George Clooney Is Well Aware He Outkicked His Coverage With Wife Amal, and Says “Everyone Would Say the Same Thing”

Amal and George Clooney arriving in Venice — (Image credit: Getty Images)

When George and Amal Clooney married in 2014, maybe a few uninformed individuals thought it was Amal who married up, as he was world famous and she was not (at least at that time)—but let George tell you himself, that is not true.

In an interview with Page Six, George said he was well aware that he wasn’t up to Amal’s lofty standards when the two got married nearly a decade ago. (Amal is a successful human rights attorney, has held various appointments with the U.K. government and the United Nations, and is an adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. She also mixes her brains with beauty: she’s become a bona fide fashion icon since emerging into the public eye and, oh yeah, and in addition to all of that? She’s a mom of twins. *head explodes* She and George cofounded the human rights organization the Clooney Foundation for Justice in 2016.)

“Yes, and I still do [think that],” George replied when asked if he felt like he was “punching above” his weight with Amal. And, he added with a laugh, “everyone would say the same thing.”

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The actor and director screened his latest film, The Boys in the Boat, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City this week; George directed this project, based on the bestselling nonfiction book of the same name by Daniel James Brown. It is based on the true story of the 1936 Olympic U.S. rowing team that competed in the Berlin Olympics and triumphed over incredible odds.

Amal Clooney at the L.A. "The Boys in the Boat" premiere

“I like Depression-era stories,” George said of what drew him to the project, adding that his parents are also “from that exact same” time period.

“The idea [that] these guys needed to do it as opposed to wanting to do it,” he said. “And I like the idea that somehow along the way they ended up being the greatest rowers in the world when they were just lumberjacks, which is kind of cool.”

George shared that learning about the struggles the rowers faced made him reflect on how to instill that drive to succeed in his own children Alexander and Ella, born in 2017. “It’s a concern [and] I think every parent has the same concern,” he said. “Make sure that they understand how difficult…and struggling is a big part of learning, so yes, it’s always a question, that will be the great challenge of parenting.”

The Boys in the Boat hits theaters on Christmas Day.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.