George Clooney
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If it were not for the surprise success of The Artist, he and his film would be favourites to win an Oscar next month. His role in The Descendants is not a typical movie-star character. Clooney shows his age (50) in an emotional, bittersweet drama portraying a husband and father who takes off with his two daughters to track down his comatose wife’s lover. The character is somewhat helpless and vulnerable – what Clooney calls “a schlub” – with untidy hair and decidedly unstylish clothes.