George and Amal Clooney have welcomed a Yazidi refugee from Iraq into their home.
The couple offered their help and support to the unnamed young man and he is now living in one of the ‘Suburbicon’ director’s houses in Augusta, Kentucky, and is studying at the University of Chicago.
George said: "He was on this bus to Mosul, and ISIS shot the two bus drivers and said, ‘Anybody who wants to go to college, we will shoot them.’
"He survived and came to America. He got through all the checks, and once he got through those, it was like, ‘Listen, we got your back. You want to get an education? You want to move your life forward? This is something that we can do.’ "
The 56-year-old actor – who is known for his humanitarian endeavours, particularly in Sudan – and his human rights lawyer wife have made a pact not to let their work put them in risky situations now they are parents to twins Alexander and Ella, who were born in June.
The couple had a frank chat following a scary time when Amal was in the Maldives, working to get former President Mohamed Nasheed out of prison.
George recalled: "When she finally got out of there, she had another client in jail in Azerbaijan, and I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, let’s make a deal: I won’t go to South Sudan and you don’t go to Azerbaijan. How is that?’ And she said, ‘For now, fine.’
"I don’t know that she’ll stick it out."
Before meeting Amal, the ‘Money Monster’ star – who was previously married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993 – famously led a bachelor lifestyle, but he insists he doesn’t miss the past, though his friends find it hilarious seeing him as a hands-on father.
Asked if he misses the old days, he told the Hollywood Reporter: "I sure don’t. That seems like a lifetime ago. Now my house is filled with the warm sounds of babies crying.
"You should see when my friends show up and see me change a diaper, the laughter that comes from them. I go, ‘I know, I know.’ I’ve given them so much s**t for so many years, I deserve every bit of it."
George and Amal never discussed the prospect of having children until after they tied the knot in September 2014, but felt it would be "self-centred" not to have a family together.
He said: "It had never been part of my DNA. We didn’t plan on it. We never talked about it until after we were married, which is funny. There was an assumption that we didn’t want them.
"And then, after the wedding, Amal and I were talking and we just felt we’d gotten very lucky, both of us, and we should share whatever good luck we’ve got. It would seem self-centered to just have that belong to us."
While he’s delighted to be a father, the ‘Up in the Air’ actor initially thought it was a "mistake" when he was told his wife was expecting twins.
He recalled: "[The doctor] goes, ‘Well, there’s one.’ And I said, ‘Great.’ And then he goes, ‘And there’s the second one.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ We just sat there, staring at that piece of paper they give you, and I kept thinking there was a mistake."
Read the full interview with George at www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/at-home-george-clooney-italy-amal-twins-politics-an-incendiary-new-movie-1035363
George Clooney brings refugee to his home
