George Clooney attends the 51st Chaplin Award Gala honoring George Clooney at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on April 27, 2026, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for FLC)
George Clooney is getting the Golden Lion.
The actor is set to be honored at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The board of directors of La Biennale made the decision to honor Clooney, as recommended by the artistic director of the festival, Alberto Barbera.
“I’ve had so many extraordinary moments in Venice. This festival is without question my favorite and to be given the Golden Lion is a tremendous honor. It also probably means I’m old, but I’ll take it,” Clooney said in a statement.
Barbera called Clooney a triple threat in his own statement, complimenting his work as an actor, director and producer.
“George Clooney is a complete and charismatic artist, impassioned and original, who has transformed a deep vocation into one of the most luminous parabolas of contemporary film. An early career launched without shortcuts, with small roles in TV series and B movies until his major success as the star of the series ER, formed an actor who is able to inhabit the screen with disarming spontaneity,” Barbera said. “He is endowed with the gift of making his characters seem not only credible but desirable, approachable, and human, thanks to his undeniable charm. But Clooney’s charisma is constructed on his credibility, not on his image, because his seductive side has never been merely aesthetic.”
The festival’s artistic director continued, saying Clooney is “a perfect combination of the star glamour of days gone by, remarkable professionalism, and modern sensitivity, the actor has crossed the genres with rare versatility.”
The 2026 Venice International Film Festival will take place from Sept. 2 to Sept. 12.
Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Harrison in Netflix’s ‘A Different World’ (Netflix)
A new semester begins in September at the fictional Hillman College.
A new trailer to the show follows Maleah Joi Moon’s Deborah Wayne, daughter of fan favorites Whitley and Dwayne, as she begins her college years at their alma mater, Hillman College.
“My parents have been pushing Hillman since before they knew my name,” she tells a counselor who questions her reason for attending the school. “I wanna prove to them I can crush it.”
The clip features Deborah introducing her roommate to mother, Whitley; what appears to an impending romance with the college football star; and Deborah finding her voice as she leads a movement on campus.
“You are forging your own legacy at Hillman,” Whitley tells her daughter.
In addition to Whitley and Dwayne, played by Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Harrison, the trailer features original A Different World cast members Freddie Brooks (Cree Summer) and Ron Johnson (Darryl M. Bell).
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Julianne Moore has found her next project. Variety reports that she is set to executive produce and star in a new comedy film for Netflix. The currently untitled movie comes from Higher Ground, the production company founded by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. It follows a mother who panics when her daughter is offered a promotion that will force her to move across the country …
