George Clooney's commitment to playing a gravely ill scientist in an upcoming Netflix film ended up giving him a health scare of his own.
The Oscar winner was rushed to the hospital four days before filming started on "The Midnight Sky" with severe stomach pains that turned out to be pancreatitis, a spokesperson for Clooney confirmed for TODAY.
The news was first reported by the U.K.'s Mirror newspaper.
Clooney, 59, lost nearly 30 pounds for his role as a lonely scientist with cancer who is the only survivor of a worldwide catastrophe.
Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that can cause severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting as well as serious complications like infection and kidney failure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
"I think I was trying too hard to lose the weight quickly and probably wasn’t taking care of myself," Clooney told the Mirror.
Clooney looks almost unrecognizable as a gaunt and bearded scientist in the Arctic in trailers for the film, which he also directed. His spokesperson told TODAY he has made a full recovery.
"It took a few weeks to get better and as a director it’s not so easy because you need energy," he told the Mirror.
The movie, which also stars Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo, will be released on Netflix on Dec. 23.
"We were out on this glacier in Finland, which made it a lot harder work. But it certainly helped with the character," Clooney told the Mirror. "This is bigger than anything I’ve done before and it was like herding cats to get it done. But, you know, it was fun."
This is the second time Clooney has landed in the hospital during the filming of a movie. In 2018, he was rushed to a local hospital on the Italian island of Sardinia after he suffered minor injuries when his scooter collided with a car.
Clooney was living in Sardinia with wife Amal and their twins that summer while filming the Hulu limited series "Catch-22," based on the classic novel by Joseph Heller.