George Clooney Reveals How His Daughter Picked up a Skill From Him

George Clooney's daughter Ella might be a few years away from following her famous father into [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

George Clooney's daughter Ella might be a few years away from following her famous father into acting, but she has already picked up at least one of his talents. In a new interview with Today Show anchor Hoda Kotb, Clooney revealed that Ella, 3, has taken on the mantle of the family prankster. Clooney, 59, and wife Amal Clooney, 43, welcomed twins Ella and Alexander in 2017.

"My whole job, really, is to teach them terrible things," Clooney joked in the interview, which aired during Today and Today with Hoda and Jenna on Thursday. "I really do enjoy teaching my children to do things that shock their mother." Ella "picked up" the prankster mantle, Clooney explained, adding that, "She used to think it was really gross, all the things we did, but then she saw how many laughs Alexander got and now she's taken it up, too."

Clooney also detailed the hilarious diaper prank he pulled with his children, which he previously mentioned in a December PEOPLE interview. At the time, he told the magazine that he taught them to put Nutella in their diaper then pretend to eat out of the "dirty nappy" whenever people visit their home. "You can imagine the freak-outs we get... Yeah, I taught them that," Clooney said.

As for Amal, she is surprised to find out this is what they are learning from their Oscar-winning dad. "She's like, 'Really? That's what they learned today?' And I'm like, 'Well, you know,'" Clooney told Kotb. "The worst thing you can do is leave me alone with them for a long period of time because the things they learn are just horrific."

Elsewhere in the interview with Kotb, Clooney said he now understands how "empty" his life was before having children. He believes he might never have become a father if he never met Amal. He "found the right person to have them with," he said. Clooney admitted his goal was never to have children. "I wasn't looking at life, going, 'My life will be unfulfilled without children.' I felt like I had a pretty full life," he told Kotb. "Then I met Amal and realized that my life had been pretty empty. And then when you throw these two kids in there, then suddenly you realize how incredibly empty it was."

Fatherhood has given him "everything," Clooney said. Being a father gave him "a sense of belonging and a sense of home and unconditional love — all the things that you were hoping you could get from a really good career and a dog. You realize that this is a lot more than that." Clooney and Amal married in 2014. He was previously married to actress Talia Balsam from 1989 to 1993.

Clooney's latest movie is The Midnight Sky, which was released on Netflix in December. The science-fiction drama was nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar. Clooney won Oscars for Best Picture for Argo and Best Supporting Actor for Syriana. Hopefully, neither of those statues get any Nutella on them.

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