George Clooney Recalls Holding Sister Ada's Hand as She Died: 'Time Goes So Fast'

George Clooney is opening up about the death of his beloved sister, Ada Zeidler.

While receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the 2026 Venice Film Festival last week, he said, “Minutes ago holding hands as little kids. And now, you know … time goes so fast. All of this, and so we need to find nothing but joy.”

He initially opened up about her death, saying, “My sister, who I was very close to, got cancer last year and she died very quickly.”

“I was with her when she died, and there was this feeling being with her, holding her hand when she died, understanding how brief all this is,” he continued.

Clooney said that while sitting with Zeidler as she was dying, it felt like “minutes ago that she and I were both kids together.”

Accepting the award, Clooney continued, “Find joy in the things that make [us] miserable. You have to seek the joy out. You have to demand it, and you have to make sure that you demand it of yourself. That’s it.”

The ER actor went on to note that he doesn’t know what happens after we die, since “nobody [he knows] has yet to come back and tell [him] exactly how it works out.”

“So I know this life, and for this life, then, you have to seek joy, and you have to try to find it for your family and your friends as well. That’s what I believe,” he concluded.

Zeidler passed away in December last year, aged 65.

She was a year older than Clooney and led a private life far away from the cameras.

While announcing her death, Clooney told People, “My sister, Ada, was my hero.”

“She faced down cancer with courage and humor. I’ve never met anyone so brave,” he continued. “[My wife] Amal and I will miss her terribly.”

Zeidler was married to Norman and had two children, Nick and Allison.

Among her extremely rare public appearances is her attending Clooney's wedding to Amal in Venice in 2014.

In an interview with the New York Daily News in 2012, she spoke about her relationship with Clooney, per Vanity Fair.

“I do not have his phone number because I wouldn’t want to have it in my phone and then lose my phone. He can phone me, and he does occasionally, but the email is more convenient for both of us,” she said at the time.

“Sisters always want to see more of their brothers when they live a couple of thousand miles away. I always enjoy seeing him, but he’s busy. It’s his job. I’m very proud of him. He works very, very hard,” she added.