EXCLUSIVE: George Clooney Sparks Dementia Fears By Admitting He Can't Remember His Lines — And Struggles With Realities of Aging
George Clooney admitted remembering his lines do not come as easy to him anymore.
Nov. 17 2025, Published 7:30 p.m. ET
George Clooney has ignited fresh concern about his health after admitting he now battles to remember his lines on set – a revelation that has prompted friends and industry insiders to quietly question whether age is catching up with one of Hollywood's most enduring stars.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actor's worries surfaced while promoting his new Netflix film Jay Kelly, in which he plays an aging, world-weary screen icon.
'People Are Concerned'
Clooney admitted he struggled to remember his lines while promoting his new film.
Clooney, 64, discovered after filming director Noah Baumbach had slipped in clips from his past work, forcing him to confront his own life on screen – from a 1980s mullet in The Facts of Life to his breakout years on ER in the '90s.
The unwelcome reminder of his youth, paired with his confessed struggles with memory, has sparked whispers within the industry.
One source close to the production claimed: "People are concerned because he's talking more openly about forgetting lines. It raises questions about whether this is just aging – or something more serious. They are saying dementia is one of George's biggest fears as he has always prided himself on looking smart and being one of the smartest people in the room."
The actor plays an aging screen icon in Netflix's 'Jay Kelly.'
Clooney said about Baumbach's surprise montage in his new film: "It was really fascinating, because you go through all the things we all go through, which is you watch yourself age, which you have to make peace with. You also look at some f------ horrible mullets. And you have to kind of get through all that. And you do get this thing of, 'God, that was just yesterday, wasn't it?'"
Another source who has worked with Clooney for years added, "He's always been razor-sharp, but he's been talking on set about how fast things slip away now. It scared people. Nobody wants to think of George Clooney aging like the rest of us."
'Worst Reviews of My Life'
'They are saying dementia is one of George's biggest fears,' a source claimed.
Before he was one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, Clooney was a struggling actor who sold shoes, sold insurance, and took whatever roles came his way.
He recalls those years with affection, even if they were hardly glamorous.
Clooney recalled: "I came from Augusta, Kentucky, where I was a tobacco farmer. And you go on all these auditions and you go, 'Well, I took a shot.'"
One of those early gambles was the chaotic 1983 horror film Grizzly II: Revenge, which left Clooney, Charlie Sheen, and Laura Dern stranded in Hungary.
Clooney revealed: "It was funded by these Hungarians. And then they lost the money. And so we got stuck there for, like, two months… and literally, we get eaten by a bear in the first scene, and so it never comes out. Thank Christ."
The film resurfaced in 2020, to his dismay.
He continued: "Some schmuck finds it and he gets a bunch of old footage of s---. And he puts it together… and after 40 years, I'm getting the worst reviews of my life."
Broadway Nerves
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'It's hard to remember your lines,' the actor previously noted.
Clooney's career later soared with ER and blockbusters including From Dusk Till Dawn and Batman & Robin.
He now lives between Kentucky and England with his wife, Amal, and their eight-year-old twins. Yet even domestic stability hasn't softened the sting of professional doubts.
On stage earlier this year, performing Good Night, and Good Luck on Broadway, memory again became an adversary.
He admitted: "I hadn't done a play in 40 years. And so I was nervous… It's hard to remember your lines. And it's hard to remember s---. And so I was scared."
