George Clooney recalled a moment from the late 1990s that shaped how he deals with fame, speaking to The New York Times alongside his co-star Adam Sandler. “I’m not as good at getting out as you are,” he told Sandler. “If I go out, that’s going to be an extra hour of talking to people.” That struggle, he said, was something Paul Newman once helped him understand.

A casual greeting that became a lesson

Clooney described meeting Newman at Warner Bros. while Newman was filming Message in a Bottle. Clooney was working in ER at the time and drove past in a studio golf cart.

“I pulled up and was like, ‘Hey, just wanted to say hi,’” Clooney said. Newman, smoking a cigarette, “had no idea who I was.” But as people drove by calling out “George!” again and again, Newman slowly realized Clooney wasn’t just another actor on the lot. “Bit by bit, he figured out I was successful in the industry,” Clooney said.

A lesson Clooney never forgot

That’s when Newman offered the advice that Clooney still remembers word for word. “He goes, ‘George, don’t let them keep you at home,’” Clooney recalled. “He meant that tendency to isolate because you’re trying to hold onto some privacy.”

At the time, Clooney said he often stayed indoors to avoid attention. But hearing it from Newman changed everything. “It made sense immediately,” he said. “I understood exactly what he meant.”

A mentor from Afar

Clooney has admired Newman’s work for decades, even borrowing from his acting style. “I’ve certainly ripped off Paul Newman three or four times,” he joked in an earlier interview, though “not as well.”

He has often praised Newman’s performance in The Verdict, calling it “one of the great performances in any film, ever.” Newman died in 2008 at age 83, but his influence on Clooney clearly remains strong.

Carrying the advice forward

According to PEOPLE, Clooney is now busy promoting Jay Kelly, his newest film with Emily Mortimer, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Greta Gerwig, and Adam Sandler. The movie is in select theaters now and will stream on Netflix on December 5.

Also read: George Clooney confronts the pitfalls of fame in film ‘Jay Kelly’FAQs

When did George Clooney first meet Paul Newman?

George Clooney met Paul Newman in the late 1990s on the Warner Bros. lot while Newman was filming Message in a Bottle and Clooney was working on ER.

What is George Clooney currently promoting?

George Clooney is promoting his latest film, Jay Kelly, which is in select theaters and will stream on Netflix on December 5.