Inside George Clooney's ‘Good Night, and Good Luck' Broadway Opening Night With Jennifer Lopez and an ‘ER' Reunion

Sit seven rows from the stage at 'Good Night, and Good Luck' on Broadway, and you're bound to catch a whiff of prop cigarette smoke.
Cigarettes — and the fading pulse of the Fourth Estate — took top billing during Thursday night's premiere at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York. For every celebrity with a vape in hand, journalists in the crowd absorbed George Clooney's call to arms under a sobering haze of scrutiny.
More from Variety
'Good Night, and Good Luck' Review: George Clooney Makes an Impressive Broadway Bow in Taut Film-to-Stage Transfer
'Agatha All Along,' 'Baby Reindeer' and Cynthia Erivo Win Top Prizes at 2025 GLAAD Media Awards
Springtime for Broadway: 2024-25 Season Readies to Close With High Hopes, High Prices and Huge Stars
Among those in the room were Jake Tapper, George Stephanopoulos, Lesley Stahl, Chris Wallace, Rachel Maddow and CBS chief George Cheeks, seated alongside A-listers Drew Barrymore, Uma Thurman and Lorne Michaels. The red carpet, staged across from the theater's towering marquee, had its own spectacle. Thousands of fans lined the street as Jennifer Lopez, Clooney's 'Out of Sight' co-star, turned heads in a black gown paired with a billowing white cape.
'Good Night, and Good Luck' is a near-verbatim adaptation of the 2005 film of the same name, which chronicles Edward R. Murrow's televised takedown of Senator Joseph McCarthy at the height of the Red Scare. Yet, a handful of pointed additions draw a clear line to the woes facing modern journalism.
'The play is more emotional than the film,' Grant Heslov, Clooney's longtime producing partner and co-writer, told Variety. 'And the ending takes a very different direction.'
In a key exchange, CBS president William Paley delivers the familiar line: 'We don't make the news, we report the news.' But Paul Gross' Paley goes a step further than his film counterpart (played by Frank Langella), questioning the precedent Murrow's actions have set for the journalists who will one day sit in his chair.
That tension foreshadows the show's 'Babylon'-esque finale: a rapid-fire montage of broadcast news' defining moments that flickered across the box TVs flanking both sides of the stage. It began with touchstones like the Moon Landing and Reagan's 'Tear Down This Wall' speech, but as it edged closer to the present, the footage grew louder, more chaotic, more sensationalized.
'It's not just journalism. It's a problem we're confronting in a capitalistic society, which I believe in, but at some point you have to figure out what the overall objective is,' said Clark Gregg, who plays Pinko-branded journalist Don Hollenbeck. 'Is it always profit? Is the truth always profitable? And shouldn't the truth be number one?'
Clooney's play arrives at a critical juncture for traditional journalism. As the Trump administration vows to slash federal funding for PBS and NPR, legacy programs like 'CBS Evening News' battle for viewership in a fractured media ecosystem.
'We forget that when Murrow was broadcasting, there were like 40 million people watching,' castmate Andrew Polk noted. 'There were only a couple of channels, and he was the guy. That's unheard of today. So maybe that's part of the answer. Everything is so dispersed, people really don't know where to get the truth.'
According to Gallup, 68% of Americans said they had a 'great deal' or 'fair amount' of trust in the media in 1972. In 2024, that number hit a record low of 31%. One could point to the systemic issue Murrow faces in the play: the erosion of the firewall between corporate and editorial.
'I'm lucky because CNN is owned by David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery, and they've been pretty great in terms of backing our ability to report the facts and the truth, even if it upsets whoever,' Tapper said. 'But there are other places right now that seem to be acquiescing and buckling. It's very concerning.'
One of the night's most resonant moments came as Clooney's Murrow, in one of the actor's long, commanding monologues, debunked accusations of communist sympathies tied to a book dedication from British Socialist Harold Laski. 'He did not insist upon agreement with his political principles as a precondition for conversation or friendship,' he says in character. The crowd responded with a low, approving murmur. The line clearly hit a nerve.
'The best thing you can do is read both sides,' guest Richard Kind said. 'I hate Fox News, but I listen to it constantly. Go out and find the truth.'
After the curtain fell on his Broadway debut, Clooney made a brief pass down the carpet, his pepper-black hair still neatly in place. When asked about his wife Amal Clooney's absence, he flashed a crooked smile and said, 'She's with the kids.'
Inside the elegant afterparty held at the New York Public Library, Clooney celebrated his big night with well-wishers and friends, including 'ER' castmates Julianna Margulies, Anthony Edwards and Noah Wyle.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Noah Wyle (@therealnoahwyle)
Scroll for more photos from the event:
Best of Variety
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
What's Coming to Disney+ in April 2025
The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Buzz Feed

