Chuckle. For those of us Mad Men-aholics, Talia Balsam is a goddess. Sure, she’s always been a really gifted actress. But her small part as Mona Sterling is absolute genius. In the first two seasons, she played the long-suffering wife of Roger Sterling, who just happened to be played by Talia’s real-life husband, John Slattery. Then their characters got divorced, but Mona was still in the show, and the way that she and Slattery play off of each other is still brilliant and hilarious. For those Mad Men fanatics, did anyone else get choked up when Roger toasted Mona at their daughter’s wedding, calling her a “lioness”?
Anyway, that was all to say that I really love Talia and so can do no wrong. She and John Slattery both are lovely beyond words. Here’s the thing, though – Slattery is Talia’s second husband. Her first husband was none other than George Clooney. Now, Talia rarely talks about George, and George rarely says anything about his one and only marriage, other than to profess that he probably won’t ever marry again. I’ve always suspected there’s some big story about their marriage, but neither of them will say anything about it! Until now….
Talia was interviewed by OK! Magazine while she and Slattery were at the Hermes opening in new York Tuesday night, and she got some questions about Clooney. Talia seems kind of “over it” to me. She says that she “doubts” Clooney will ever marry again, and that she “doesn’t know” if Clooney would make a good husband. Ha!
Talia Balsam doesn’t see marriage in ex-husband George Clooney’s future.
“You’d have to ask him that, but I doubt it,” she tells reporters during Tuesday’s Hermés Men’s Store opening held in NYC. “It doesn’t look that way.”
If he were to tie the knot with Italian TV presenter Elisabetta Canalis, whom he has been squiring since mid-2009, she “doesn’t know” why he would make a good husband even though they remain on friendly terms.
For the Mad Men actress, 50, who has been married to co-star John Slattery since 1998, calling Oscar winner her mate from 1989-1993 was less than glamorous. During that time, George’s most prestigious acting roles included guest stints on Roseanne and Sisters.
He was also down on his luck, having been dismissed from Baby Talk in 1991.
“I’ve been fired off a lot of TV shows over the years,” George, 48, has said. “I like when they pick up a show, and they go ‘hey, the show’s picked up’ and then they replace you. I did this show called Baby Talk, which was the sitcom of Look Who’s Talking, and Ed Weinberger, who was the producer – he and I didn’t get along. Eventually, I’m not sure if I was fired or quit from that one.”
He told OK!, “Fame was sort of an overnight thing for me after 12 years of doing really bad television.”
In 2009, Talia admitted she and George maintain a friendship.
“We don’t hang out with our exes and presents, but we are totally cordial,” she told OK!. “John’s worked with him many times. We both did K Street, so we’ve worked together, but we don’t have a daily conversation.”
Still, Talia isn’t picking favorites and rooting for her ex in the best picture category during the Academy Awards – even though George’s movie Up in the Air is in the running.
“I feel like I haven’t caught up yet,” she says. “I know what I like, but I haven’t seen everything yet. There’s a lot of good stuff out there.”
[From OK! Magazine]
Do you see why I love her? She’s awesome. She had Clooney back in the day, and she’s like “whatever.” He probably hadn’t developed all of those alleged kinky tendencies yet. Or maybe he had, and she wasn’t into it. Or maybe John Slattery is just better than Clooney in every way. Or maybe Talia just doesn’t give a f-ck. Probably that one.
Here’s an photo of Talia and George from when they were married, courtesy of Google Images:
Vintage Clooney, credit: WENN.
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