Transcript

George Clooney Joins New Heights!

From New Heights · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

December 8, 2025 · 30 min · 6,379 words · 169 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "George Clooney Joins New Heights!", an episode of New Heights published December 8, 2025 (30 min, about 6,379 words). It mentions 83 people, works and ideas, including Klay Travis, Bengals, Jay Kelly, Jerry White's book on 19th century London, Straight Street.

What this episode is about

George Clooney makes a surprise appearance in a lighthearted discussion, where he showcases his charismatic and easygoing personality while engaging with Jason and Travis. The conversation touches on nostalgia, fan experiences, and Clooney's connection to Cincinnati, blending celebrity insights with personal anecdotes.

Key takeaways

Even superstars like George Clooney started with humbling moments, like high school sports tryouts.
Talking to A-listers? Turns out George Clooney finds our awkwardness iconic.
Old Cincinnati hills: Where cars ski and Doritos reign after snowfall.
Bearcats by geography, Clooney’s talent defies local allegiances.
Clooney’s scouting report: jersey looks great, but let's not discuss his arm.

What is discussed, and when

0:00 – 5:00: Bengals, Straight Street, Cincinnati Reds, DAP program
5:00 – 10:00: Jay Kelly, Academy Award, Bird After Re, From Dustville Dawn
10:00 – 15:00: Klay Travis, Lake Como, smarter, not harder, Xander Shafley
15:00 – 20:00: Big Red Machine, Eagles, Hail Caesar, Joe Morgan
20:00 – 25:00: Burn After Reading, dialects, Dunlap tires, French accent
25:00 – 30:00: New Heights, Batman and Robin, Bengals, Butch Cassie, the Sundance Kid

Notable quotes from "George Clooney Joins New Heights!"

I'm I'm I'm a Bengals fan, dude. I grew up in Cincinnati.
about Bengals · at 1:24
You brought it up, we have conflicting reports. We always, at least if you go to the University of Cincinnati, you're told as a student that George Clooney went to UC. Is that true?
about University of Cincinnati · at 2:10
I was back in Cincinnati a couple weeks ago and it was funny. I went back and the owner of the Cincinnati Reds came out. I was doing I was speaking in front of a couple…
about Cincinnati Reds · at 3:03
Well, nice. Now, now we can get it out there. He was were you in the DAP program at Cincinnati for a little bit?
about DAP program · at 4:10
OCEANS [screaming] 11, 12 AND 13. AND THERE'S PROBABLY MORE COMING. HE'S THE STAR OF THE UPCOMING FILM JAY KELLY. And unlike myself, he actually won SEXIEST MAN ALIVE TWICE. TWICE.
about Jay Kelly · at 5:25
Yeah, Travis was in Happy Gilmore 2.
about Klay Travis · at 9:53
Seeing you roll seeing you chess bump Xander Shafley.
about Xander Shafley · at 10:54
That's so good, man. Well, speaking of Brad, he told us a story when he was on New Heights not too long ago about how he ate so many beans during a scene, right before a scene…
about New Heights · at 25:56

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Klay Travis — Person · 5 mentions · first at 1:19
Kenny Anderson — Person · 1 mention · first at 4:51
Back in the day, it was Kenny Anderson was the quarterback. And how about it?
George Ker — Person · 1 mention · first at 9:28
That's amazing. All right. Well, to summarize the movie for everybody that needs to go watch this thing. George Ker plays a famous actor Jay Kelly alongside this is an awesome moment. His manager Adam Sandler the Sandman baby.
Noah Sandman — Person · 1 mention · first at 9:36
Ker plays a famous actor Jay Kelly alongside this is an awesome moment. His manager Adam Sandler the Sandman baby.
Xander Shafley — Person · 1 mention · first at 10:56
Johnny Bench — Person · 1 mention · first at 16:27
[snorts] Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, those that freaking Joe Morgan, Kent Griffy.
Pete Rose — Person · 1 mention · first at 16:27
[snorts] Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, those that freaking Joe Morgan, Kent Griffy.
Joe Morgan — Person · 1 mention · first at 16:31
Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, those that freaking Joe Morgan, Kent Griffy.
Kent Griffy — Person · 1 mention · first at 16:31
Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, those that freaking Joe Morgan, Kent Griffy.
Rosemary Clooney — Person · 1 mention · first at 20:12
Oh brother, where art thou? they came to me. My aunt was this famous singer named Rosemary Clooney. great singer and back in the 50s and they kind of assumed because I had an aunt who could sing. I think they assumed I could sing.
Schumacher — Person · 1 mention · first at 27:05
Board laying down like this and you're waiting to for action and the director Schumacher is like going okay here we go and your parents are dead you have nothing to live for…
Gregory Peek — Person · 1 mention · first at 28:58
Being there was that era of actual proper movie stars. Gregory Peek and I became friends. There's like that thing where you go, these guys are they are actually bigger than life. And it was a real thrill. You know,.
Barbara Gene Mel — Person · 1 mention
Flaco — Person · 1 mention
Pit — Person · 1 mention
Tay — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

