Why George Clooney Was Hospitalized Before Filming ‘The Midnight Sky’

George Clooney went through extremes for his latest film, “The Midnight Sky.”

In the post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, Clooney is playing a scientist stationed in the Arctic who tries to warn a space crew about coming back to extreme danger. The role required him to lose 30 lbs. before he started filming. As a result of his rapid weight loss, he was hospitalized with pancreatitis before filming even began.

He told The Mirror, “I think I was trying too hard to lose the weight quickly and probably wasn’t taking care of myself.”

“It took a few weeks to get better, and as a director, it’s not so easy because you need energy,” George shared. “We were out on this glacier in Finland, which made it a lot harder work. But it certainly helped with the character.”

Other big names to lose weight for past roles include Jared Leto, Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey.

“Extra’s” Nate Burleson recently spoke with George about the freezing conditions in Iceland, where he shot the film. With temperatures 40 degrees below zero during the shoot, he pointed out, “It was cold and there was nothing you could do to get warm. I had ice in my beard and to keep it in my beard, I’d have to take a squirt bottle of water and ride around on my snowmobile and just keep blasting myself in my face until my face would freeze up again.”

Clooney admitted, “It’s tough to direct yourself in a snowstorm.”