George Clooney Says He ‘Didn’t Know How Un-Full’ His Life Was Before Having Kids With Wife Amal

George Clooney never imagined getting married or being a dad, but that all changed when he met his longtime wife, Amal Clooney. The Ocean’s Eleven star said he “didn’t know how un-full” his life was until he married the human rights lawyer and became the dad of their twins.

“I was like, ‘I’m never getting married. I’m not gonna have kids,'” the 59-year-old Hollywood hunk told GQ in his 2020 Icon of the Year profile, published on Tuesday, November 17. “‘I’m gonna work, I’ve got great friends, my life is full, I’m doing well.'”

However, being introduced to Amal, 42, by mutual friends in 2013 changed “everything” for the ER alum. “I was like, ‘Oh, actually, this has been a huge empty space,'” George proclaimed.

The Batman and Robin actor said those feelings intensified when he experienced fatherhood for the first time. George and the Lebanese-British barrister, who tied the knot in September 2014, welcomed their beloved children, Ella and Alexander, in June 2017.

“I’d never been in the position where someone else’s life was infinitely more important to me than my own,” the doting dad explained. “You know? And then tack on two more individuals, who are small and have to be fed.”

Prior to his romance with Amal, George was married to his first wife, Talia Balsam, from 1989 to 1993. Following their divorce, he went on to date fellow Hollywood stars like Kimberly Russell, Celine Balitran, Krista Allen, Lisa Snowdon, Renée Zellweger and more. Looking back, George can’t believe how much his outlook has changed.

“For 36 years, I was the guy that if some kid popped up and started crying, I’d be like, ‘Are you f–king kidding me?'” he joked with the outlet. “And now suddenly I’m the guy with the kid.”

The Academy Award winner has learned a lot about marriage and fatherhood since starting a life with the Right to a Fair Trial in International Law author, but he’s still picking up new things along the way. Even though he feels a “great sense of responsibility” he never has before, he can’t get enough of being the dad of his adorable son and daughter.

“All I know is that I am at last experiencing what most people in the world get to experience, which is the incredible amount of love you gain when you have two children you are responsible for,” he told The Daily Mail in 2017. “You become conscious that you want to make an example of your own life that they will follow.”