Jay Kelly — Book · 4 mentions · first at 5:30
Jerry White's book on 19th century London — Book · 4 mentions
Out of Sight — Book · 1 mention · first at 5:17
AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD WINNER, AND A TWOTIME ACADEMY AWARD WINNER. YOU KNOW HIM FROM HIS ROLES IN ERRIANA, OUT OF SIGHT, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, PERFECT STORM FROM…
From Dustville Dawn — Book · 1 mention · first at 5:21
HIM FROM HIS ROLES IN ERRIANA, OUT OF SIGHT, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, PERFECT STORM FROM DUSTVILLE DAWN, MICHAEL CLAYTON, BIRD AFTER RE, AND OCEANS [screaming] 11, 12 AND…
Perfect Storm — Book · 1 mention · first at 5:21
HIM FROM HIS ROLES IN ERRIANA, OUT OF SIGHT, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, PERFECT STORM FROM DUSTVILLE DAWN, MICHAEL CLAYTON, BIRD AFTER RE, AND OCEANS [screaming] 11, 12 AND…
Bird After Re — Book · 1 mention · first at 5:23
SIGHT, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, PERFECT STORM FROM DUSTVILLE DAWN, MICHAEL CLAYTON, BIRD AFTER RE, AND OCEANS [screaming] 11, 12 AND 13. AND THERE'S PROBABLY MORE COMING.…
Michael Clayton — Book · 1 mention · first at 5:23
SIGHT, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, PERFECT STORM FROM DUSTVILLE DAWN, MICHAEL CLAYTON, BIRD AFTER RE, AND OCEANS [screaming] 11, 12 AND 13. AND THERE'S PROBABLY MORE COMING.…
Happy Gilmore 2 — Book · 1 mention · first at 9:53
Yeah, Travis was in Happy Gilmore 2.
Hail Caesar — Book · 1 mention · first at 19:59
Do you think you'll ever get back in on screen with the Cohen brothers? I got to say, oh brother, we're out thou hail Caesar. They can burn after reading.
Burn After Reading — Book · 1 mention · first at 20:01
Screen with the Cohen brothers? I got to say, oh brother, we're out thou hail Caesar. They can burn after reading.
Man of Constant Sorrow — Book · 1 mention · first at 20:34
And then I got down they took me down to Nashville and they had me singing Man of Constant Sorrow in the literally in a recording studio.
Raising Arizona — Book · 1 mention · first at 21:08
Guys, some of their movies are just some of the best films. Raising Arizona, from early on, they were just good film. I don't know. They kind of they're not they haven't been working together as much right now, but if they.
Batman and Robin — Book · 1 mention · first at 26:40
Movie and you think it's going to be great. And I remember being on the set of Batman and Robin, which is famously one of the worst films of all time, and I'm terrible in it.…
Butch Cassie, the Sundance Kid — Book · 1 mention · first at 28:13
I'd seen him in at the drive-in theater in Mazeville, Kentucky, and Butch Cassie, the Sundance Kid, and all this stuff. And then like I remember being on the lot at Warner Brothers, driving going by in a golf cart, and.
Eriana — Book · 1 mention
O Brother, Where Art Thou — Book · 1 mention
Ranger School — Book · 1 mention
Troy — Book · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

Bengals — Company · 4 mentions · first at 1:24
New Heights — Company · 2 mentions · first at 26:00
University of Cincinnati — Company · 1 mention · first at 2:13
Kingquick — Company · 1 mention · first at 2:42
You went down to the Kingquick at the bottom and you just got Doritos and a beer and you just sat there until it snowfall.
Cincinnati Reds — Company · 1 mention · first at 3:07
Eagles — Company · 1 mention · first at 18:16
Like everybody's gunning for the Chiefs and the Eagles for the Super Bowl. Like do you get competitive with some of these other guys? Like my film's going to outdo yours or How does that work?
Cincinnati Bearcats — Company · 1 mention
UC — Company · 1 mention
UK — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

jersey — Product · 1 mention · first at 3:33
He's got no arm he's got no speed tell you what though he puts a jersey on man the guy looks like a ball player I look like I look I had a hat dude I look good I look.
rubber nipples — Product · 1 mention · first at 23:28
In. Yeah, I'm the only one who had rubber nipples.
Dunlap tires — Product · 1 mention · first at 23:42
Yeah. Yeah. It was when it got colder, it was like two Dunlap tires coming out.
stationery — Product · 1 mention · first at 23:50
Bad look. Is it true that you once stole Bill Clinton's stationery and wrote a fake note to actors saying president? Go ahead.
rubber cowl — Product · 1 mention · first at 26:54
I remember there was like a the director with you know I'm laying in a you're in a rubber cowl and you can't move cuz it weighs like 75 lbs and you're like tucked down and…
golf cart — Product · 1 mention · first at 28:21
Stuff. And then like I remember being on the lot at Warner Brothers, driving going by in a golf cart, and there was Paul Newman. And I stopped and I go, Hey. And he goes, Hey…
cigarette — Product · 1 mention · first at 28:30
I go, Hey. And he goes, Hey man. And he came over and he had a beer and a cigarette. And he goes, You want a beer? And I was Yeah, I need a beer. Turning that down.
beans — Product · 1 mention
hat — Product · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

