A slimmed-down, clean-shaven George Clooney stepped back in the spotlight at the Los Angeles film festival. Hollywood's handsome leading man has been lying low, but he reemerged minus the beard and the 40 pounds he put on for his role as a CIA agent in "Syriana."

There are also reports that Clooney recently split with longtime girlfriend Lisa Snowden. But the Hollywood ladies' man, who just returned from his other home in Italy, confided to "Extra" that believe it or not, he sometimes can't get a date, even with the use of the pick up line: "You want to come to my villa in Italy?"

"I tried that on Sam Rockwell," Clooney admitted. "It didn't work at all."

Rockwell, who is Clooney's old buddy and "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" co-star, did, however, come to George's rescue at the LA film festival over the weekend, where Clooney was honored with the Spirit of Independence Award, which included a retrospective of his own art-house film work.

"Well, let's hope they don't put 'Return of the Killer Tomatoes' out there," Clooney joked.

Clooney is just about to start on a new film with old pal Steven Soderbergh called, "The Good German." And George joked about growing older when we asked for an update on the back injury that recently put him under the knife.

"It makes you feel old," Clooney admitted. "I think everyone has a year they age a decade. I just had it."