
Syriana (2005) can be rented or purchased on Amazon Instant Video.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