Hall of Fame — Concept · 1 mention · first at 1:13
You're Hall of Famer. I can show some love for you.
scouting report — Concept · 1 mention · first at 3:19
And you know I had a couple of triyouts for the Reds when I was younger and he came up and read like my scouting report and it was the most humiliating thing you EVER that's too good he's got no arm he's got no speed.
DAP program — Concept · 1 mention · first at 4:12
Golden Globe — Concept · 1 mention · first at 5:06
All right. HERE WE GO. OUR GUEST TODAY IS A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, a fourtime Golden Globe winner, A FOURTIME SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD…
Golden Globe winner — Concept · 1 mention · first at 5:06
All right. HERE WE GO. OUR GUEST TODAY IS A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, a fourtime Golden Globe winner, A FOURTIME SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD…
Screen Actors Guild Award — Concept · 1 mention · first at 5:09
IS A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, a fourtime Golden Globe winner, A FOURTIME SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD WINNER, AND A TWOTIME ACADEMY AWARD…
Academy Award — Concept · 1 mention · first at 5:14
Winner, A FOURTIME SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD WINNER, AND A TWOTIME ACADEMY AWARD WINNER. YOU KNOW HIM FROM HIS ROLES IN ERRIANA, OUT OF SIGHT, OH BROTHER…
Sexiest Man Alive — Concept · 1 mention · first at 5:33
THERE'S PROBABLY MORE COMING. HE'S THE STAR OF THE UPCOMING FILM JAY KELLY. And unlike myself, he actually won SEXIEST MAN ALIVE TWICE. TWICE.
midlife crisis — Concept · 1 mention · first at 9:44
And a little midlife crisis kind of moment. I thought it was fantastic.
smarter, not harder — Concept · 1 mention · first at 14:56
That's something smarter, not harder.
Big Red Machine — Concept · 1 mention · first at 16:08
Across the river, I was, so in 1975, I was 14 years old and we had the big red machine, and it was like I didn't think I thought we were always going to be the, Cincinnati is going to be the epicenter of great sports, you know.
swan song — Concept · 1 mention · first at 16:22
I didn't realize that was sort of going to be our swan song in general.
presidential seal — Concept · 1 mention · first at 24:00
Jimmy Kimmel gave me a stack of stationery with a presidential seal and Bill Clinton's name on it.
dialects — Concept · 1 mention · first at 24:49
Pitt Stationer that Kimmel gave me again, and I sent somebody sent me this book of dialects, like CDs where you could do an Irish accent or you could do a French accent. It was a guy who teaches and I had this big book.
Irish accent — Concept · 1 mention · first at 24:53
Again, and I sent somebody sent me this book of dialects, like CDs where you could do an Irish accent or you could do a French accent. It was a guy who teaches and I had this big book.
French accent — Concept · 1 mention · first at 24:55
This book of dialects, like CDs where you could do an Irish accent or you could do a French accent. It was a guy who teaches and I had this big book.
1950s — Concept · 1 mention
1975 — Concept · 1 mention
combine — Concept · 1 mention
draft — Concept · 1 mention
NFC — Concept · 1 mention
tryouts — Concept · 1 mention

Places & events

Straight Street — Place · 2 mentions · first at 2:02
I was off of Straight Street off the back of Cincinnati. I used to live on Straight Street.
Lexington, Kentucky — Place · 1 mention · first at 5:04
All right. HERE WE GO. OUR GUEST TODAY IS A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, a fourtime Golden Globe winner, A FOURTIME SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD WINNER, AND A TWOTIME ACADEMY AWARD WINNER. YOU KNOW.
Lake Como — Place · 1 mention · first at 11:32
That's exciting, man. That's going to be fun. By the way, Travis, you were in Lake Como, weren't you?
Philly — Place · 1 mention · first at 15:08
I'm in Philly, man. I live here. My We settled here. My wife is from 5 minutes away from where we live, so we got a lot of support with the kids and everything.
recording studio — Place · 1 mention · first at 20:38
Nashville and they had me singing Man of Constant Sorrow in the literally in a recording studio.
drive-in theater — Place · 1 mention · first at 28:09
I'd seen him in at the drive-in theater in Mazeville, Kentucky, and Butch Cassie, the Sundance Kid, and all this stuff. And then like I remember.
Mazeville, Kentucky — Place · 1 mention · first at 28:11
I'd seen him in at the drive-in theater in Mazeville, Kentucky, and Butch Cassie, the Sundance Kid, and all this stuff. And then like I remember being on the lot at Warner Brothers,.
KC — Place · 1 mention

Sponsors

sponsor — Sponsor · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 And now it's probably what you've waited this entire episode for. That's right. We're going to talk

0:04 and we did this happen. I don't know how we even got to this point in life, Jason.

0:10 Yeah. I don't even know how to talk to people of this stature. Well, because they talk to you and they're just so much in the way.

0:20 Why is he so good at just like being a cool person? He does it so effortlessly.

0:26 I know. You said it best. You said it was like if if that's if that's what a movie star is.

0:34 Jesus Christ. If that's what a superstar is, I'm Yeah, because I don't have that.

0:40 No, just sitting there, you know, he's a superstar. He doesn't even need to say anything. And then he starts talking and he's like way better at conversing.

0:47 Like, this is what I do for a living. You're already like, can you not be great at everything, George? Jesus Christ. You guys are gonna see George Clooney take over this podcast.

0:58 So, are we on? You going? All right. I'm gonna I want to start off. Oh, God. I'm going to start at

1:05 I'm going to start off. Not you guys. I'm going to start off. Jason, I dig you man.

1:09 Oh, wow. You know, you're Thank you, George. You're NFC. You're Hall of Famer. You know, I can I can I can show some love for you.

1:18 Thank you. Thank you, George. Travis, you broke me, man. I know. I'm I'm I'm a Bengals fan, dude. I grew up in Cincinnati.

1:30 You've broken me so many times. And your pretty face on GQ and I have to You know how many times I've thrown like a hogy at my TV at your face. You've broken me.

