‘Jay Kelly’ – with George Clooney playing a Clooney-esque movie star – lands in Venice

By Canadian Press on August 28, 2025.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — In “Jay Kelly,” George Clooney plays a very George Clooney-esque movie star on a self-reflective journey through Europe. The film, which is premiering Thursday night at the Venice Film Festival, explores heady questions about finding oneself while also poking fun at the business of being a major celebrity in the world and all the people on their payroll around them.

But hours before the premiere, Clooney was absent from the news conference with his castmates due to a “bad sinus infection,” the moderator explained. He still hopes to make the red carpet later.

The meta-qualities of “Jay Kelly” led to some self-reflection from the large ensemble cast, including Adam Sandler, who plays Jay’s manager, Laura Dern, who takes on the role of publicist, and Billy Crudup, as the most talented guy in his acting class who didn’t make it big.

“I’ve always appreciated my manager, my agent, my publicist,” Sandler said. “I know how hard they work and how difficult it is to hear my ups and downs in life and back me up no matter what. … I could get loud at times.”

“Jay Kelly” was directed by Noah Baumbach, who cowrote with actor Emily Mortimer. He’d always wanted to work with Clooney and when they’d hit on the idea for this film, his was the name that came to mind.

“We started to just say, ‘this will be George,’” Baumbach said. “We all watching it have a history with George just like the people in the movie have a history with Jay.”

Baumbach was on the Lido recently with his Don DeLillo adaptation “White Noise.” Like “White Noise,” “Jay Kelly” is a Netflix-produced film. After taking a year off from the festival, the streaming giant is back with three major films playing in competition, including Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller “A House of Dynamite,” debuting later in the festival.

The 82nd edition of the festival kicked off Wednesday on the Lido. It runs through Sept. 6. Thursday’s festival is also hosting the premiere of the latest Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone collaboration, “Bugonia.”

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For ongoing coverage of the 2025 Venice Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press

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