George Clooney Spills Secrets About His Friendship With Brad Pitt: ‘Things Get Complicated’

George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s Hollywood friendship has withstood the test of time. The Descendants actor spilled some secrets about how they’ve strengthened their bond over the years.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” George, 63, told GQ in a joint interview with Brad, 60, on Tuesday, August 13. “And it’s fun because we also check in on each other every once in a while, which is an important part of this. Things get complicated in life and you always have to make sure everybody’s OK.”

The duo also spoke about how they both have a competitive nature with some of the stuff they do. George and Brad are costarring in the upcoming film Wolfs, directed by Jon Watts and also featuring Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams and Poorna Jagannathan.

“There’s a very interesting thing that happens when you’ve been working together a long time where, I don’t have to be looking even near him to know what he’s doing and have some idea of what’s going on,” George said. “And there’s a great ease to that and confidence where you just go, ‘Oh yeah, I know what he’s going to do.’ And by the way, there are plenty of scenes in Wolfs in particular where you could feel one of us teeing it up for the other guy. So it’s not competitive anymore.”

“I’m just saying we have a competitive nature,” Brad chimed in. “Like the competitiveness that an athlete would have. And I see that in most of the guys that are around. You take pride in what you do, you want it to really, really work. But at the same time, if I didn’t have a George Clooney in my life, I don’t know that I would’ve reached certain levels. Because it inspires you to push on.”

George pointed out that they both have production companies and have produced films that have won Best Picture at the Oscars.

“If I had a movie we were producing up against him, I’d do everything I could to undercut his ass,” George admitted. “But I remember when he won for the film he did with Quentin, when he won the Oscar, and I wrote him and I said, ‘I’m really happy to be in a world where you’ve got an Oscar for the work you do as an actor.’ Because there’s a really easy route, when you’re Brad, to do really big commercial films, make a s–tload of money, and live a really easy life. And his choices as an actor were always — like Seven. Seven’s not a home run. When you see Seven, you read the script, you go, that’s a commercial film? I don’t think so. And he made it a commercial film because he stuck to his guns.”

While Wolfs is their latest collaboration, it joins a list of other notable projects they’ve worked on together. The ER alum and the Bullet Train actor have shared the screen in numerous films over the years, including Ocean’s Eleven, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen, Burn After Reading and If.

“George is probably the best at understanding, seeing the chessboard and the potential moves,” Brad reflected on their friendship and collaborations. “I’ll call George on numerous occasions when things get bumpy.”