WHAT is it about George Clooney that turns normally sensible people into autograph-hunting photograph-taking fans?

And even more intriguing why does the former ER medic put up with it, giving in to requests without any arm-twisting and remaining good-natured throughout without ever once doing anything to forfeit his 'Gorgeous George' tag.

He makes himself visible when he has a new movie to promote even if it means, as it did this week, rising from his sick bed to meet British and international press in London and then scoot up to Birmingham to open a new 30-screen Warner Village cinema.

Judging by the audience assembled at the Dorchester Hotel, there would have been no shortage of eager females (and probably a few males as well) willing to rush to his sickbed to mop his fevered brow. But Clooney is a trouper and, thanks to the box office success of his latest film The Perfect Storm - $100m in just two weeks in the US - a fully-fledged movie star at last and all round nice guy.

He's not alone, with the director, producer and co-star Mark Wahlberg accompanying him, but they are mere supporting players in what very quickly becomes The George Clooney Show.

He's a team player, unselfishly blending into the ensemble cast of The Perfect Storm, but he knows how to play the Hollywood game. Some might say he's been practising long enough, only in his late thirties finding the sort of film fame that has eluded other TV stars who've tried the transition from small to big screen.

Despite the effects of 'some sort of chest cold' you won't hear any complaints from him. "I'm in a very good place in my life and my career now. I manage to keep getting jobs, and jobs that I am proud of," he says. He was actually replying to a question about whether his good looks had been a hindrance in snagging the sort of roles he wanted to play.

"There's no way to answer that question without sounding like a jackass," he says, neatly side-stepping the inquiry by talking about good jobs rather than good looks.

Unlike some movies stars who demand journalists sign lengthy agreements before they'll utter a word, anything goes with Clooney. He doesn't clam up or plead the fifth amendment when one questioner burbles a string of personal questions asking about his house, his friends, his Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, his marital prospects. Instead he jokes in a very George way: "Did I get out of bed for this, man oh man?" but still comes up with an answer - and, in case you're interested the pig and the house are fine, his long-time buddies now come by with their children. As for settling down and getting married "I have no idea" is all he'll admit.

The secret of his success is probably that he doesn't take it all too seriously. That and not hiding his less-than-glorious cinematic past, including films like Return Of The Killer Tomatoes, and not being afraid to admit mistakes, like donning the rubber suit in the noisy mess of a movie that was Batman And Robin.

Of late, the slick thriller Out Of Sight with Jennifer Lopez and the Gulf War drama Three Kings demonstrated his movie star potential, both being well reviewed without achieving blockbuster status.

The Perfect Storm is a different matter, hitting the jackpot with critics and audiences alike - and, as a bonus, beating the new Mel Gibson film The Patriot in a straight fight at the US box office.

Clooney doesn't see himself as the winner. "I was not competing with Mel. That happened because there were two big movies opening against each other," he says, while admitting that it's pleasing "to have a good movie that actually made money under my belt, although it didn't seem to matter so much to me as to other people".

The Perfect Storm's massive opening weekend grosses must have seemed sweeter as Gibson was considered for the role of Billy Tyne, captain of the Andrea Gail swordfishing boat, before Clooney.

The movie, based on a true story from 1991, follows the vessel as it becomes trapped at sea in the middle of the fiercest storm in modern history. As filming took place in the North Atlantic fishing port of Gloucester in Massachusetts, the home port of the boat and its crew, Clooney was as keen as everyone else concerned with making the movie in respecting the local people. Many were personally involved in the incidents that were used in the screenplay.

"I didn't really know that much about the fishing community," says Clooney. "I grew up in Kentucky where there was a lot of tobacco farming which is menial labour and not a great way to make a living but nobody really dies from it. You have a healthy respect for the ocean anyway, anyone who's been around it, but boy it's a different thing once you're out there and spend time with the guys. I didn't really know about this storm until I read the book.

"There's a great responsibility because these people do exist. There's a tendency when you're fixing a script that you'll have a situation where the writer comes up with, 'what if Billy Tyne's ex-wife was putting pressure on him and financially that's why he needs to raise the stakes'. The problem is that those people exist.

"The great thing about Wolfgang (Petersen, the director) is that he was always very conscious of the people that were still there because they've already gone through a pretty horrific tragedy. If they were going to have to relive this it should be in the best possible light."

As his character spends most of his time very wet and bedraggled, this isn't the most glamorous Clooney you'll ever see. He doesn't consciously seek different kinds of roles but judges a project on the script.

"The last few roles have been a little bit different - but all the same height," he says. "I did the television series for five years and you play the same guy and run out of tricks, run out of things to make it interesting. And you can get typecast. The nice thing about films is you get to do something for four or five months and walk away from it.

"I don't think you'll ever make a character in a show as popular as it was worldwide. So instead of swimming upstream and trying to fight it you accept it as part of your life. Sure it's a big part of my life, the lucky thing is I didn't get completely pigeonholed into that being the only thing I'm allowed to do. You just sort of accept it and go to work. It was a good show and I was glad to be part of it."

The 'show' in which he finds himself the star at the end of the chat is a scrum in which he's besieged by journalists wanting autographs and photographs. Despite the tut-tutting of press officers and the glares of security men, Clooney spends a good few minutes signing and posing. And he even did me a favour - I discovered afterwards he'd turned over the tape in my recorder after it ran out during the interview.

l The Perfect Storm (12) goes on release on Friday after previews in some cinemas on Thursday.