George Clooney Almost Became An MLB Player, Had Tryouts With Cincinnati Reds
George Clooney almost became a professional baseball player.
Clooney made the revelation in a new interview with Deadline as he discussed his latest film, "The Boys in the Boat," which he directed.
The actor-director described himself as a "big athlete" during his school days, sharing that he played baseball and basketball.
Clooney revealed that he tried to get into Major League Baseball (MLB) and even had two tryouts with the Cincinnati Reds.
However, his dreams of becoming a pro baseball player were dashed, not due to injury, but, as he candidly said, "I just lacked skill. I had everything else. I had a good hat, I had a good uniform. I just lacked the ability to play the game."
Detailing one memorable moment involving a minor league pitcher, Clooney shared, "He throws an 82-mile-an-hour curveball, at my head. I literally fell backward, and the ball ended up on the outside part of the plate, and everybody laughed. The sound it made and the movement on the ball, from a minor league pitcher... I was like, oh dude, I'm not going to be a professional baseball player. This is a different level. I didn't understand that until right then."
Despite not pursuing a career in the MLB, Clooney said he still keeps active and plays sports to this day.
"Sports are so important to me. I still play a lot of hoops, and I have such great affection for the people who do it at a level that is insurmountable to most of us," he said.
In addition to discussing his athletic pursuits, Clooney touched on his new film, which follows the story of the University of Washington's rowing team, from their Depression-era beginnings to winning gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
"This is a film that we really want people to check out. We just had a packed house for an Academy screening, and the whole audience was just...rowing. They're rocking back and forth, rowing, and they stand up and cheer at the end, and it just makes you feel good. And that's what we wanted," he told Deadline.
Meanwhile, Clooney recently revealed one iconic movie role he has no plans of reprising.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, he joked, "There aren't enough drugs in the world" to convince him to play Batman again.
He first played the character in 1997's "Batman & Robin" and reprised it for a cameo in "The Flash" earlier this year.
Clooney also recently attended a special screening of "The Boys in the Boat" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where he talked about his marriage to wife Amal Clooney.
During the event, the "Ocean's Eleven" star told Page Six he still thinks he's "punching above" his weight with the barrister and professor nine years after they tied the knot.
"The Boys in the Boat" hits theaters on Dec. 25.
