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As 2023 comes to a close, Hollywood said goodbye to another veteran of stage and screen with the death of actor Tom Wilkinson on Saturday. The hours since have seen an outpouring of support from his peers who shared the camera with him, including his Michael Clayton co-star George Clooney.
Clooney was one of many actors to speak on Tom Wilkinson's career and the impact the English-born actor had on their careers over his roughly 43-year career. The Michael Clayton and Ocean's Eleven star had nothing but shining things to say about Wilkinson in a brief statement released online, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Tom made every project better, made every actor better,” Clooney said in the statement. “He was the epitome of elegance, and he will be dearly missed by all of us.”
Wilkinson's family reported his “sudden” passing at the age of 75 on Saturday at his home in North London surrounded by his family. A cause of death has not been identified and the family has asked for privacy.
Clooney and Wilkinson only film together was in Tony Gilroy's 2007 legal thriller, Michael Clayton, where Clooney played the titular lawyer and fixer at a prestigious New York law firm. The film was met with wide praise at its release, earning Best Actor and Supporting Actor nominations for Clooney and Wilkinson, respectively, at the 80th Academy Awards.
Clooney is only one of several names in the film and TV industry to speak on Wilkinson and offer their condolences to his family. Actor Michael McKean, critic Richard Roeper, and director Scott Derrickson are just three of the names to share statements online, alongside Clooney, speaking highly of their time working with Wilkinson.
“I went to [Wilkinson] to say goodbye,” Derrickson wrote. “As I went in for a hug, he turned sideways and put one arm around my shoulder. I said, ‘Well that’s a British hug if I’ve ever had one…’ He frowned at me, then grabbed my face and kissed me right on the lips for a good five seconds, then declared loudly, ‘Don’t ever insult British affection or sense of romance! We invented the stuff!'”
