Friends and colleagues gathered for an event at King’s to toast the launch of CMCI’s Professor Paul McDonald’s latest book, which traces the career of actor-filmmaker George Clooney.
He begins with the hit television medical drama “ER” and proceeds up to 2017’s “Suburbicon”, showing the transition from commercial successes such as Ocean’s Eleven (2001) to more political films such as “Syriana”(2005).
McDonald places Clooney in the context of the Hollywood star system, but argues that on the one hand Clooney’s star persona has many similarities with that of traditional Hollywood movie stars such as Cary Grant, but at the same time sees Clooney as a very 21st century transmedia celebrity in the tradition of the “new” Hollywood. He’s a great example, then, of the transition between the two.
In addition to his work within CMCI, Paul McDonald also serves as Vice Dean (People and Planning) for Arts in KCL’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. For more on the book, published by Bloomsbury and the British Film Institute, go to: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/george-clooney-9781844574940/
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