One of the world’s biggest power couples, American actor George Clooney and wife Amal are known to dedicate a large portion of their time to humanitarian conservation efforts.
Speaking in an interview with the Observer last week, Clooney said the discussions he had with his wife Amal on the fate of the Parthenon Marbles while they were still dating helped forge a strong bond between them.
Clooney recalled the backlash he received from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was then mayor of London, when he argued in favour of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.
His statement came while he was in the UK promoting his movie The Monuments Men in 2014. It was that very night that Clooney met his future wife Amal Alamuddin for dinner.
Amal had been hired as a lawyer to argue the Greek case and had discussed the issue extensively with Clooney. As Clooney says, she armed him with all the information and legal arguments to respond to the criticism and defend his statements.
The actor said he recognised he also “owes part of his current domestic contentment and job satisfaction” to Johnson, according to the Observer.
The Greek government has promised to strengthen its campaign to retrieve the marbles in time for the country’s 200 year independence celebrations next year.
