George Clooney, John Krasinski and Renée Zellweger in Leatherheads Courtesy of Universal Studios

John Krasinski — who arrived at the press conference fresh from shooting the first post-strike episode of The Office — has recently finished directing his first feature, David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, which he is in the process of editing. When asked if the 28-year-old took any directing notes from Clooney, he defers, "Oh, he's by far a better director," but adds, "My directing was more of a liaison between actors, trying to get them to realize what we were doing with the book because the entire movie relies on these monologue interviews." Referring to Clooney's work balancing roles as director and actor, Krasinski says, "In both arenas he is incredibly focused. He's just so good at what he does. He's very well composed and he's very confident. One of the biggest differences — which he would hate but I would love — is when he had to do a football scene where he got hit really hard, and then he runs back to the screen to look at it and while he's looking, he's praying that he looks good so that he doesn't have to do it again. But he did. He had to go back into the throngs of it just like all of us."

The old school style of acting, however, did provide a unique challenge for Krasinski as well as the other cast members. "George refers to it as being on your front foot when you are acting rather than on your back foot. The Office is very reactionary. It's living through the present moment, whereas this type of acting style is being ready for the words. You almost respond before the other person says their line."

George offers his own take. "The tendency since probably Montgomery Clift came on the scene is that you internalize. It's great and it's made some of the most amazing work ever. But for this film, things were different. He explains, "You're almost answering just as if you couldn't have heard that question, you know? It has to be that quick. The difference is, you can't do it exactly like Rosalind Russell — she was brilliant — but if you took that performance and put it into a modern film, even if it was supposed to be an older film, it would just feel like an impersonation. So with John and Renée, they are actors who don't feel contemporary, which is important. A lot of actors just feel like it's 2008, no matter what. We had the same problem with Good Night, and Good Luck. You had to have actors that that were good and very crisp and clean. And both of them are crisp and clean actors."

Renée Zellweger in Leatherheads Courtesy of Universal Studios

Renée Zellweger, for her part, remained effusively supportive of her old friend. "[His was] a really tough job to have because you have to be in polar opposite places simultaneously in order to achieve what you are trying to do. You have to be cognizant of what's happening as the director and [as an actor] you have to disappear and not pay attention. He's focused, he's prepared, and he knows what he's trying to achieve. He's not indulgent. You know, I don't know that I'd be able to separate one from the other."

Zellweger is frequently chosen as a period actor, but she says she never gave much thought to whether or not her looks were modern. "I didn't think about what I looked like growing up, at all, ever. I was taught to much later in life. I don't look like a movie star — I don't have those assets, so to speak. But it didn't bother me too much as I didn't think that it was going to help me with what I was looking to do."

But she does admit to truly enjoying acting in period pieces. "I love it. I've found that, the further removed the character's reality is from my own, the easier it is to disappear into that alternate reality. I just feel much more comfortable in a corset or mid-20s dresses than just being the girl who looks like me and who might wear the same clothes. I don't really feel safe playing the girl who looks like me; there's not enough to hide behind."

Up next for Renée is another period piece called My One and Only, directed by Richard Loncraine. George Clooney will be acting alongside recent costars Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton in a Coen brothers film, Burn After Reading, and John Krasinski is set to star alongside Maya Rudolph in an as-yet-untitled Sam Mendes project written by novelist Dave Eggers.