What’s it really like working with George Clooney, the triple Oscar-nominated writer-actor-director everyone thinks is just soooo great?

At the 21st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Grant Heslov finally told the truth about working with Clooney — his friend of 25 years — on their Oscar-nominated screenplay for “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

“It’s all about him," Heslov told the audience at the Arlington Theatre. "Seriously. You have to work around his schedule. When you're writing, you have to work at his house, which is in Italy and that’s a long way to go."

"Then you're locked up in his villa, sometimes for two or three weeks at a time, swim in his pool, ski behind his boat, ride his motorcycles and eat the food that his chef prepares."

"And the workload is brutal," Heslov revealed. "Sometimes — and I'm not kidding — we would write two to three pages. A day!"

So much for Clooney's Mr. Nice Guy rep.

Photo: Sure, George Clooney looked nice accepting his Modern Masters Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last weekend. But wait until you stay at his Italian villa, swim in his pool, ride his motorcycles, and eat his chef's food for weeks. Sheesh.
(Chris Weeks / WireImage)