Clooney shares desert island plan

Hollywood heart throb George Clooney breaks with tradition when he appears as the latest guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs tomorrow.

Normally the guest on the programme picks their favourite records but Clooney picks one that he hates.

The 41-year-old star, who was in London this week for his directorial debut, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, reckons the song would drive him to drastic measures to effect his escape.

He told presenter Sue Lawley: “You need a reason to get off the island and if you play William Shatner singing Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds then you will hollow out your own leg and make a canoe out of it to get off this island.”

Clooney was greeted by screaming fans when he attended the UK premiere of Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, whose supporting cast includes Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore.

Clooney’s Ocean’s Eleven co-stars Matt Damon and Brad Pitt have cameos as contestants on a Blind Date-style game show.

The film tells the story of legendary 1970s American TV producer and Gong Show host Chuck Barris.

It is based on Barris’s autobiography in which he claims to have led an extraordinary double life as a CIA assassin – fronting game shows by day and murdering government targets by night.

Clooney was well qualified to direct the film about TV game shows – his father was a former host of 1970s quiz The Money Maze.

Clooney speaks of his father as an important influence in his life, particularly in relation to his public opposition to a war with Iraq.

He said: “I always have to make sure I’m doing the right thing so I called my dad up and we talked for a couple of hours... My dad’s the guy who says ‘Don’t come back and look me in the eye if you don’t say something’...

“My dad is proud when I stand up and talk about things that people don’t talk about. I think it’s important to right now.”

He also reveals that he took part in last Saturday’s peach march in Berlin.

He said: “It was an amazingly different feeling. There’s a difference when the people are marching in praise of their government’s stance as opposed to trying to fight against it.”

Critical of the US Government, he accuses the Bush Administration of a cunning manipulation of the nation’s loyalties.

“The Administration did a very smart thing, first of all trying to tie September 11 to Hussein and then to stand up and say you’re either with the administration or with the enemy, which works directly opposite of the idea of freedom of speech and freedom of dissent. It’s the founding principle and it’s not just your right but your patriotic duty to question the actions of your government.”

Clooney, known for being down-to-earth, talks of how much he enjoys having control over his career and being able to make his own films, as well as how he never takes his star status for granted.

“I’m grateful for most of it and I also understand, because I used to cut tobacco for a living, that you’re not allowed to complain because anything that you’re doing is better than cutting tobacco.”

:: Desert Island Discs is broadcast tomorrow at 12.15pm on BBC Radio 4.