According to George Clooney, even Academy Award nominees need a day job. For him, it's doing high-paid coffee commercials overseas.
During Newsweek's 2012 Oscar Roundtable, Clooney discussed his career choices:
I'm trying to make movies in my life, and particularly in the position I'm in, that last longer than opening weekend. That's it, that's my whole goal. I don't have to make money, I do films for scale and then you know, I go do coffee commercials overseas and I make a lot of money doing those, so I get to live in a nice house.
Nice house? Mansion on Lake Como? Potato, pot-ah-to.
But question Clooney about pimping himself to Swiss coffee makers,* and you and the former Batman are going to have some issues.
"I don't give a shit," Clooney continued (as a nearby Charlize Theron smiled uncomfortably). "And people will go, 'Oh, that's a sellout!' You know what? Fuck you!"
At least Clooney is comfortable with his many career endeavors, unlike other actors who go abroad to shill products to an overseas audience.
Celebrities have traditionally flocked to Asian countries to shoot high paid (and often highly embarrassing) commercials. In an attempt to keep this part of their career a secret from American audiences, it is not uncommon for celebrities to enforce a "secrecy clause" which bars advertisers from disclosing sponsorship deals in the U.S. -- and they take it seriously. Actors including Leonardo DiCaprio and Meg Ryan have filed cease and desist orders against websites that post these ads to Americans.
Clooney's Nespresso ads aren't bad, and one of his spots even features John Malkovich.
Watch Clooney cuss out his critics below:
*Correction: Nespresso is a brand owned by a Swiss company, not a French company, as this story originally said. See comments below or further information.
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