George and Amal Clooney Write Each Other Love Letters All the Time

While George and Amal Clooney will be celebrating seven years of marriage this fall, the couple continues to practice romantic gestures to honor their relationship each and every day. The actor told AARP the Magazine that they regularly pen sweet messages to each other—and have continued to do so during their time in quarantine, People reports. "Even in lockdown, I'll write a letter and slip it on her desk, or she'll write a letter and leave it under the pillow. I'm a big believer in letters," George said.

As for the inspiration behind these simple devotions of love? "I have letters from Paul Newman, Walter Cronkite, Gregory Peck. I have them framed. I put them in the house," the actor explained, adding that it's the action of writing out the words that makes them so powerful. "If it were a text, it would feel different. Maybe that's a generational thing, and maybe it won't be that way 20 years from now, but for me, somebody sat down and wrote it."

This ritual is nothing new, however—letters were part of the origins of their whirlwind romance, too. The now-married couple met in Lake Como, Italy, and George felt drawn to Amal immediately. "I thought she was beautiful, and I thought she was funny and obviously smart," he previously told The Hollywood Reporter, adding, "she probably thought I was old." After their initial meeting, the pair stayed connected via the written word. "She sent some pictures from when she was here, and we were writing each other, emailing, talking, mostly about what was going on in each other's lives, and over a period of time it became clear we were more than just friends."

Naturally, their relationship continued to evolve; they went on their first date shortly thereafter. It was when they took a safari trip together, however, that George knew confidently that he would someday pop the question. "Amal loves giraffes; they're her favorite animal. She went to this place called Giraffe Manor, where the giraffes stick their heads through the windows and kiss you," George recalled. "I had a picture of her, looking back, smiling at these giraffes," added the actor, "and I said, 'I think I'm going to ask her to marry me.'"