1:43 You got You guys You guys had your run. You guys broke me. You guys broke me. I'll tell you what, the Bengals broke me coming out. They guys, they took a tight end ahead of me in the draft and I felt heartbroken. I was a Cincinnati Bearcat. I was sitting in the backyard.

1:57 That's right. You were a Bearcat, man. Yeah. You were literally the backyard. I was I was

2:02 off of Straight Street off the back of Cincinnati. I used to live on Straight Street.

2:07 How about it? Really? Yeah. Yeah. We had this in the rundown, but while you brought it up, we have conflicting reports. We always, at least if you go to the University of Cincinnati, you're told as a student

2:16 that George Clooney went to UC. Is that true? Yeah. for a minute. Yeah, that counts, right?

2:21 I was there for a minute. It counts. I lived on Straight Street on on the hill, you know, where if it snowed and you parked, the cars would all end up at the bottom of the hill.

2:31 That's exactly what you're talking about. Hell yeah. You lived at the bottom of that hill.

2:35 Yeah. If you lived at the bottom of that hill when it snowed, you ain't making it to [ __ ] practice.

2:41 You're calling it up. You went down to the Kingquick at the bottom and you just got Doritos and a beer and you just sat there until it snowfall. Oh yeah,

2:49 that's all you can do, man. Over the rind, baby. That's some good [ __ ] Over the rind. You remember that area? That was like tricky. Remember?

2:55 Oh yeah. Now it's clean. No, now it's a lot better. It's a lot better. They clean that place up.

2:59 There's still pockets. Pockets. That's a great way to put it. I was back in Cincinnati a couple weeks ago and it was funny. I went back um and the owner of the the Cincinnati Reds came out. I was doing I was speaking in front of a couple thousand people. owner of the Cincinnati Reds came out

3:14 and you know I had a couple of triyouts for the Reds when I was younger and he came up and read like my scouting report and it was the most humiliating thing you EVER

3:27 that's too good he's got no arm he's got no speed tell you what though he puts a jersey on man the guy looks like a ball player

3:37 I look like I look I had a hat dude I look good I look hell yeah I believe I believe it. I got to see those.

3:44 That's too good. Would was it just like high school tryyous or like uh Yeah, it was, you know, they had a they had a thing where they were taking people out of high school for, you know, uh you know, anybody who was playing well in high school and they took you out and brought you in and let you let you try out for

3:58 Yeah. Like a little combiner showcase. Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. But boy, it was it was pretty humiliating in front of all those people.

4:05 That's too funny that he had it in there. You still had the the detailed report, man. That's too funny. Well, nice. Now, now we can get it out there. He was were you in the DAP program at Cincinnati for for a little bit?

4:16 No, our program. None of that. Well, once a Bearcat, always a Bearecat in my book,

4:24 dude. I also, you know, I was a UK kid, too. I loved UK. So, you know, I had a we had, you know, I would side with UK for basketball

4:33 because, you know, you kind of wanted to have a winner and you're Hell yeah. And I'd been a Bengals fan for a long time. And you know, we'd lost an awful lot of games when I was there was a lot of losing. For a while, we were I think the lossest franchise in in football. And then we kind of got a little better, you know.

4:50 Yeah. Back in the day, it was Kenny Anderson was the quarterback. And how about it?

4:55 How about it, man? I'm going to get this intro going and we'll get this thing officially started. Um I know, man.

5:01 All right. HERE WE GO. OUR GUEST TODAY IS A HOLLYWOOD LEGEND FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, a fourtime Golden Globe winner, A FOURTIME SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD WINNER, A TONY AWARD WINNER, AND A TWOTIME ACADEMY AWARD WINNER. YOU KNOW HIM FROM HIS ROLES IN ERRIANA, OUT OF SIGHT, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, PERFECT STORM FROM DUSTVILLE DAWN, MICHAEL CLAYTON, BIRD AFTER RE, AND OCEANS [screaming] 11, 12 AND 13. AND THERE'S PROBABLY MORE COMING. HE'S THE STAR OF THE UPCOMING FILM JAY KELLY. And unlike myself, he actually won SEXIEST MAN ALIVE TWICE. TWICE.

5:40 PLEASE WELCOME MR. GEORGE [screaming] CLOONEY. [ __ ] Oh my gosh, man. Oh man, guys,

5:48 that is clarification. I never won a Tony, but you know, I'm glad you said it anyway. Get it out there, then people will think I won, and that's even more fun.

5:57 You did. Dang it. All right. I appreciate the honesty. We We We gave you Did we Did we miss any?

6:05 Did we give you one? Many. We missed a bunch, I'm sure. Yeah. It's okay. I'm I'm fine.

6:12 I'll be okay. But guys, how's it going, man? We're doing great. Thank you so much for taking the time to hop on, George. This is incredible honor for us.

6:20 To be here. It is. I still can't believe that we're getting guests of of your stature on this thing. This is stature now. See, I get gray and I have stature.

6:31 Well, I mean, no, you you get uh what's you get into that one. Dang it. Distinguish. I know.

6:38 It's coming from a guy that's that's that's turning gray as well. And I'll tell you what, he embraces the grayness. He embra he can't wait till he goes full white.

6:45 Damn right. Damn right, dude. It's coming. It happens fast. Okay, perfect. I I'm looking forward to it. I'm full Santa Claus here in a couple years, man. It's going to be epic. Your wife will be so happy.

6:57 Yeah, she'll be thrilled. She'll be thrilled. All right, let's let's talk about Jay Kelly. How about that?

