George Clooney says he's an optimist, even in the face of world-ending disaster

George Clooney isn’t just the on-screen face of The Midnight Sky. He’s also the director. In that capacity, Clooney had to figure out how to balance the film’s stark realities—some sort of catastrophe has unleashed untold radiation and has killed the vast majority of the world’s population—with the knowledge that a film that’s purely about awful tragedy isn’t really something most of us want to watch. It’s a fine line to walk, but one that Clooney seems uniquely qualified to toe, given his stance as both an outspoken advocate for global change and a genuinely affable dude.