George Clooney: Helps Matt Damon to regain 'sexiest man alive' title

George Clooney: Helps Matt Damon to regain 'sexiest man alive' title

Actor George Clooney pledged to help his friend and fellow thespian Matt Damon to shape up to reclaim the title of "sexiest man alive."

On Friday Clooney quipped, "Matt is very competitive with both Brad (Pitt) and myself, and Brad and I are two-time 'sexiest men alive,' and Matt's only won it that one time, and I kinda consider that a fluke".

He continued, "Having seen him recently, he's got a lot of work to do if he wants to get back up there," "But I'm going to work with him and he's going to run a strong campaign this year."

Damon was named "sexiest man alive" by People magazine in 2007, for his piercing blue eyes and family-guy demeanor.

However he gained almost 30 pounds (13.5 kilograms) eating pizza and drinking beer for his latest role as a whistleblower in film "The Informant!".

Since then, Damon has actually shed the weight.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt remain the only two-time recipients of the honor in 1997 and 2006, and 1995 and 2000, respectively. The pair has shamelessly campaigned for Matt Damon in the past.

Actor Hugh Jackson won last year.

Clooney commented, "Matt was pretty upset about the whole Hugh Jackson thing," "I'm going to train him, I'm going to work with him, and with any luck at all..."

George Clooney, with a bandage on his hand after slamming with a car door, was in Toronto promoting the film "Men Who Stare at Goats."

In the film, scoop-hungry journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) happens upon Clooney's character, Lyn Cassady, embarking on a mission to find Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), founder of the US Army's secret "psychic soldier" program, in Iraq.

The film is based on a book by Jon Ronson about the army's experimentation with New Age concepts and the paranormal, for instance the ability to kill goats by staring at them, begun in the 1970s.

His hand "should be fine in two weeks," Clooney said.

Others who have received the People magazine accolade, which has been announced yearly since 1985 when Mel Gibson was the winner, include Tom Cruise (1990), Denzel Washington (1996) and Jude Law (2004).