7:01 All right, bring it on. Initial thoughts. Uh, first of all, incredible film. Loved every second of it. And I know you've already

7:08 I'm sure you've been asked this by every anybody else talking to you about this film. Did this film feel extra personal to you being about a blockbuster actor and everything happening behind the scenes? There had to be some type of personal connection to you in this film. Well, I mean, look, you know, we're the same height and the same hair.

7:31 So, good. The guy's kind of uh, you know, he's kind of a mess. And, uh, I hope at my age that I'm not quite in that much of a, you know, fair enough crisis mode.

7:43 But, you know, listen, I you look, there's a guy whose kids hate him and, you know, dad doesn't like him. I got So, yeah, I got eight-year-olds and they still dig me. You know, perfect. That's going to change as you know. But

7:56 teenage years are coming. Do you How old are your kids, dude? They're all They're all young. I got six, four, two, and a brand new one. So, we're in the early brand new one. Nice.

8:07 It's coming, man. And I'm telling you, dude, it's like even at eight, I've got like my daughter rolling her eyes now, which is a new thing.

8:14 Gosh. Okay. Like I'd say like, "Hey, you know, you know, your dad's a big star." And she just rolls her eyes.

8:20 Yeah. Sure, Dad. Not great. How do you handle that? Let me ask you that. Are you a like a like do you are you a strict or do you do you get on like what's your parenting style?

8:31 I'm I'm probably I'm a little strict. I'm not like you know I'm not nut about my kids are pretty good. My kids are really well behaved. But you know I have to say it's a it's a pretty funny adventure raising kids you know cuz they're you know you don't realize you know ho how much they're listening to you. Like I was in the car driving to school the other day and you know I I like some guy you know cut me off and I was like [ __ ] [ __ ] And I'm I'm driving and like about five minutes later in the back seat I hear [ __ ] [ __ ] from 8-YEAR-OLD [screaming]

9:08 same delivery. Oh my gosh. And you know they're going to say that and my wife's gonna hear it and then I'm dead.

9:17 Yes. Exactly. [clears throat] There's no there's no way I so you're learning as you go.

9:25 That's amazing. All right. Well, to summarize the movie for everybody that needs to go watch this thing. Uh George Ker plays a famous actor Jay Kelly alongside this is an awesome moment. His manager Adam Sandler the Sandman baby.

9:39 And you guys go to Europe to kind of as a sbatical almost to kind of re find out, you know, what are we doing here? And a little midlife crisis kind of moment. I thought it was fantastic.

9:48 It's so much fun. You guys do you guys know Adam at all? Have you ever met him?

9:52 Well, yeah, baby. Yeah, Travis was in uh Happy Gilmore 2. I had the pleasure of being on set with the big guy.

9:58 Yeah, that's right. You were in the movie. By the way, he didn't ask me in the movie.

10:03 That's a missed opportunity, Adam. That's a missed opportunity. Yeah, I told him, man. I work cheap.

10:11 Not, you know, not like Travis. I'm doing this thing for free. just let me be on set. Man,

10:18 he's such a good egg. You know, he's such a fun cat and fun to fun to, you know, work with. He and I have been playing basketball together for about 30 years and, you know, just a chance to get a chance to to work with him. Was what a blast. What a fun thing to be able to do, you know,

10:31 just the best, man. Adam, such a good dude, man. I was I was I'm still forever thankful that he he even sent the ass to allow me to be the waiter. But honestly, looking back on it, if he would have asked you and you would have been that waiter, god damn that I think the movie might have been 10 times better, man. [ __ ]

10:48 dude, I I I I play a great waiter. You have no idea. I'm such a good movie. Seeing you roll

10:56 seeing you chess bump Xander Shafley. So now is this going to be is this going to be the the thing now? You know, when you retire, I know you're not going to retire. When you retire, is this going to are you going to go into some show business? Are you going to act more?

11:11 Listen, as long as I'm getting asked by by guys like Adam Sandler, you know, my heroes growing up, man, I'm I'm going to be there in a heartbeat, man. I I don't know uh I don't know how much skill I have, but I'll be the best teammate on set and have some fun with you. Uh if if you hire me, that's for damn sure.

11:28 That's exciting, man. That's going to be fun. By the way, uh Travis, you were in Lake Como, weren't you?

11:33 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Me and Tay danced around Lake Ko for a little while, man. I loved it out there. That's my uh you know I got a place there out there.

11:40 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. They love they love to point it out whenever you're doing the uh whenever you're on the lake.

11:46 I'm part of the tour. Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's a funny thing. And now if you look to your left, you see a Georgia house.

11:53 I'll tell you what, it sits perfectly on that water, man. It's a beautiful place and a beautiful area. Everybody out there is so lovely, man. I was every morning I was throwing my my shoes on, running up and down the water and we had gloomy days. We had beautiful days and it was just every single day was just a new epic like realization what's really around the world and I had never even imagined that place, you know, in my dreams.

12:16 Had you spent time in Italy at all? No, that was my first time cuz you know what you'll see is there's there's a version of life that they lived pretty interesting. You know, they they really celebrate dinner. you know, it's two hours and you're eating with you're eating with a 10-year-old and you're eating with your grandparents and it's a you know, they they they do it right there.

12:36 There's so many little spots that are just so fun to go to dinner, too, man. It's like it's like you're you're you're going to a place that has like 10 seats

12:44 in in a in a corner of a cove and it's just the the best pasta you could ever imagine and just the best. It it it's such a cool place. I I recommend that place for everybody.

