With George Clooney's latest film, Netflix's Midnight Sky just being released, it made sense that we've seen his face just about everywhere. Ever since having children with Amal, he's been out of the limelight. Even though he's made time to produce other projects, he hasn't starred in a movie since 2016. But that changed with Midnight Sky, which he also directed.

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During his talk show interview circuit, George has spoken about everything from raising children to cutting his own hair, and, of course, he's delved into his history as a master prankster. But he also spent time giving us a rare glimpse into some of his most famous projects. This includes his totally underrated performance in Michael Clayton and how he pulled off his hilarious accent in The Coen Brothers' O'Brother Where Art Thou?

George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou singing
Rolling Stone

George Found A Unique Way To Copy His Uncle Jack

Without a doubt, O'Brother Where Art Thou has one of George Clooney's funniest performances. Of course, the Joel and Ethan Coen film has all of the dry, strange, and dark sensibilities of all of their films. But this one is specifically funny and somewhat whimsical. The 2000 crime comedy-drama, which is roughly based on Homer's epic Greek poem "The Odyssey", boasts a number of wonderful Southern accents but George's is particularly unique.

While promoting Midnight Sky on The Howard Stern Show in December 2020, George explained how exactly he came up with the accent for the movie.

The topic came up when the legendary radio host was asking George about how he finds his characters.

"Let's say you got a character and you can't get a beat on it," Howard Stern began. "Do you ever go out and find someone you can emulate?"

"Well, I did it with my--" George stopped, already laughing. "When I did O'Brother Where Art Thou--"

"Which I loved!" Robin Quivers, Howard's longtime co-host, cut in.

"It's a fun movie," George admitted. "Joel and Ethan called me up and said [his character] is 'kind of a hick'. And I said, 'Well, I'm from Kentucky, man.' And he says, 'Well, we really want him to sound like a hick'. And I said, 'Okay'. So, I took the script and I sent a tape recorder to my uncle Jack. In Kentucky. He lives in Hardinsburg, Kentucky, you know? And I said to him, I said, "Read the whole script into this tape recorder. And I'll get you a dialect coach -- I'll get you some money and a credit in the film.' "

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It was a pretty good plan, after all, his uncle, admittedly, sounded a bit like the 'hick' the legendary directors wanted for Goerge's character, Ulysses Everett McGill. And It didn't seem as though George's uncle Jack took any offense to the offer.

"And I get the tape back and I hear, [in a hard Southern accent], 'George, I don't think folks around here talk quite like that, but we'll give er a go!' And I'm like, 'There we go!'"

"So, you literally had you uncle Jack read the script," Howard started.

"All the lines."

"And you just kind of learned his way of delivering that?"

It's a pretty perfect way to find a character.

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But Uncle Jack Made A Little Change To The Script That George Didn't Find Out About Until It Was Too Late

According to George, getting his uncle Jack to read the script into a tape recorder for him to copy wasn't even the funniest part of the story... As it turned out, George's uncle Jack made a little change to the script without George knowing. Although to be fair, he cryptically let him know ahead of time...

"Joel and Ethan, the way they write, you don't really improvise their stuff. Because it's so well-written, you don't mess with it right? And I was doing a scene and Joel comes over and I'm talking to [the character] Delmar," George explained, launching into his 'hick' Southern accent. "And they came over and they said, 'I got a question for you man. Why is it that you say every word exactly as we've written it except 'hell' or 'damn'?' And I was like, 'What?'. And they said, 'You don't say 'hell' or 'damn'. And I said, 'I don't?'. And they said, 'No'.

Not quite believing it, George went back and listened to his uncle Jack's tape.

"And when he said, 'I don't think people talk like this around here', he meant that they don't curse... They don't say 'hell' or 'damn'. So, he made it 'heck' and 'dern'. He re-wrote The Coen Brothers!'

And it was a script change that mostly stuck...

NEXT: The Surprising Real Story That Inspired 'Michael Clayton', According To George Clooney