“When I read the script, the two things I thought of were I knew how to play the guy, but I was also so thrilled that in real life I hadn’t lived a life of regret, which is what this guy is dealing with at 64 years old,” the star said at the NY Film Fest premiere on Monday.

“I was thrilled that I was going to get a chance to explore it, but I was also thrilled that I wasn’t actually living that life.”

The film was co-written and directed by Noah Baumbach, who revealed during the post-screening Q&A that he and Clooney had met 20 years ago and the latter had offered himself up if the filmmaker “ever needed an actor.”

Clooney teased that “Tom Cruise was busy” and he was the cheaper option, as Baumbach explained that when he gave Clooney the script, “He said, ‘You’re lucky I’m saying yes because there’s only about three people on Earth who can play this part.’ But I felt it was important that this audience have a history and relationship with the actor who was playing Jay Kelly, the same way that the people in the movie have that.”

“Adam and I are very close and I felt like I wanted to write something for him that captured the sort of generosity and sweetness and loyalty that Adam has to the people in his life,” Baumbach explained, acknowledging, “I thought it would be a nice match even though he’s actually more Jay Kelly in real life.”

Jay Kelly hits theaters November 14, and s streaming on Netflix December 5.