The 1996 film One Fine Day is often considered a hidden gem, featuring George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer as the lead actors. Although lighthearted, the actors had to go through a lot of hurdles to complete filming the movie. It was during an Actors on Actors session hosted by Variety, amidst the pandemic, that the reunion between Clooney and Pfeiffer where both the actors interviewed each other brought forth a flood of behind-the-scenes stories, and funny tidbits, some of which may not have been as humorous during the shooting.
It was during the Variety interview that intriguing facts were revealed. The actors shared that during the time of filming, George Clooney was known for his extravagant partying. And on a separate occasion, the actor also sacrificed his eye for a basketball game. Although these are all now hilarious stories, back in the day, they were nothing short of a nightmare for the production team.
Also Read: “I don’t like being mean to George”: Julia Roberts Had One Problem While Working With George Clooney
George Clooney Once Came to Work Super Drunk
George Clooney himself admitted during the Varity’s Actors on Actors to indulging in ample partying during the filming period of the 1996 film One Fine Day. In one incident, after a fun night out with a friend, he arrived home late at night, only to discover a message that shook him to his core, his answering machine suddenly notified him that he was needed early morning on the set the next day. This unexpected revelation led to Clooney’s lively lifestyle slipping out and spilling all over his work life, he said while talking to his co-star Michelle Pfeiffer,
“I woke up at 5 in the morning,– ‘I was like, ‘I feel OK.’ Then I looked in the mirror, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m still drunk.’ I got to the set, and we walked to the trailer and I sat down and you looked at me. You go, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘I didn’t know we were going to work today.’ And you go, ‘You’re still drunk.’”
It was a disaster on set that day, Clooney further recalled stating,
“It’s a scene we did in a oner where you and I are talking back and forth to each other,–I kept trying to spray whatever mouth spray I could because I smelled like a —“
To which Pfeiffer finished the sentence by saying, “Like a brewery”. All in all, on reminiscing about the incident the actor now feels embarrassed about the amount of trouble the rest of the people around him had to through in order to maintain the decorum at work.
George Clooney Sacrificed His Eye Socket for a Casual Basket Ball Game
The above incident wasn’t the only way the actor disrupted the production of the movie. Yet another incident took place that led the production to pack up for days only to return after Clooney was completely healed. But this time around it wasn’t his fault. Clooney was just enjoying a lunch break with a basketball game when suddenly one elbow came and hit him right in the face and smacked him in the eye, which in turn broke his eye socket. He elaborated saying,
“It kept swelling and I was like, ‘I can still shoot,’—I remember we actually shot scenes where we blocked half of my face with a kid.”
The production had to wait till his eye “grew back” and he was healed completely to continue shooting his parts for the film. All in all, amidst all the laughs, the actors now barely remember how troubling those times back in the day actually were.
Source: Variety: Actors on Actors
