Barbara Walters: The dazzling dancing fountains here at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. They speak of glamour and fun even in these unsettling times. And that’s where I brought six of the biggest movie stars here to make a film inspired by the original Ocean’s 11. And talk about star power, how’s this: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Julia Roberts. And we’ve them all, together. Laughing, poking fun, disagreeing, discussing love and marriage. And then telling us how their lifes, like ours, have been affected by the events of September 11th. I don’t think you’ve ever heard them quite like this. Stay with us.

*Clip showing the cast and Barbara Walters, walking down a pathway, talking*

Voice-over BW: It’s late October in Southern California. And six stars from the new film ‘Ocean’s 11’ have agreed to an interview. Six of the biggest moviestars in the world. Together, in one room. They are: Andy Garcia, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, and George Clooney.

*Clip showing the stars having a drink outside in the garden, talking and laughing*

Voice-over BW: If you’re going to put six stars together, you need three things; first, it helps if they like each other. These six obviously do. Second; you need a mutual gathering place. In this case we have the home of the film’s producer; the legendary Jerry Weintraub.

*Clip showing Jerry Weintraub’s estate*

Voice-over BW: This estate sits high atop the hills of Malibu, and even has a name: ‘Blue Heaven’. There’s the oblivitory spoonpool, though we didn’t do any swimming. There’s a spectacular view of the pacific but there’s very little time this day for sightseeing. We did check out the guest cottage. Where presidents have stayed. And Jerry’s prized collection of stallions.

Brad Pitt: Can you ride them?

Jerry Weintraub: No.

Don Cheadle: but they’re good eatin’.

BP: [Laughing]

Voice-over BW: Third, and perhaps the most important, you need a director that everyone wants to work with, like Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh. Whose re-telling of the campy sixties classic Ocean’s Eleven beams like a sure bet. Like the original, the action takes place in Las Vegas.

*Clip of Las Vegas*

BW: The Strip in Las Vegas today, looks nothing like the earlier Strip when mobster Bugsy Seagal build the Flamingo Hotel back in 1946. Since then hotels here have been build and demolished and rebuild and demolished again. Las Vegas is a city with a huge future, but no visible past. When you talk Vegas history, you start with the mobsters then move to the Ratpack. Remember them?

*Clip in black and white showing the original Ratpack performing in Vegas*

Voice-over BW: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop they were the original ratpack and they had it all; money, beautiful women, powerful friends, together they practically ran Las Vegas. In 1960 the ratpack made their first feature film together; Ocean’s Eleven. The story of a group of old army buddies who’ve intend to rob 5 casinos in one night.

*Clip from the original Ocean’s Eleven movie*

Voice-over BW: The leader of the group is Danny Ocean, played by Frank Sinatra. 41 years later, there’s the new Las Vegas, a new Ocean’s Eleven and a new ratpack.

*Clip from the new Ocean’s Eleven*

Voice-over BW: Director Steven Soderbergh has created a hipper, grittier Ocean’s Eleven. Where the stakes are a lot higher.

*Clip from the new Ocean’s Eleven*

BW: Las Vegas today is more than just high stakes gamblers, it caters to folks who like to shop and see the shows and occasionally risk losing $5 or $10 on a machine. But Ocean’s Eleven isn’t buying any of that. It’s an old fashioned escapist movie where lots of cool tough guys, who joined forced to knock over 3 casinos, the Bellagio here being one of them, on a single night Danny Ocean and his boys intended to walk away with a $160 million.

*Clip from the cast of O11 sitting down on the couches in the livingroom of Jerry Weintraub’s home*

Voice-over BW: With this much starpower I’m sure Jerry Weintraub is hoping a $160 million is what this movie makes in the first couple of weeks.

BW: George, you saw the script, the new script first of Ocean Eleven first. Why did you decide to do it?

George Clooney: Well I thought it was a terrific script. Jerry Weintraub had it and had just developed it. He sent Steven and I, Steven Soderbergh who is the director the script. And he just said okay let’s go after the best cast we can get and…

Julia Roberts: They weren’t available.

*Everybody laughs*

GC: And we couldn’t get them, these were the ones we got. And then we sent the script to Brad and we had a meeting…

BW: And you didn’t mind being second banana to George?

GC: Second banana…

Brad Pitt: Not one bit.

GC: It’s an ensemble!

*Clip of Ocean’s Eleven*

BW: I can’t remember where there last was one with this kind of an ensemble cast. You know everybody just did it for the fun of it and the fun of it shows. You know?

GC: [Laughs] Steven said, we were just coming off of Erin Brockovich in traffic and he said ‘you know this is a film that has no redeeming social value.’

BP: ‘I wanna make a film with no social statement’

GC: [Laughing] Exactly.

Barbara Walters: Did you just think this is gonna be fun…

Brad Pitt: Yea

BW: … this is gonna be…

Brad: Yea, and I hadn’t done anything like this. This was also just pure entertainment. There was really no thought, and I’ve been wanting to work with Steven for some time. I was trying, I’ve been avoiding George for some time.