12:54 Love it. Love it. Yeah, it's good. Well, one of the things in the movie here, George, is that there the entourage of Jay's character is immense, right? Not just Adam, like everybody that is like that is at the beck and call of this movie star,

13:09 hair stylist. Yeah. You know, like like Travis does. IT'S very similar. Makeup hair.

13:18 How accurate is this portrayal? Is this an accurate Hollywood trope? Well, I know some actors who have pretty big uh you know, pretty big crowd around them. It doesn't seem like it' be all that fun, but I do know a few that have it. It does seems like a lot of work to me.

13:32 Yeah. Um I hear you. But I you know, most of the gang that I know are pretty uh actually live a pretty normal life, believe it or not. I mean, it's it's sort of surprising, but you know, most of the guys like all the gang from Oceans that I you know, Brad and Matt and uh Julia, they actually have fairly normal lives considering sort of who they are, you know?

13:55 Yeah. Not me. I have like 40 people. There's someone sitting directly behind me holding my face back AT ALL TIMES.

14:06 YEAH. Oh man, that was a banger. George, did you have to do some sort of like uh like long distance training? You're running in like the entire second half of the movie. You're just sprinting across fields.

14:19 Okay, so here's the thing. First of all, we were trying to run like a big goofball, but you know, I'm I'm I'm 64 years old and we do like it's like a couple hundred yards sprinting.

14:28 Oh yeah. And I do it like 30 like 30 takes, you know. Oh my gosh. And at one point I go to the director. I go, you know, I'm I'm 6'4 and he goes, "Well, I just like to see you run faster." [screaming]

14:43 No way. No way. And here's something I learned from Jason. Rather than running faster, I just pumped my arms faster.

14:53 That's right. That's right. That's right. There you go. That's something smarter, not harder.

14:58 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh gosh. So, wait, where are you guys? You're in You're in KC, right?

15:07 Yep. And Jason, where are you? I'm in Philly, man. I live here. My We settled here. My wife is from 5 minutes away from where we live, so we got a lot of support with the kids and everything. So,

15:16 there really wasn't another option. I don't know if we'd be able to do what we do.

15:20 Do you guys battle it out over who's got the the coolest podcast? Do you get into that? Do you fight?

15:27 For sure. Well, it's everything. You already know. You got to you you got to you got to go after every bit of like uh bragging rights at at the dinner table during Thanksgiving, man. It's it's it never stops.

15:38 What? Let me ask you this. As as a Cincinnati fan, Burrow is coming back. Like, does that inspire you or is it just like this defense is so bad it doesn't matter who's playing quarterback?

15:46 Well, I worry. I mean, you know, it's not like Flaco wasn't putting up good numbers, so what do you do? Listen, it's been it's it's anch.

15:53 Yeah. No, it's an interesting thing to be a a Cincinnati fan in general. And you know, I grew up when I was growing up in Cincinnati, we were in Kentucky, but across the river, I was, you know, so in 1975, I was 14 years old and we had the big red machine, you know, and it was like I didn't think I thought we were always going to be the, you know, Cincinnati is going to be the epicenter of great sports, you know. Yeah.

16:20 I didn't realize that that was sort of going to be our our swan song in general.

16:27 [snorts] Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, those that freaking Joe Morgan, Kent Griffy. Oh, yeah.

16:33 I mean, think about the [snorts] I mean, we had a team, man. Yeah, [clears throat] man. Absolutely.

16:38 Have you uh Have you met Joey Burrow, the smooth guy, an Ohio native? No. Haven't ran into him yet.

16:44 No. And I, you know, and I'm a and I'm a big fan. I know that you you guys like to harm him. I know that. But, uh,

16:52 listen, he's he's harmed us. He won I think the first three games ever played against us. I remember it. I remember it.

16:59 Rename the stadium [clears throat] Jason between Burrow and our you know we have some amazing receivers and Chase and those guys where you know we really do have a you know it's fun to watch again that part's fun. It's just heartbreaking to you know try to stop a run. It's like are you guys going to win it all this year? That's the uh that's the plan, big guy. We got some things to clean up, that's for sure. So, I won't I won't just go ahead and say that we're we're going to. But

17:32 when you've won Super Bowls, is it every team that comes in is is gunning for you guys then? Is that how it feels?

17:38 For sure. That's That's the pride. That's the That's the honor that you get though when you win it. You know what I mean? Like I I'm a competitor where I want everybody's [ __ ] best. I want I want I get excited about those games when the moments are huge and you know what I mean? It's a it's a close game and you need to be your greatest. Like I [ __ ] love those moments. Those are my those are my favorite games to be a part of.

17:58 And it definitely when you playing good quarterbacks like Burrow and and and Josh Allen and and those guys like it's every game. You know what I mean? Like you know you got to play your your top or else you're going to get smoked.

18:08 I got I got a question. George, do you guys ever do actors get competitive like athletes?

18:13 Well, that's funny. Like everybody's gunning for the Chiefs and the Eagles for the Super Bowl. Like do you get competitive with some of these other guys? Like my film's going to outdo yours or How does that work?

18:24 No, I don't think so because we're kind of, you know, there's not a, you know, I don't have to beat out somebody or they don't have to beat me out. So I, you know, to to sort of succeed, you know, in a weird way, but

18:35 so there isn't really that kind of competition, you know. I mean, I do enjoy like, you know, I'll give those guys [ __ ] I love giving Matt Damon [ __ ] You know, that's good.

