Geroge Clooney admits that the superhero movie nearly ended his big-screen career and that it was up to him to find the right script to turn his film fortunes around.
Clooney starred in the 1997 outing of the caped crusader alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Uma Thurman, Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone. The movie was panned by critics, so much so, that Clooney found himself being overlooked by directors for other roles.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday the 59-year-old actor said: "Steven [Soderbergh] was coming off a couple of flops and I was coming off Batman & Robin and we both needed a success. Our backs were against the wall, in a way.
"I was still doing ER at the time and there were always these conversations about whether you can go from television to film.
"It was a big deal — and I was losing that argument.
"After Batman & Robin, I realised I was going to be held responsible for the movie, not just for the performance. And so we waited, and when I found that movie [Out Of Sight], we chased Steven down to direct it.
"There was a director attached and he walked away because he said I wasn't a movie actor.
"It all worked out. Steven directed the hell out of that movie — he did a beautiful job with it."
Clooney, who is now a two-time Oscar winner, also said he is grateful for any movie he has been cast in.
"I cut tobacco for a living for three dollars and 33 cents an hour. And I knew one thing when I left Kentucky, which was I didn't want to be a tobacco cutter — I was pretty sure of that. So everything on top of that has been gravy for me.
"That's why I tend to find it silly when people are tortured by it. It doesn’t mean they don’t have rough times and something doesn’t make somebody mad, but the general overall spirit should be exciting.
"I was a struggling actor for 15 years. Any job you got, it was, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you’. And you’d show up and some guy is a jerk and you’re like, 'I don’t care. I got a job. I’m getting paid and paying the rent. I’m thrilled to be here. I’m lucky’."
