George Clooney reminisces on his struggling times as an actor

Washington: Actor George Clooney harbours the hardship of unemployment deep in his soul, which is why he chose to invest his money in property.

Clooney, 50, just cannot forget his struggling days when he spent much of his early career to make ends meet, which is why when he became famous, he decided to invest some of his money into a villa in Lake Como, Italy. "I bought it as an investment. I never liked the stock market - to me it``s Vegas without any of the fun parts, the girls in bikinis,” Contactmusic quoted him as telling Parade magazine. "I like owning dirt. You know, I spent a lot of time broke when I moved to California. So deep in my soul is still this idea of being unemployed. To me, owning land means you could sell it at some point and have money,” he added. The star who turned 50 in May, now hopes he can grow old gracefully, as he notices he has matured on screen. "I look at myself onscreen and go, ``I don`t look like I did when I was 40 - I know that,” he said. "The people I`ve respected most in the industry over the years - Paul Newman, for instance. I just loved the way he handled growing old onscreen. It`s understanding that you``re now basically a character actor,” he added. Clooney also revealed the best lessons he`s learned in life were that sometimes you had to fake it and be overconfident to get a role, and never be afraid to fail.