18:46 He deserves it, by the way. Absolutely. Absolutely. By the way, he's a Patriots fan and the Patriots are playing well. I can't live with it right now. It's It's bad.

18:57 I just want to hear about They let him They let him Ohio guy get a get at the realm, man. I'm just saying. Ohio ball player, man. Crazy how much can make a difference.

19:05 Yeah. It's huge, though. And then and you know, and Pit's a Kansas City fan. So, you guys got Pit.

19:10 Oh, yeah. So, you know, the whole Oceans the whole Oceans team is breaking me, man. It's just too much.

19:17 You know, we're going to DO ANOTHER OCEANS. WHAT? You guys are doing another one? Yeah, we're gonna do another one.

19:22 Oh, you know, now we're old, so it's going to be like mostly just trying not to crap yourself,

19:30 dude. I I can't [ __ ] I can't [ __ ] wait though. It's like every sneeze is a gamble now, you know?

19:35 Yeah. Is this already like you guys getting ready to film it? How does this work?

19:39 No, we're scouting locations. Everything's been agreed to. Yeah. The only the main thing is just finding the time for those in the schedule to figure out when we can all do it. But yeah, we've got a really good script and it'll it's gonna be fun. Fun to work get those guys back in the room. It'll be fun.

19:52 Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. Well, it's been pretty damn good so far. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think you'll ever get back in on screen with the Cohen brothers? I got to say, oh brother, we're out thou hail Caesar. They can burn after reading. Come on now.

20:04 Oh my gosh. Yeah, that was a pretty funny thing. You know, I remember when I was doing

20:09 Oh brother, where art thou? You know, they came to me. My aunt was this famous singer named Rosemary Clooney. great singer and back in the 50s and

20:17 um they kind of assumed because I had an aunt who could sing. I think they assumed I could sing.

20:24 Okay. All right. Quite the assumed I assumed I could sing, too, by the way. And then I got down they took me down to Nashville and they had me singing Man of Constant Sorrow in the literally in a recording studio.

20:39 Yeah. And I sing it like all out, you know. And I finish and I look up and no one will look me in the eye, you know? They're all looking down like,

20:47 "Oh man, we're gonna have to come." Let's play it back for you, George. They're hoping and it just sounded like a cat caught in the wheel well of a car, you know?

20:58 It was so bad, so humiliating. So then they brought another guy and they dubbed me. But, you know, those guys, I mean, some of their movies are just some of the best films. I mean, Raising Arizona, you know, from early on, they were just

21:11 good film. I don't know. They they kind of they're not they haven't been working together as much right now, but if they get something back together, I'll do it. I you know, if they call, I'll go. I've never I think I've done five films with them. They're fun to work with, you know.

21:24 Yeah. Absolutely. We got one last segment here for you, George, man. We know you're on a tight schedule, brother.

21:29 Hey, baby. I'm ready. Come on. We uh we appreciate the time, but this is our last segment. We got to ask, but you don't have to answer. You can tell us to kick rocks or you can uh have some fun with us in the question.

21:38 Ask them away, man. Whatever you got. You claim that you and your wife haven't got in a fight in 10 years.

21:43 That's right. Are you lying? No, I'm not lying. Uh uh Travis, shall we ask you the same questions?

21:53 Well, it's only been two and a half years and you're right. I haven't gotten an argument until

21:59 All right. Never once. Honestly, you know, neither of us are going to win the argument, so why get in it?

22:04 There we go. There you go. That's a smart man right there. What's the secret? Just not just staying out of the argument alto together.

22:11 Dude, I'm 64 years old and what am I going to argue about at this point? You know, I'm like, yeah, you know, I've met this incredible woman that, you know, is, you know, she she's uh beautiful and smart and she stands for all the most important things that I believe in in the world. And I I can't believe how lucky I am. So, what am I going to fight about? You know, I'm like,

22:32 that's a great answer. God damn, that's a good one. Too late to do it. Yeah, you can use that if you want.

22:38 I'm stealing it for sure. I'm just I I'm just taking notes this whole this whole time, big guy, you don't even know.

22:43 Exactly. Come on. Bring me another one. What else you got? Come on, Trev. Uh, as Batman, where do you rank Jason as fat Batman? Do we have the the picture for him?

22:53 Let's see that. OH, NICE. I think they remember that picture coming out. Oh gosh.

23:00 You know, very unfortunate. You could be one of the uh one of the bad guys in the film. By the way, uh you and I all both of you and I know that I was the best Batman. You know that, right?

23:13 Absolutely. I mean, there's no arguably best. I mean, Ben Affleck, come on. I MEAN,

23:20 I PUT uh This is where There it is. Yeah. This is where that competitiveness comes in. Yeah,

23:27 you know, I'm the only one who had rubber nipples. You had rubber nipples. Rubber nipples didn't come through right there. That is just didn't come through enough on the suit.

23:39 Yeah. Yeah. It was when it got colder, it was like two Dunlap tires coming out.

23:48 Bad look. Is it true that you once stole Bill Clinton's stationery uh and and wrote a fake note to actors saying president? Go ahead.

23:58 Jimmy Kimmel gave me a stack of stationery with a presidential seal and Bill Clinton's name on it.

24:04 All right. And I would send notes to all these actors from Bill Clinton. I'd sign it like and I'd find a movie that wasn't a great film of theirs and I'd be like, you know, I love you in this film. And I'd write these notes and I'd send I send like 30 different actors. I guarantee you some of them are framed on some of their own.

