George Clooney on Amal Alamuddin engagement: 'I'm marrying up'

NEW YORK, July 21 (UPI) -- Perennial bachelor George Clooney touched on his engagement to British lawyer Amal Alamuddin during an interview with Variety that was published on Sunday.

"I'm marrying up," said the Oscar winning actor about his fiancé of three months.

The Gravity star also discussed his recent feud with British tabloid The Daily Mail during his interview, telling the magazine "it's just fun to slap those bad guys every once in a while, knock 'em around."

Clooney recently penned a USA Today op-ed where he slammed the tabloids' website for making fake claims that his fiancee's mother was against the couple's wedding.

"Usually the argument is: 'Hey, we're not gonna tell you our source,' and, 'Prove it.' And when they actually do it themselves it's so great," Clooney said. "You go, 'OK, well you obviously just screwed this [up], so I think I can get you now."

The actor added that as a celebrity it's important to "pick your fights at a tabloid" because "every day they write things that aren't true."

"But every once in a while they write something that is actually dangerous to your family, and it's probably not true. And that's the one you pick," he concluded.

Clooney will reportedly marry Alamuddin in the Downton Abbey castle. There's no word on the date of the nuptials.