3 hours ago

• Buzz Feed

Bad Bunny Says It Is Silly To Complain About His Job

It's fair to say that Bad Bunny is one of the hardest-working music artists in the game right now. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio went from the barrio to the Billboard charts, becoming one of the first Latin artists to sell out stadiums around the world, even breaking the record for most tickets ever sold in Spain (he's set to perform 12 shows there on his upcoming tour). In a June 18 interview with Variety, the Puerto Rican superstar spoke to his work ethic as a music artist and celebrity. When his comments went viral, the fans were eating it up just as much as his boricua beats. In the interview, discussing his upcoming residency and tour surrounding his sixth studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Benito got real about what's expected of him as he embarks on one of the biggest tours of his career. "At times, I do think, cabrón, what I'm signing up for is a lot," he said. For context, Benito is set to perform a 30-night residency at the Colseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, not too far from where he grew up from July 11 to Sept. 14, and then he's going on a 56-date world stadium tour from November 2025 to July 2026. Basically, he's booked and busy. "But the way I see it, I'm not a doctor; I'm not a teacher; I'm not someone who has to wake up every morning at 5 a.m. to lay down concrete on a busy road to survive," Benito continued. "My job is to fucking sing, and even though it comes with its own set of sacrifices, it feels silly to complain about it." When Benito's comments on the pressure of fame started to make their rounds on the internet, like in this Reddit thread, a lot of people had something to say about it, many praising the three-time Grammy winner for his honesty. Here are some of my favorite comments. "He's a man who got famous as an adult and has managed to become the hometown hero of Puerto Rico, which he obviously put in the work to deserve. It's not necessarily easy to handle, but you can compare that to what a lot of women and people who start as child stars go through. Good for him that he feels this way about it, but I'm not shocked that it's not a common perspective. If he can avoid the toxicity of overwhelming greed and not chase being a billionaire or whatever, he might actually stay happy," a Reddit user shared. Another Reddit user said, "Finally someone with some common sense. I'm so tired of celebs complaining how hard their job is, having never worked a real job in their lives. Like, sure, the pressure must be a lot and paparazzi and public scrutiny, but that's nothing compared to some annoying boomer manager breathing down your neck 24/7 or a customer having a screaming meltdown over a difference of 28 cents or cleaning up vomit, etc." "I appreciate the humility but the more artists downplay the work they put in the more the public does as well. EVERY job has pros and cons so please remember that. He is lucky to have the job he has but it's not like many of them don't work hard for it. 💙" X user wrote. This Reddit user wrote, "He has the right attitude and a healthy perspective." "Good way of putting it, everything is relative and even with fame and money and privilege you can still stress and be sad and be overwhelmed at times, but still understand and be grateful for what you have," another X user wrote. "I truly wish more celebrities and influencers had enough self-awareness to realize that publicly whining about their privileged lives doesn't hit the way they think it does," another Reddit user added. Finally, this Reddit user said, "It doesn't even sound like he's saying that as a performer you can't have bad days or struggle in/with your career, it more so sounds like he simply thinks it's in poor taste to publicly lament about how hard you have it since it's a highly privileged profession." What do you think about Bad Bunny's take on the pressures of being a famous singer? Let's talk about it in the comments.

