Much has been written about Villa Oleandra, Oscar-winning actor and director George Clooney’s home in the village of Laglio, on the shore of Lake Como in northern Italy. Less coverage has been given to an old factory, also owned by Clooney, which is connected to the villa by a footbridge and which is where the actor keeps a private office and develops his professional projects.

OMEGA photo shoot in Laglio:
When a team from OMEGA was invited to Laglio to photograph the iconic star, it was decided that at least some of the pictures would be taken in the factory. Its rough-hewn, antique wooden floors and exposed-beamed ceiling offered a sharp contrast to the ornate, rococo interiors of Villa Oleandra and the lush gardens which surround it.

The old factory is comfortably furnished and is clearly a working space. Tellingly, it is also outfitted with a pinball machine and a row of old railway clocks, each one set to a different time zone.

There is no doubt that George Clooney is as comfortable in his working space as he is in Villa Oleandra.

The footbridge from Villa Oleandra to the old factory serves as a useful metaphor: Clooney bridges the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and the old-world charm of northern Italy. He also demonstrates that it is possible to create an impressive, serious body of work while maintaining senses of perspective and humour.

George Clooney: actor, director, practical joker and activist:
Clooney is himself a man of contrasts: he is known among his colleagues for his penchant for practical jokes but his serious passion for global environmental and political issues has been extensively documented. His performances in film comedies have been tremendously successful but he has developed an outstanding reputation not only as an actor in serious dramatic films but as a talented writer and director.

It has been argued that George Clooney is the last of the old-time movie stars – reminiscent, perhaps, of Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant. No actor working today, however, lives more in the present than Clooney: Again, he bridges eras as an actor and director while using his incredible popularity to advance causes which he considers greater than himself.

George Clooney and his family: an history with OMEGA:
Clooney’s connection to OMEGA is no accident. As a child, he recalls, he and his friends were obsessed with the space race. OMEGA had been clearly identified with America’s space program. George Clooney remembers that he and his childhood friends had drawn OMEGA logos on their own watches. In July of 1969, at the time of the first lunar landing, his uncle sent eight-year-old George his first OMEGA watch. After Clooney became an Ambassador for the company, his father sent him the OMEGA watch which he had worn for forty years.

And now, in the idyllic village of Laglio in Northern Italy, George Clooney’s OMEGA connection has come full circle connecting his own great moments in time.

On a beautiful, sunny day in a small village on the shores of Lake Como, one of the world’s most successful actors warmly welcomes his guests and then goes straight to work. While the working day begins in the garden in front of Villa Oleandra, it is fitting that the action is moved to the old factory across one of the many bridges which George Clooney crosses so comfortably.

Courtesy: OMEGA SA, Switzerland

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Posted by Jigar Gondalia on 9 May, 2008 12:30:16 PM IST #