It's 1 p.m., and George Clooney has ducked into his set trailer to escape the glare of the torrid Mississippi sun - and a growing crowd of female onlookers.

The actor, who is starring in Joel and Ethan Coen's latest comic brainchild, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", has already shaken countless hands and posed for so many pictures one might imagine he's running for office.

But Clooney hasn't sojourned south for politics. The 38-year-old actor is here for another odyssey altogether. "The script for O Brother is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey," says Clooney, who at the moment is boasting a later-than-five-o'clock shadow and a subtle mustache.

Clooney, who plays Ulysses "Everett" McGill in the film, says the character experiences a journey analogous to that of the classic character, Ulysses. "I read The Odyssey after I read the screenplay, and it was amazing to discover the connections between the two," Clooney says. Clooney adds that the strength of the comedy is not predicated on its connections to the classical work, insisting O Brother's plot stands on its own.

Written by comic geniuses Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers who have made an indelible mark in the independent film world with features such as Raising Arizona, Fargo and The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Is the story of three men's odyssey through the Depression-era American South.

McGill, a Mississippi chain gang prisoner, is running from the law with former chain mates Delmar (Tim Nelson) and Pete (John Turturro) in hopes of claiming a small fortune - proceeds from an armored car heist - buried on McGill's land.

"The humor of this story took me back to Raising Arizona," says a mannerly Clooney, free (for the moment) of his shackles and chains. "I enjoy doing comedy if it's well written, and this script is sidesplittingly funny. Joel and Ethan are just so smart."

The Coen's first approached Clooney with the O Brother script while he was in Phoenix working on the upcoming film Three Kings. "I was nearing the end of a very tough five-month shoot, really ready to go home, and Joel and Ethan flew into Phoenix and handed me the script," recalls Clooney, who had never before worked with the highly respected filmmakers. "They told me they'd written it with me in mind and asked me if I'd do it. I said yes without even reading the first page. They both started laughing and asked me if I wanted to read it before agreeing, but I told them that wouldn't be necessary."

And the actor - who only this year ended his five-year run on NBC's hit show, ER, in order to focus on his film career - says he is amazed O Brother fell into his lap. " I get about five scripts a week, and that's after a large screening process by two agents and the studio," says Clooney, thumbing through a few screenplays piled on a table in his small kitchen. "And out of those, I rarely get even one really good one," says Clooney. "I've ended up with a great project here."

The actor commends the cast and crew of the movie, which has been filmed throughout Mississippi - from the Delta to Vicksburg. And Clooney says the directors have cultivated an amiable environment on the set. "In my mind, these are the greatest directors in the business," says Clooney. "On top of being remarkably good at what they do, they're also really nice people who are very easy to work with. That doesn't happen often in an actor's life."

"Most directors insist on doing 15 to 20 takes of a scene. But these guys, because they're so well prepared, they'll do two takes, and that's that. It's unheard of."

Clooney, who is wearing a wedding ring for the part, locates three storyboards for the day's scenes, including one in a box car Clooney shares with four hobos and his two chainmates. Lining up the small drawings, Clooney explains how attuned the directors are to every detail. "All movies have storyboards, but on this film, I get detailed sides each morning, like these pages here," Clooney says, pointing to the shrunken pages of the day's dialogue. "Andy every morning, every single shot has already been lined up. These guys are the most prepared professionals I've ever seen."

Co-producer John Cameron says Clooney's professionalism is equally laudable. "He's a consumate professional, and I mean that sincerely. He's a tireless worker." Clooney's co-star John Turturro agrees. "George is good at what he does, and he's a really nice person," says Turturro, a favorite of the Coen brothers, who have cast him in several of their films (Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski).

An unassuming Clooney, whose baseball throwing sessions during shooting breaks have begun to gather stadium-worthy crowds, says his labors are mere attempts to avoid "screwing up a really great thing."

"I pinch myself every day, and I can't believe I'm here working with such a great cast," says Clooney. "I'd never met Holly (Hunter) before, but she's as talented an actress as I'll ever work with, and she's a beautiful, smart lady," he says of the Oscar winning actress (The Piano) who plays Penny Wharvey, Everett's estranged wife.

"He (Clooney) walks around and talks to the extras as if he's part of our family," says Richard McDaniel of Vicksburg. "I was in a scene with him, and he was entertaining us with jokes and stories. He's a real showman."

Cameron says he can't imagine how many photographs of Clooney are floating around Mississippi. "He's so nice to everyone, rarely turning down an autograph or picture request. Honestly, I don't know if I've ever seen a more gracious actor."

"I understand the interest," says Clooney. "I grew up in a small town in Kentucky where they shot a series called Centennial, and I followed Raymond Burr around everywhere he went."

"I know what it's like to see someone in person who you've watched on television or seen in the movies, and I don't get upset when people approach me, because I did the same thing," says Clooney, who leaves Jackson this week for four weeks of shooting in L.A.

"I've had a great time here in Jackson," says a well tanned Clooney, propping his feet on a counter in his kitchenette. "I've found some great places I can go eat with my friends, watch a ball game, and not feel like a tourist attraction."

Nearly an hour has passed since Clooney has had to face the lurking humidity and the ever-present autograph seekers. But wardrobe sends word he's needed on the set. It's time for him to shed his black T-shirt and gray shorts for slightly more conspicuous, wide striped prison garb. Clooney, who pulls off the dreadful horizontal stripes with surprising appeal, smiles as he makes his way to a nearby box car, just another stop on this actor's already successful sojourn.

From the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger, Wednesday, July 21, 1999
By Paige Porter (staff writer)