George Clooney Says He’s Done With On Screen Kissing and His Reason Is Turning Heads

There is a certain kind of movie magic people grow up taking for granted. The charming lead. The sweeping score. The inevitable kiss that signals everything will be fine.

For decades, George Clooney was one of the most familiar faces in that formula. Effortless charm. Crooked smile. Romantic leads that felt reassuring rather than flashy.

But time has a way of changing how those moments land. Not just for audiences, but for the people inside the scenes themselves.

At 64, Clooney sits in a different chapter of life than the one that made him Hollywood’s go-to heartthrob. He is no longer selling the idea of romantic possibility.

He is living a settled version of it. Married since 2014 to human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, and raising twins with her, his public image has quietly shifted from leading man fantasy to something steadier and more grounded.

So when Clooney recently mentioned that he no longer plans to kiss women on screen, it did not sound like a dramatic announcement. It sounded reflective. Almost tender.

Still, the comment rippled. Because it asked an uncomfortable question many people avoid. At what point does the version of yourself the world expects stop matching the one you actually live in?

Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney has been married to human right lawyer wife Amal since 2014

Only a handful of ladies were lucky enough to have locked lips with Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney throughout his career - but apparently, there'll be no future additions to the list.

For those in need of a reminder, the 64-year-old has starred in a handful of romantic movies, many of which have included rather intimate scenes.

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He got it on with Catherine Zeta-Jones in Intolerable Cruelty back in 2003, Michelle Pfeiffer in 1996's One Fine Day, and even got the chance to snog Julia Roberts twice, in 2001 for Ocean's Eleven and 21 years later for Ticket to Paradise.

In 1998, he and J. Lo enjoyed a smooch for Out of Sight, before, before he and Natascha McElhone also passionately snogged for Solaris in 2002.

As we say, however, Clooney has supposedly taken a vow not to plant a future peck on any of his female co-stars' lips.

The reason why? Respect for his beloved wife, Amal.

Speaking to the Daily Mail this week, the actor was asked about 'kissing girls' for work going forward, claiming he'd recently enjoyed a conversation with his human rights activist other half.

"I've been trying to go the route Paul Newman did — 'Okay, well, I'm not kissing a girl anymore,' " Clooney explained.

"When I turned 60, I had a conversation with my wife. I said, 'Look, I can still play basketball with the boys. I play with 25-year-old guys. I can still hang, I'm in shape. But in 25 years, I'm 85 years old. It doesn't matter how many granola bars you eat, that's a real number."

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This isn't the first time that the double Academy Award-winner has reflected upon his on-screen romances.

In 2022, he recalled being criticised for his kissing ability by a director while working on a project with Julia Roberts.

"I remember early on in my career, I had to do a kissing scene with this girl," Clooney told the New York Times in 2022. "And the director goes, 'Not like that.' And I was like, 'Dude, that’s my move! That’s what I do in real life!'"

During the same catch-up, he recalled he and Roberts, 58, had to film the snogging scene in question several times over - something Clooney felt he had to explain to 47-year-old wife Amal.

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For reference, the couple got engaged in April 2014, having been introduced by a mutual friend the prior July. They supposedly forged a strong bond over their mutual interest in charity and campaign work, and that same September, they tied the knot at the Ca' Farsetti palace in Venice, Italy.

"Yeah. I told my wife, 'It took 80 takes,' " he admitted of his and Roberts' lip-locking blunder. "She was like, 'What the hell?'"

At the time, Roberts - who was in the same interview with Clooney - added: "It took 79 takes of us laughing and then the one take of us kissing."

Clooney, who shares eight-year-old twins Alexander and Ella with Amal, went on to joke: "Well, we had to get it right."

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Clooney’s choice is less about romance on screen and more about honesty off it. About knowing when a role no longer fits, even if it once defined you. For some fans, it feels like the end of an era. For others, it feels quietly refreshing.

In a culture obsessed with staying young, there is something disarming about watching someone step back without bitterness. It invites a bigger question about how we all redefine ourselves as time moves forward.

If this made you pause, smile, or rethink your own expectations of aging, share it. Conversations like this are worth passing along.