When George Clooney arrived at the Venice Film Festival on August 26, 2025, fellow attendees and onlookers expected to see him promoting his newest project, “Jay Kelly.” Sadly, the beloved movie star withdrew from the event the next day. As The Hollywood Reporter shared, the actor fell ill and followed a suggestion that he return home to rest and recuperate.
Although this unexpected change to his schedule seemed worrisome, anonymous sources have shared that the health issue isn’t serious. Instead, Clooney decided to forgo many of the Wednesday events in the hopes of feeling completely well in time for the film’s premiere at the Sala Grande movie theater. The premiere is set for Thursday, August 28.
Clooney and Wife Amal Left Their Hotel by Boat After Cutting The Day Short
GettyAmong the multiple events Clooney skipped on Wednesday was a private dinner with some of the film’s cast and crew. As The Hollywood Reporter shared, the list of attendees included stars Adam Sandler and Laura Dern, several Netflix executives, and many others. Clooney also shortened a press junket that day. The actor and his wife, Amal, left their accommodations at Hotel Excelsior via boat Wednesday afternoon, bound for home.
As Variety reported, Clooney made his exit from the event based on medical advice. “George has been diagnosed with a sinus infection,” reps told the publication. “[He] is under doctors orders to cut back all activities today.” Instead, his costars and the film’s director, Noah Baumbach, will attend Thursday press conferences for the movie. This gives Clooney plenty of time to rest before the premiere.
The Movie’s Title Character is Very Relatable
GettyClooney plays the title character in “Jay Kelly,” an aging film star who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and confronts uncomfortable truths about himself. At 64, Clooney can relate to that phase of life in some ways. “If you can’t make peace with aging, then you’ve got to get out of the business and just disappear,” he explained to Vanity Fair. However, the actor says he is comfortable in his own skin — age and all. “I’m now the guy that, when I go running after a bad guy, it’s funny—it’s not suspenseful. That’s okay. I embrace all of that.”
Costar Adam Sandler also saw reflections of himself in Kelly, which helped motivate him to join the project. “As a guy who’s an actor who’d live a similar life to Jay Kelly, it’s a crazy depiction—how accurate a lot of it is,” Sandler said. “Jay Kelly” will have a limited theater run in November 2025 before its streaming premiere on Netflix in December.