UPI

3 hours ago

• UPI

Russell Crowe confirms 'Highlander' casting

June 21 (UPI) -- Oscar-winning Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind and Thor: Love and Thunder star Russell Crowe has joined the ensemble of the new remake of the classic 1986 fantasy film, Highlander. "Yes... it's true... I shall be returning to the highlands... with a sword... it has been a few centuries..." there can be only one," Crowe wrote on X Saturday. The actor's post included a link to a Variety report about the casting news. Crowe will play the mentor to Henry Cavill's Scottish title character in the film about immortal warriors. The movie is being directed by Chad Stahelski and is expected to be released theatrically in 2026. Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery starred in the original. Penn siblings, Russell Crowe attend Rome Film Festival

Yahoo

4 hours ago

• Yahoo

Justin Hartley on Playing a ‘Worm and Buffon' in ‘Bride Hard' and What Colter Will Learn About His Mother in ‘Tracker' Season 3: ‘There's Some Deep Psychosis There'

Justin Hartley is teasing what fans can expect from his 'Tracker' character, Colter Shaw, in Season 3 of his hit CBS series. 'I know we'll get to the nitty-gritty of why my mother hired this guy,' he told Variety Wednesday at the premiere of his new movie 'Bride Hard' in Los Angeles. 'Was she protecting her kids? Was an affair happening? Was the government involved? Was it strictly just my mother? Why did she hide that from us for so long? Why did she lead me to believe that it was my brother who was involved when he wasn't? It seems like this divide-and-conquer thing that she's doing. It was just an odd thing to do with your children. There's some deep psychosis there. We'll unpack that.' More from Variety Rebel Wilson on Working With Robert Pattinson's 'Batman' Stunt Coordinators on 'Bride Hard' And Wanting 'Fat Amy' to Get Married in 'Pitch Perfect 4' Dave Bautista Eyed for 'Road House 2' Advocate Originals to Launch on Hulu for Pride Month (EXCLUSIVE) Hartley said he admires the mysterious element of Colter. 'One of the things I love about our show is it seems like every time we answer a question, there are five more questions,' he said. 'It's almost like he's getting deeper and deeper. I really enjoy that about our show.' The new season of 'Tracker' is set to start shooting in July. In 'Bride Hard,' Hartley stars opposite Rebel Wilson — they previously worked alongside each other in 2022's 'Senior Year' — as the groom's best man (Chris) who assists a group of mercenaries that crash the wedding. Wilson plays a secret agent (Sam) whose cover is blown when she has to take on the mercenaries. Rounding out the cast are Anna Camp, Anna Chlumsky, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Gigi Zumbado and Stephen Dorff. For Hartley, portraying one of the bad guys who sets out to help the mercenaries is what interested him about the role. 'I thought it was so interesting because he's such a worm and a buffoon,' he said. 'To play something that I've never intentionally done before was fun for me.' Hartley praised Wilson for her stunt work throughout the film, particularly for the fight scene the two co-stars shared in the movie. 'You don't get a lot of time to rehearse that,' he said. 'She did a lot of that choreography. She did all of the hard work. I was trying to get out of the way or not quite get out of the way. She did a good job of not cracking me, but she never did.' For the other cast members, watching Wilson play an action hero was also a highlight for them. 'I love it,' Sherry Cola, who played Wilson's handler, said. 'Women can do it all. We can save the day. We can prove people wrong and break stereotypes. With Rebel, she's built such an exceptional career. I'm so excited for people to see her in this way.' The film's director, Simon West, also complimented Wilson's fight and stunt performances: 'She threw herself into it. She's a tough girl, and she wanted to do the action as much as she could herself. But she has her own style. It's kind of John Wick on steroids. She is not a quiet fighter. She's a crazy fighter, and she seemed to love it.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar