George Clooney Reveals He Mortgaged His Home to Make ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’

George Clooney once mortgaged his house to get a movie made, but there’s one sacrifice he’s no longer willing to make for Hollywood.

The actor, 65, revealed that directing movies is off the table for now because it would take too much time away from his wife, Amal Clooney, and their 9-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella.

Clooney was honored with the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, September 2. At a press conference the next day, Clooney opened up about just how far he pushed himself to bring his 2005 passion project, Good Night, and Good Luck, to life.

“We shot it all in 22 days, which meant you had to move quick. All the actors were really on board,” he told the crowd (per People). “I’ll tell you, it was a moment that we all felt very proud to make a film. I had to mortgage my house to make it.”

That wasn’t the only sacrifice. Clooney has said before that he took home a symbolic $1 salary for the $7.5 million film — a move he repeated when the story, per AP News, later made its way to Broadway, with Clooney reprising his role.

But while Clooney was once willing to bet his house on a movie, he’s no longer willing to bet his time as a father.

“If I act in a movie, it’s three months and I can go and come and go and come back,” he said, per People. “When you direct a movie, it’s a year wherever you are and there’s no traveling back and forth. So I can’t do that anymore.”