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George Clooney reflects on near-death experience in 2018: ‘I got lucky’

 ‘I could have landed on any other part of my body and been dead,’ actor said

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 21 December 2020 10:22 GMT
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Midnight Sky trailer

George Clooney has reflected on some near-death experiences he’s had, stating that he was “lucky” to survive.

In 2018, the Hollywood star was involved in a crash while riding his motorcycle on the Italian island of Sardinia while filming Channel 4 miniseries Catch-22.

Clooney was taken to hospital, where his injuries were deemed not serious and he was discharged hours later.

However, reflecting on the incident during an interview, Clooney said he “thought that was it” after colliding with another vehicle at 70mph.

“I got lucky there,” he said to outlets, including The Independent. “I flipped through the air and ended up landing on my knees. I could have landed on any other part of my body and been dead.”

He added: “You learn you’re not allowed to ride motorcycles. My wife [Amal] said ‘That’s enough.’”

Clooney revealed he once had another close brush with death in South Sudan.

“I had one time in South Sudan where we got pulled over and had guns stuck to our heads,” he said, adding: “They wanted to rob our truck.”

Clooney directs and stars in new Netflix film The Midnight Sky, which will be available to stream on 23 December. 

Read the full interview with Clooney and co-stars Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo and Kyle Chandler here.

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