George Clooney ‘tried to bribe’ Julia Roberts into appearing in Ocean’s Eleven

George Clooney ‘bribed’ Julia Roberts into starring in Ocean’s Eleven by slipping her a $20 note.

The actor pulled off a mini-heist of his own.

Roberts appeared as the ex-wife of Clooney’s Danny Ocean, a gentleman-thief who robs three Las Vegas casinos, in the popular 2001 remake of the 1960 original.

In an interview with GQ, Clooney explained how he tried to help sway her hand during casting.

“I remember Julia – I didn’t know her, I’d never met her – she was making $20m a film. We’d just talked Brad [Pitt] and Matt [Damon] into doing it and we wanted Julia to do it so I put a $20 bill on the script and I sent it to her and I said I hear you get 20 a picture now.”

Whether or not Clooney had any real impact on Robert’s decision, making the movie certainly paid off.

It was followed by Ocean’s Twelve, a sequel starring both Clooney and Roberts, Ocean’s Thirteen, and Ocean’s 8, an all-female spin-off released in 2018.

In all, the franchise made almost £1.5bn at box office, far more than Danny Ocean and his crew could ever hope to make from their elaborate heists.