George Clooney is a huge fan of epic movies from the 1940s and 1950s.
George Clooney
Clooney has revealed how movies that those decades inspired his love of cinema, which continues until this day.
He shared: "When I grew up and was going to the movies they weren't making those Technicolour movies or sword-and-sandals epics, but television showed them all so I would watch 'Spartacus' and 'Ben-Hur' over and over again and those films were so much fun.
"'The Robe' was always on at Easter and we watched the 'Wizard of Oz' on a black and white television so for years I didn't know that it changed colour halfway through."
Clooney revealed he based his character in his new movie 'Hail, Caesar!' on Victor Mature, the American TV and film actor.
He told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "Victor Mature is one of my favourite performers of all time. He tried to get into the Los Angeles Country Club but they told him, 'I'm sorry Mr. Mature, we don't allow actors as members.' And he said: 'I have 75 films to prove I am not an actor.'
"Those epics are funny but they only work because everyone takes them completely seriously. If there is any sort of winking at all, they completely fall apart.
"Why I loved Victor Mature is he still had an accent like he was from New Jersey or the Bronx and his hair was always died black and I just love the idea of a guy who says, 'Alright, let's go do another one of these sandals movies and then I'll go and hit the golf course.' He is one of my favourites."
Tagged in George Clooney