Everything’s coming up Emotive Eyebrow! Justin Theroux has made some really good/interesting career moves recently. His work on The Leftovers is acclaimed, although the show is low-rated and ending after one more season. He scored a part in The Girl On the Train which will probably raise his profile considerably. And he also cowrote Zoolander 2 with several other people. It’s because of Zoolander that Justin got a short profile in the new issue of GQ. You can read the full piece here. He chats about going to Paris Fashion Week for research, what the modeling world is really like and how he feels about the outrage regarding Benedict Cumberbatch’s All model character. Some highlights:
The LGBT outrage about Benedict Cumberbatch’s model “All”: “It goes without saying that I think the outrage is unwarranted, because that’s a snippet of a scene that’s taken out of context. We were very careful with that joke. The line they object to is coming out of the mouth of an idiot [Hansel]. Also, the character is not as they describe. All is a non-thing. It’s a neither/nor. We don’t explain what this person’s sexuality or orientation is, hence the name All. I don’t know if there’s any person on the planet that’s like All. So if it’s offending 0.0000000000001 percent of the population, I apologize. But I don’t. I would argue that our comedy is on the side of the people thinking that they’re being targeted, usually. And if the joke is good and aimed correctly, it hits at idiots—not disenfranchised groups. I’m not a fan of cruel comedy at all, and I’m very careful not to write cruel.”
The challenges facing male models: “Longevity, I guess. Look at what Cindy Crawford has done. It’s the one field where women really do come out on top. Male models could make an argument that they need more equality in the workplace. It’s, I think, the only profession where men earn less than women.”
Whether he still dumpster dives & uses trash as art: “No, I don’t….I still have trash all over the place. Yes, I do. Now it’s a little more edited down and curated—and there was a lot of garbage I did want to get rid of myself prior to meeting her. But yeah, there’s a ton of that stuff that still lives in the home.”
Who is more fashionable, Justin or Ben Stiller? “Oh, my God. Embarrassingly, maybe me—which is not to say he doesn’t look great. I think he’s more unencumbered than I am.”
I understand what he’s saying about the jokes they wrote about All, and I think I’ll hold off on judging the character until I see the film and how that character is used. Within the context of the film, I don’t think All is the joke. All is likely a symbol of what has changed in the fashion industry, and as always, the joke is on Zoolander and Hansel. Also: Curated trash! He should go into business with Blake Lively.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Wait, he married JA, isn’t that cruel comedy at its best?
Rimshot!
LOL…
HA HA!!! that is the best one liner!!!! Perfection!
See? He doesn’t HAVE to arch that stupid eyebrow all the time.
And looks a lot better when he doesn’t flash his molars. That toothy grin looks so evil/deranged, just need the little sparkle on the front tooth.
He has a considerable latent talent as an actor and a screenwriter that could be brought out and further developed by the right partner, and she ain’t it. All she can talk about is his six-pack. What a waste.
I agree. I heard him on an NPR interview a few months ago and he was very bright and charming. He just seemed so much more intelligent than she appears to be. Note I said “appears” because I have no real way of judging her actual intelligence.
There are plenty of successful artists where the spouse is not even in their profession. If anything, he’s had more presence in the media and professionally partially due to JA. In general i don’t like this sentiment that your success is being hindered because you don’t have the right partner that maximizes professional output/ potential. Sounds weak and shifts responsibility.
Partners should be supportive and have your back – she seems to be pretty good in that department.
I don’t think is always a good idea to share your job with your partner: boyfriend is a scientist, his ex girlfriend was a scientist too and the relationship went south, I cannot understand what he does, I cannot discuss with him about his job, the best I can do is offering him my geek skills or correcting his English grammar. This doesn’t mean he is not maximizing his professional potential: he has more responsabilities now,than he used to have one year ago, simply his career is better now because he is happy.
Not so sure about the actual man himself, but as an actor I find him very interesting and compelling.
That said, can we all collectively agree to cease with the use of “curated”? It was the MOST overused word of 2015.
Not so fast, we still need to get rid of “edited”. Then we can move on to “curated”. But I guess that’s true love. When a hipster has edited down his curated trash for his betrothed. See, Jane Austen never thought of that sh*t.
🙋🏼 I second the ousting of “curated” and “edited,” both.
Wait!! Don’t shut the box until we throw in “thirsty!”
This is the first time I’ve ever read a word the man has spoken (that was not scripted). I must say he comes off very intelligent and thoughtful.
Didn’t he write that “full retard” bit in Tropic Thunder? I remember Ben Stiller gushing about what an awesome writer he is because he came up with that gem.
I don’t know if he specifically wrote it or not, but that joke was aimed at Hollywood and Academy Awards seekers and voters, not at intellectually disabled people.
Well here are the exact words from that scene. You decide if it’s cruel. He and Ben wrote this but I don’t think it was cruel because of the context it was used in.
Kirk Lazarus: Everybody knows you never go full retard.
Tugg Speedman: What do you mean?
Kirk Lazarus: Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, ‘Rain Man,’ look retarded, act retarded, not retarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho’. Not retarded. You know Tom Hanks, ‘Forrest Gump.’ Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition. That ain’t retarded. Peter Sellers, “Being There.” Infantile, yes. Retarded, no. You went full retard, man. Never go full retard. You don’t buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, “I Am Sam.” Remember? Went full retard, went home empty handed…
That bit identified a part of Hollywood culture that had never been described before. This isn’t a compliment I often give, but the “FR” comment was genuinely original. The vast majority of the population (Hollywood screenwriters included) will never be able to do that. Yeah, he must be smart.
Agreed. I despise when the R word is used casually. It’s lazy and ignorant. But that bit was so cleaver and on point. Which made it not only “okay” but hilarious. To me anyway.
Hey, isn’t that Phil Dunphy?
A favorite Justin quote: “It’s like, once you’ve seen Tom Hanks win the Golden Globes, the Oscars, you’ve seen his wife, what kind of car he drives, when you watch his movies, you can’t fully get really lost in them.” Would you like to take that back?
Other good ones: “Unless you hit your television with a sledgehammer, you’re not going to be able to be an individual.” “If I was roped into a seven-year TV contract I’d probably hang myself.” “Fame is something I think happens as a result of trying to do good work. If you’re trying to be famous, your work usually suffers.” Come again, hungry, hungry hipster?
He’s become the person he used to despise. Jenifer’s going to be Heidi 2.0 sooner than later.
I like him but did he really need to do that much research? Almost all the photos of him on Google are of him at ny fashion shows with is ex.
So if you can’t find photos of him doing it, it didn’t happen?
Ugh. He always comes across as a narcissistic pompous douche.
A couple words of advice here: Stop with the botox. Stop with the overly dyed black hair.
Love this man! Clever, articulate, handsome, thoughtful, witty, wise and awesome that he has maintained his sobriety. Great example of someone turning their life around.