Irish American George Clooney is not just an ardent supporter of President Obama, he's actually a friend.

That fact became clear during the President’s interview with Entertainment Tonight this week, where he discussed his friendship with Clooney, whom he called a 'wonderful guy.'

'The truth is we got to know each other because of a substantive issue,' Obama said. 'He is a terrific advocate on behalf of the people of Darfur, and to the people of Sudan who've been brutalized for a long time. And so when I was a senator - this was well before I was president - that was an issue that I was working together on a bipartisan basis, and George, who had traveled there, done documentaries there, and was very well-informed, came to testify in Congress. And so we got to know each other, and he is a good man, and a good friend.'

According to the Huffington Post, the President praised Clooney's humanitarian work, and noted the effect the actor's star power had on members of his White House staff.

'I will say that the couple of times he's come to the White House, I notice that the staff suddenly is circling around my office,' he said. 'They've got memos they need to make sure I see right away.'

Michelle Obama joked that she thinks it's a 'conspiracy" that she's never around when Clooney comes to town.

'Michelle is always frustrated because a lot of the events that George has been involved in, for some reason, she has something else going on,' the President added.

Clooney has been a deeply committed fundraiser for the Obama campaign throughout the 2012 election cycle, hosting an event at his Los Angeles home in May that raked in $15 million for the President's reelection campaign.

Clooney will also headline an Obama fundraiser in Geneva, Switzerland later this month. Tickets for the event start at $1,000 a person.