Clooney the activist hits a chord

George Clooney scored a rare Oscar trifecta Tuesday -- he was nominated for best director, best supporting actor and best original screenplay -- capping a year in which the 44-year-old actor-writer-director’s Hollywood stardom merged with his political activism.

He’s nominated for best director and, with Grant Heslov, for best original screenplay for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” a true-life account of the clash between CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. He received a best supporting actor nomination for “Syriana,” a politically charged drama about the oil business.

Clooney said in an interview Tuesday morning that he thinks the critical success of both films is a reflection of heightened political awareness. “The entire society is more political than it has been in a long time. They’re open to [politics] in a way they haven’t been since Watergate.”

With “Good Night, and Good Luck,” Clooney added, “we didn’t want to editorialize too much. We just wanted to point out the things we do out of fear.”

Now he’s headed to Mexico to shoot an Italian commercial. With three nominations in hand, he said, “I’m going to celebrate by flying to Cabo and having a shot of tequila.”

-- Susan King, with

Rachel Abramowitz