George Clooney: [Laughing]

Brad: But I said what the hell.

BW: And Julia, I mean you can do any kind of a role and you take this role, which is not huge…

Brad: It’s a stand out.

George: No small parts.

BW: What did you say?

Brad: It’s a stand out.

BW: It’s a stand... yea.

Julia Roberts: I’m the only girl so I have to stand out in some way.

BW: You bet.

*Clip of Ocean’s Eleven*

BW: Did you just think, hey, you know after Erin Brockovich this will be different, this will be just a luck?

Julia: No actually when Steven gave me the script to read I thought he was playing a joke on me cause I said ‘I’ve heard about the story and I know it’s all boys, there’s no part in here for me’. And he was like ‘no really there is’. And as I was out the door he says ‘you know she doesn’t come in till page 42 so, you know, don’t throw it out the window at 35’.

Don Cheadle: Keep reading!

Julia: I just thought it would be fun. It’s nice to be part of like, a group effort in every way and I kinda, at this point, am like Steven’s lapdog I just follow him around begging for work.

BW: Which one of you is the gambler?

*Everybody points at Matt Damon*

George: [Laughing]

Brad: Matt.

Matt Damon: That’s actually because George and I tried to gamble together once.

George: I couldn’t win,

Matt: No he lost, he lost 25 straight hands of BlackJack.

Brad: Oh my

Julia: Really?

*George and Matt are both sharing moments about that night but talking at the same time*

Matt: … and I was like ‘It’s gonna turn man, you’re gonna win a hand’. And he was like ‘I’m not gonna win any’.

George: I told him I won’t win. I won’t win. And he went ‘you will win’. And finally they wouldn’t give me anymore credit at the table and Matt was ‘I got it’ and he gets a marker and it’s gone in like 30 seconds.

Matt: Gone right away.

*Clip of Ocean’s Eleven*

Matt: [Laughing]

BW: Were any of you familiar with the original Ocean’s Eleven, the ratpack?

Andy Garcia: Yea.

BW: You were.

Andy: Actually I had a premonition many years ago when I saw Ocean’s Eleven by remembering or seeing a poster. I said to myself this is a movie that could remain.

Julia: It’s a perfect movie to remake because it’s a great concept and it’s not a great movie and I don’t understand why people remake great movies it seems a fetal action and it’s sort of a great concept, great sort of ensemble playing.

George: Look, we also knew we’re never gonna be as cool as Frank and Sammy and Dean.

*Clip of original Ocean’s Eleven*

George: Those guys…

BW: You’re pretty cool in this.

George: Nah, but that’s. that, they’ve their own hero.

BW: It’s not a remake of Ocean’s Eleven. I mean you play Danny Ocean but it’s not you know…

Don: Who do you think of

Julia: You’ve to rethink

Andy: My role was inexistent

BW: And your role doesn’t exist

Andy: No and it barely exists in this one [laughs]

George: That’s part of the plan

BW: And you Julia, I mean you were much more sophisticated and sorta much more of a prisoner in her own right than Angie Dickinson, the role of Angie just is a very strong role.

Julia: Angie Dickinson rocks in the first one but her waist is about that big.

Brad: She rocks in the second one.

Julia: Yea she does. Angie Dickinson rocks the bowl, that’s pretty much what it comes down to.

Brad: She’s a beautiful lady.

*Clip of the original Ocean’s Eleven*

BW: Don you played Sammy Davis Jr. in HBO’s The Ratpack.

*Clip of Don in HBO’s The Ratpack*

BW: Are you concerned that people might think you’re playing their Sammy Davis wrong?

Don: I assume they will I mean, of course.

BW: But it’s not really.

Don: No it’s not at all. And if they see the film they’ll know that.

Matt: And kinda going back to your earlier question, it was really you know our roles weren’t as big as they normally are other movies that have made headline or whatever but me I’d be rather in that movie than headlining in a turkey, you know?

Julia + Brad: [Laughing]

BW: A small part in a hit than a big part in a flop?

*All the guys are talking at once about ‘turkey’*

George: Not that we ever… and then the turkey…

Julia: What’s a turkey?

Brad: [Laughing]

Matt: Yea, no no we’ll explain it to you later

George: Stick around and I’ll show ya.

Matt: It’s something the rest of us do when…

George: We won’t… you don’t understand that but we know.

Matt: The first day I was talking to Brad and I go ‘yea Brad I…’ and he goes ‘how’s it going?’ and I go you know ‘well you know the career is like you know a couple movies have flopped and I’m on a bad run’ and Brad goes ‘have you ever put a studio outta business?’

*Everybody is laughing*

Matt: He’s like, ‘you’re a youngster don’t worry about it.’

George: I’ve put two studios outta business. I’ve brought down a bad frenchise

BW: So this movie is gonna be a big success. How many flops have you had?

George: Oh!

BW: Can you count?