24:22 OH MY GOSH. NOW THEY KNOW. THEY still don't know. So good. That is amazing. They Now they know.

24:29 Now they know. Oh my gosh. Holy crap. It's so much fun. By the way, I did that. I do that a lot. Like I have I had Brad Pitt stationary. Yeah.

24:39 And I sent uh you know, I've told a couple people this before, but I I Brad Pitt Stationer that Kimmel gave me again, and I sent somebody sent me this this book of of of dialects, like CDs where you could do an Irish accent or you could do a French accent. It was a guy who teaches and I had this big book. I don't know why I had somebody sent it to me. And so I take a note with Brad Pitt and I send it to Merryill Street and I go, "Dear Merryill from Brad." Yeah.

25:09 I go, "This guy helped me in my accent in the movie Troy, and I thought [clears throat] maybe you could use it." And I sent her this

25:18 book of accents from Brad Pitt. [clears throat] It's so awful. Like four years later, I like four years later, I see her and I tell the story.

25:36 Yeah, he knows it now. Four years later, I see Mel and I tell her the story and she's like, "Oh my god, I was wondering why the [ __ ] he's sending me."

25:48 So awful. That is epic. That is epic. We've done a lot of terrible things to each other. He's done terrible things to me, man. So, it all comes out.

25:55 It all evens out. That's so good, man. Well, speaking of Brad, he told us a story when he was on New Heights not too long ago about how he um he ate so many beans during a scene, right before a scene that he um or during the scene, I'm sorry, that he ended up Yeah. clearing the set.

26:11 He cleared the set. Yeah, he cleared the set from what he said. Uh what's your like worst moment on set? Uh I think right now just exact moment right here. I don't think I I don't think I can sink to a no new or low. I can think, you know, I'll tell you some of my worst moments. I said I remember when we So, like, you know, when you're a younger actor, you get a movie and you think it's going to be great. And I I remember being on the set of uh of Batman and Robin, which is famously one of the worst films of all time, and I'm terrible in it. And uh I remember there was like a the director with you know I'm laying in a you're in a rubber cowl and you can't move cuz it weighs like 75 lbs and you're like tucked down and you're on a board laying down like this and you're waiting to for action and the director Schumacher is like going okay here we go and your parents are dead you have nothing to live for and action. And then

27:13 they drop ME UP ON THE I GO, I'm Batman. And they go and then I drop you back down. And I remember thinking, you know, I was so excited to get the part and then I realized I was the worst thing in the movie. So it was uh it was a pretty humiliating time overall.

27:31 Oh my goodness. It was humiliating. Greatest Batman of all time. Can't tell me any different,

27:35 dude. I'm telling you, best Batman ever. You know, come on. Michael Keaton's got nothing on that.

27:43 [gasps] Well, you uh talking speaking off of that moment, do you have a welcome to Hollywood moment? We ask a lot of our guests, it could be good or bad. Like you're kind of like first moment where you're like, man, I'm I'm in it. I'm in Hollywood.

27:57 Oh, I don't know. I have to think about that. Like, yeah. I mean, like I remember meeting Paul Newman, you know, and it's like,

28:07 you know, I grown up with him, right? I'd seen him in at the drive-in theater in Mazeville, Kentucky, and like, you know, Butch Cassie, the Sundance Kid, and all this

28:16 stuff. And then like I I remember uh being on the lot at Warner Brothers, driving going by in a golf cart, and there was Paul Newman. And I stopped and I go, "Hey." And he goes, "Hey man." And he came over and he had a beer and a cigarette. And he goes, "You want a beer?" And I was like, "Yeah, I need a beer." Turning that down. And I I I was still working, by the way, and I was like, "Yeah, I'll take a" And I just wanted to drink a beer with Paul Newman. And I I I sat there for like an hour and a half outside the sound stage with him just talking. And I remember going home thinking,

28:49 dude, I just I just hung with Paul Newman, man. It was like I remember that being like,

28:55 you know, there was that era of actual proper movie stars. You know, Gregory Peek and I became friends. There's like that thing where you go, these guys are they are actually bigger than life. And it was it was a real thrill. You know, his eyes were bluer in person than they were on screen. You know, it was really something.

29:14 Well, you know, man, I can say the same thing. It's you now, man. I appreciate you for being the [ __ ] coolest guy on the goddamn world, man. We had a [ __ ] whole lot of fun reaching your new low on New Heights.

29:28 And uh we we can't say enough good about you. And and everybody go and see Jay Kelly uh coming out on Netflix here soon. And um man, can't thank you enough for your time, brother. You're the [ __ ] best.

29:40 And and good luck. Good luck Bengals defense. Yeah, you already know. Oh, you hurt me. One last shot to the chest. [clears throat]

Questions about this episode

What is "George Clooney Joins New Heights!" about?

George Clooney makes a surprise appearance in a lighthearted discussion, where he showcases his charismatic and easygoing personality while engaging with Jason and Travis. The conversation touches on nostalgia, fan experiences, and Clooney's connection to Cincinnati, blending celebrity insights with personal anecdotes.

What is mentioned in this New Heights episode?

83 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Klay Travis, Bengals, Jay Kelly, Jerry White's book on 19th century London, Straight Street, New Heights. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "George Clooney Joins New Heights!"?

The episode runs 30 min; the transcript is about 6,379 words in 169 timestamped sections.

More from New Heights

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated December 14, 2025.