George Clooney’s last girlfriend, Sarah Larson, was 18 years his junior. His current girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis, is 17 years younger than he is. Given that, you’d think George would keep his mouth shut when it comes to May/December romances. And since he announced he’d never marry (again) while he was dating Sarah Larson, you’d think he’d keep his mouth shut when it comes to doling out dating advice. You’d think. But you’d be wrong. George handing out all kinds of advice – and rules – to his “Up in the Air” co-star, 24-year-old Anna Kendrick, including the fact that she can’t date someone as old as him.

Ladies’ man George Clooney isn’t short on romance pointers – even if they’re for a younger, female costar.

“He had rules for me about dating and stuff. It was really sweet,” Anna Kendrick said at Saturday’s press day for their new comedy/drama Up in the Air, out Dec. 4. “It’s funny, actually. A friend of his that was his age [48] was dating somebody younger than me. He thought that was fine. I was like, ‘What would you say to me if I were dating somebody your age?’ He said, ‘Oh no, absolutely not.’ ”

The 24-year-old admits, “He had this kind of older brother thing with me.” And, her character, who has argumentative romantic tension with Clooney in the film, jokes, “Is he too old for me? Yes. George Clooney is too old for me.”

[From People]

Yes, yes, I know it’s supposed to be adorable. And it is, because George is adorable and it’s cute that he’s sort of paternal with his co-star. But you’d have a hard time convincing me that Clooney wouldn’t jump into bed with her in a second if the opportunity presented itself. And it is just fine for Clooney’s 48-year-old friend to date a girl younger than 24, but not alright for his 24-year-old co-star to date a man who’s 48. That’s rather logically inconsistent.

To George’s credit, he was married to actress Talia Balsam for four years, and she was actually two years older than he. For whatever reason, that seemed to leave a permanent bad taste in his mouth towards women his own age.

Here’s George with Elisabetta at the “Up in the Air” premiere in London on October 18th . Images thanks to Fame Pictures .