George: Oh I’ve a whole history of bad television so you know, a massive amount of flops.

Brad: And good television.

George: Yea but mostly bad. Most of the, you just take a job and you’re lucky to get a job so you take those.

BW: Do you know what salary every body gets?

George: Sure.

BW: Does everybody get the same salary?

George: Absolutely not. You know when you’ve someone like Brad and Julia starting off by going like ‘look, I just wanna make the movie’, that really puts us in a great position to be able to say okay then let’s all take a cut, it’s the only way to get the film made. And they all wanted to make the film.

Andy: Some other people say okay I’ll just get paid what they’re getting paid.

*Everybody laughs*

George: I’ll take their cut! I think it’s about getting a good movie made, that’s really what it comes down to.

Andy: It’s a rare opportunity

Julia: George and Steven put a note in my script when Steven gave me the Ocean’s Eleven scripts and when I got home and I opened it up there’s a note that says

George: There was a $20 bill in it

Julia: ‘We hear you get 20 a picture’. And there was a $20 bill in the script. So it was the first time I got paid to read a script. So I even read stage direction.

George: Oh just for the 20 bucks.

BW: What did you do about billing?

George: We just went for alphabetical, which is the best way to do it you know

BW: Except, you know who, Julia

George: That’s right and yea we gave her the introducing

BW: It does, it says ‘and introducing… Julia Roberts’, Julia this could make you a star

Julia: They’re a bunch of monkeys, they’re just trying to tamper with me

George: [Laughs]

Julia: We just all were where we wanted to be, what we wanted to do and that makes anything fun.

BW: If you had to come up with one word to describe what it was like to make this movie together, what would it be?

Brad: Heaven.

BW: Heaven?

George: [Laughing] Heaven

Brad: Yea I’m sticking with heaven.

BW: You’re sticking with heaven?

Brad: Yea. I’m a spiritual guy.

Julia: Why settle down for heaven? Convivial. I had time.

Matt: Here you go.

BW: And Matt?

Matt: Perfect.

George: Perfect.

BW: Perfect?

Matt: Yea.

BW: George?

George: Um… Just a blast [Laughs] a blast.

Andy: That’s two words.

George: Blast!

Andy: [Laughs]

*Commercial break*

*Clip of Ocean’s eleven*

Voice-over BW: There are actually 11 actors who want to rob the casinos in Ocean’s Eleven. And Andy and Julia aren’t even part of the action. This is such a large ensemble that producer Jerry Weintraub had a slot machine made up with all the faces from the cast.

*Clip of the slot machine and the cast playing with it*

Voice-over BW: Like the slot machine, we thought it might be fun to see how these actors lifes line up if you spin them around a bit.

BW: I’m gonna play a game. You know six degrees of separation? Where everybody is sorta connected to each other?

George: Mhm…

BW: So I wanna play six degrees of Ocean’s Eleven.

George: Okay…

BW: And to go through how all of you are connected before you made this movie. Okay? So Julia and Matt you were both in the film called Mystic Pizza.

Julia: We were.

BW: You had…

Matt: One line.

BW: Do you remember one line?

Matt: Yea it was ‘Mom do you want my green stuff?’ We were eating lobster so… I was the kid at the table so.

BW: That was the whole line?

Matt: That was it yea.

*Clip of young Matt in Mystic Pizza*

*Pictures of young Matt*

Voice-over BW: The second son of a Boston stockbroker and a college professor Matt Damon said he knew he was going to be an actor from age 12. His break came when he and childhood pal Ben Affleck, wrote Good Will Hunting. And doggedly insisted that they would be cast in the starring roles.

*Clip of the movie Good Will Hunting*

*Clip of the Academy Awards where they won with Good Will Hunting*

Voice-over BW: He won an Oscar for his writing. But it’s his acting that has brought him fame. He played the title role in Saving private Ryan.

*Clip of the movie Saving Private Ryan*

Voice-over BW: And The Talented Mr. Ripley.

*Clip of the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley*

Voice-over: He is single and 31 years old. Although he can still get away with playing teenagers as he did in Mystic Pizza, alongside Julia Roberts, half his lifetime ago.

BW: But do you even remember him from this film?

Julia: Yea!

Andy: How old were you?

Matt: I was 16.

Julia: 12.

BW: Did you say to yourself ‘he has talent’?

Julia: No.

Matt: No.

Brad: [Laughing]

BW: Did you…

Julia: I wasn’t even gonna say that about myself.

*Everybody laughs*

BW: Brad and George.

George: Hmmm…

BW: George you came close to winning the role in Thelma & Louise

George: Not quite close enough apparently.

BW: Not close enough.

Brad: Is that right?

BW: That made Brad Pitt a star.

George: Yes it did.

BW: Why didn’t you get the part?

Brad: Well it got him in the door.

George: Well I didn’t wanna see the movie for a couple years afterwards and then I finally saw it and I saw Brad and I go ‘Okay got it, understand why’ cause he was great, that’s why.

TOP