George Clooney has made his stage debut at 63 in a role that couldn’t be more relevant to today’s media landscape, per cbsnews.com. The Oscar winner stars as pioneering journalist Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” an adaptation of his own 2005 film that’s earning critical acclaim and Tony buzz.
The production broke box office records at the Winter Garden Theater, with Clooney earning a Tony nomination for Best Actor. But beyond the glamour lies a pointed message about journalism’s role in democracy, one that resonates powerfully as news organisations face mounting pressure from government and corporate interests.
“When the other three estates fail, the fourth estate has to succeed,” Clooney told 60 Minutes, referencing the current climate where ABC recently settled with the Trump administration and CBS faces a $20 billion lawsuit from the president.
The play recreates the 1950s CBS newsroom where Murrow took on Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare. Co-written with longtime partner Grant Heslov, the drama uses archival footage to show McCarthy essentially playing himself in the historic television confrontation that helped end his communist witch hunt.
“We’re seeing this idea of using government to scare or fine corporations to make journalists smaller,” Clooney explained, drawing parallels to today’s media challenges. “Journalism and telling truth to power has to be waged like war is waged.”
Personal stakes run high for Clooney, whose journalist father Nick instilled respect for truthful reporting. The actor recalls running teleprompters as a 12-year-old, watching his father literally cut stories with paper scissors during commercial breaks.
The play’s themes hit especially hard given Clooney’s own recent brush with political truth-telling. Last summer, he faced backlash for publicly calling on President Biden to step aside due to age concerns—a decision he stands by despite criticism from fellow Democrats.
“I was raised to tell the truth,” Clooney said. “There was a lot of profiles in cowardage in my party through all of that.”
While McCarthyism and today’s political climate share troubling parallels, Clooney identifies a crucial difference: the difficulty of discerning truth in an era where “facts are now negotiated” and disinformation spreads rapidly.
The production represents a career milestone for Clooney, who admits he’s moved beyond romantic leading man roles into more substantive territory. His family relocated from Europe to support the Broadway run, with wife Amal and their children experiencing New York theater life.
“There isn’t a single actor alive that wouldn’t have loved to have been on Broadway,” Clooney reflected, acknowledging both the challenge and thrill of live performance where audiences sit mere feet away.
•Featured image: George Clooney/60 Minutes
