George Clooney loves being on camera; that's one reason he got into show business.
But in a dire moment in his life, he would have really preferred if the cameras had been turned off.
Speaking with The Sunday Times, the "Tender Bar" director recently recalled a 2018 motorcycle accident he had, and what it was like to discover people filming him while he was still on the ground.
He was in Italy at the time of the crash, filming the Hulu limited series "Catch-22," and heading to the set. But he crashed into a car, flew into the air, and hit the ground. When he glanced up, he found onlookers aiming their cameras and cellphones at him.
"If you're in the public eye, what you realize when you're on the ground thinking it's the last minute of your life is that, for some people, it's just going to be entertainment for their Facebook page," Clooney, 60, said. "I'm a pretty positive guy, but that told me — clearly — that you really are here just for their entertainment."
He spoke about the crash with GQ in 2020, noting that his wife Amal and twins, Alexander and Ella, now 4, were the first things he thought of at the time. "My kids were like a year old, and mostly it was just the thought that this was it and that I wasn't gonna see them again," said Clooney.
Surveillance camera footage also captured the exact moment of the accident; at the time, TODAY reported he flew "20 feet" into the air.
As for the crash itself, he says the other driver "literally turned directly in front of me." Fortunately, "I landed on my hands and knees. If you did it 100 times, maybe once you land on your hands and knees, and any other version you land, you're toast. It knocked me out of my shoes."
He also thought it had knocked other things out, like his teeth. "But it was glass from the windshield," he said.
And for a few moments, he really thought it was all over. "I was waiting for my switch to turn off."
Fortunately, "I'm fine now."
We're all grateful for that.