George Clooney took his hometown by storm as he stepped onto the red carpet at the Washington Opera House in Maysville, Ky, and began signing autographs at the premiere of his new film last night.
“I’m just like them. I just happen to be a little more famous,” Clooney told his local paper, the Louisville Courier-Journal.
More than 3,000 fans turned out for a glimpse of the star at the premiere of his new movie, Leatherheads — which also stars Renee Zellweger.
Many in the crowd hoped to score a ticket to the premiere; they were distributed in a lottery system.
Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife, Jane, also attended the premiere, as did former Miss America Heather French Henry, who greeted the crowd with her husband, former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry.
Mayor David Cartmell estimated a third of the town was there.
“They really are family,” Clooney, 46, said of his Kentucky fans. “If you’re from a small town, you don’t really ever shake that. It’s the best support system and they’re always the biggest critics, which is kind of the fun of it.
“It was a huge part of my life, this town.”
Clooney was joined at the premiere by his co-star Renee Zellweger, who was wearing 5-inch stilettos.
Aside from Clooney and Zellwegger, no other Hollywood actors were present; and the local Mason County High School basketball team, which recently won the state tournament, got a special invitation from Clooney to attend.
Also standing in the cold was Carrie Appelman, who went to Augusta High (Class of ‘79) with Clooney. “He was a goofball,” she recalled. “He was just fun.”
As proof, Appelman brought a cartoon he drew for her in school. And he signed it, “To Carrie with love. Your lover, George.”
“I’m hoping to get in and talk with him,” Appelman said, showing off a black-and-orange sign that read, “We graduated with George!!! AHS Class of 1979″
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