George Clooney reveals he cast Christopher Abbott in Catch-22 after watching HBO's 'Girls sort of religiously' in Variety
George Clooney and Christopher Abbott are gracing the latest cover of Variety.
The actors have teamed up for a new adaptation of Joseph Heller's 1961 novel Catch-22 for Hulu but Clooney admitted that it was Abbott's role in Girls that helped score him his part.
Abbott, 33, is best known for his supporting role of Charlie Dattolo in HBO's hit Lena Dunham show Girls.
Cover story: George Clooney reveals that Christopher Abbott's supporting role in HBO's Girls helped him score the lead role in the latest adaptation of Catch-22 in the new issue of Variety
'That's how [Christopher Abbott] got the part was because I watch Girls sort of religiously,' Clooney revealed in an interview.
He went on: 'I actually went back and watched a couple of episodes of Chris on Girls and, listen, it's not fully my cup of tea as a show but that's probably because I'm a 57 year-old man.'
For his part, Christopher had not watched Clooney in his most famous television role, ER.
Since then the silver-fox has had a storied film career, even earning him an Academy Award, and has gotten to play the Caped Crusader.
!['That's how [Christopher Abbott] got the part was because I watch Girls sort of religiously,' Clooney revealed in an interview. (pictured alongside Allison Williams in Girls)](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424064559/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/23/21/12627706-6951829-_That_s_how_Christopher_Abbott_got_the_part_was_because_I_watch_-a-18_1556051723168.jpg)
!['That's how [Christopher Abbott] got the part was because I watch Girls sort of religiously,' Clooney revealed in an interview. (pictured alongside Allison Williams in Girls)](http://web.archive.org./web/20190424064559im_/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/04/23/21/12627706-6951829-_That_s_how_Christopher_Abbott_got_the_part_was_because_I_watch_-a-18_1556051723168.jpg)
'That's how [Christopher Abbott] got the part was because I watch Girls sort of religiously,' Clooney revealed in an interview. (pictured alongside Allison Williams in Girls)
When asked who should step into the batsuit by Variety now that Ben Affleck has vacated the role, Clooney joked that he had no idea since he was a terrible Bathman.
'I'm not sure,' he quipped. 'I screwed it up so badly, I'm not allowed to weigh in on those subject matters anymore.'
The actor had been busy filming Catch-22 over a nearly half a year in Italy in an effort to bring the classic novel back to the screen.
Departing slightly from the novel, the show will be told from the point of view of main character, Yossarian, who is played Abbott.
His character is featured in nearly every single scene and the actors told Variety that Chris would have to change costumes in one of the prop tents because he had no time to go back to his trailer.
He's back! Catch-22 will mark the grand return of Clooney, 57, to television after he reached stardom on ninetie's drama ER
'The most important part to us was casting Chris,' Clooney said.
The ER star is making his return to television in the series as the character Scheisskopf but is also producing the show and directing several episodes.
'We want to be a home for top talent,' said Hulu head of original series Craig Erwich to Variety. 'George Clooney is certainly a top talent. So this was an incredible opportunity to do business with somebody you'd want to do business with.'
The mini-series is primarily about a 'bunch of guys' and also stars Hugh Laurie and Kyle Chandler. Clooney admitted that women were portrayed in the novel in a 'terrible' manner and the producers worked hard to remedy that while staying authentic to the work.
Leading man: Abbott's character is featured in nearly every single scene and the actors told Variety that Chris would have to change costumes in one of the prop tents because he had no time to go back to his trailer
Catch-22 is being created by a American-British-Italian trio of networks.
Hulu will air the series in the United States, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, and Sky Italia in Italy. It is slated to premiere in 2019.
The adaptation is also said to cater for the MeToo era, with Clooney previously critcizing the misogyny of the book, saying his take will see a greater focus on female roles.
Catch-22 has been plagued by claims it reduces its female figures to sexual objects; and Clooney agreed to the project only because the script reframed the novel’s sexist depiction of women, according to The Times.
Clooney said: 'The most important part to us was casting Chris'
‘We tried to be part of the solution as opposed to being part of the problem,’ he said, adding that he and co-producer Grant Heslov brought in women to work in senior off-screen roles.
High-profile appointments on the project include cinematographer Ellen Kuras, who will direct two of the six episodes.
In Clooney’s version, Nurse Duckett, one of the novel’s female figures, will be given a more complex role, played by Grey’s Anatomy actress Tessa Ferrer.
Luke Davies, who co-authored the script, said: ‘We made it our mission statement to make the portrayal of women more interesting, and not because we think the world has changed, not because we think that outside forces tell us that we need to do that, but because the portrayal of women is so goddamn awful.’
