The 'Catch-22' star believes he was going to die after the collision as he recalls, 'I split my helmet in half. It knocked me out of my shoes, it hit hard.'
- May 23, 2019
AceShowbiz - George Clooney's motorcycle accident in 2018 was so bad that he thought he might not survive at the time. Appearing on "The Hollywood Reporter's First Look" to talk about his new series "Catch-22", the actor also revisits the terrifying incident that led him to give up riding motorcycle.
"I hit him at 70 miles per hour, so it was bad," the 58-year-old star recalls the collision, which happened on the island of Sardinia, Italy in July of the last year while he was on the way to the set of the upcoming Hulu series "Catch-22". Describing how bad the impact was, he says, "I split my helmet in half. It knocked me out of my shoes, it hit hard."
Realizing how dire his situation was, George says he thought he was going to die right after the crash. "It was bad and I was waiting for the switch to turn off because I broke his windshield with my head," he shares. "I thought, 'Okay, well, that’s my neck.' "
The "ER" alum goes on joking that he used up all his spare lives, if he got any, during the wacky accident. "If you get nine lives, I've got all of them used up, so I can let go of motorcycle riding for a while," he quips, explaining his decision not to ride motorcycle again.
The accident was also traumatic for "Catch-22" producer Grant Heslov, who was with the actor during the incident. Grant recalls holding George's in his arms after the crash and making a promise to never ride again if his friend survived. He says, "I made a deal as I was holding him waiting for the ambulance. I said to myself, 'If he lives, I'll never ride a motorcycle again.' "
Grant has been keeping his words and never rides motorcycle again ever since that day. "It got both Grant and I - after 40 years of riding together - off of motorcycles for good," George says.
During the collision, George was traveling on his scooter on 70 mph when a car cut into his lane and crashed into him, throwing him about 20 feet in the air before he landed on the ground. Fortunately, he only suffered minor, non-life-threatening injuries and was able to be back on the set four days later.
