The Midnight Sky: American actor, George Clooney diagnosed with pancreatitis after extreme weight loss for new movie

George Clooney both directs and stars in The Midnight Sky, but his physical preparation went a bit too far.

George Clooney says he ended up in hospital after losing almost two stone for his role in his latest film.

Clooney went on a weight-loss drive in preparation to play scientist Augustine Lofthouse in the post-apocalyptic sci-fi film ‘The Midnight Sky’ but then experienced excruciating stomach pains.

He was diagnosed with pancreatitis and believes his diet may have played a part.

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Clooney told the Mirror: “I think I was trying too hard to lose the weight quickly and probably wasn’t taking care of myself.”

The 59-year-old both directs and stars in the Netflix movie about an Arctic scientist living on a deserted observatory station and trying to warn a group of astronauts not to return to Earth after a mysterious global catastrophe.

It is the actor’s first film role since crime drama Money Monster in 2016.

Clooney admitted that getting ill was a challenge amid an already testing shoot, telling the newspaper: “It took a few weeks to get better and as a director, it’s not so easy because you need energy.

“We were out on this glacier in Finland, which made it a lot harder work. But it certainly helped with the character. This is bigger than anything I’ve done before and it was like herding cats to get it done. But, you know, it was fun.”