Handsome older gentleman/internet crush Jeff Goldblum has told Vulture in an interview this week that he’s pretty chill about being typecast sometimes – because, hey, the guy fully understands the age-old adage you should give the people (internet) what they want, and what they want is the ‘Blum himself.
Goldblum’s on the press circuit to promote his return to his ’90s zenith in the role of (sometimes inexplicably shirtless) mathematician Dr Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. And oh yeah, last Thursday, Goldblum copped the 2,638th (so special!) star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In the interview, Goldblum acknowledges that writers sometimes create “Jeff Goldblum-y parts“, and tbh he quite likes to play them. Like to be specific: his role as the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok:
Taika Waititi, when we met at the Chateau Marmont before we started on Thor, said to me, ‘I want Jeff Goldblum in makeup in that role.’ And I like to do that. I’d rather do that than characterise too extravagantly. People write Jeff Goldblum-y parts and they want me to do them and that’s fine. I think I can even do a better version of it.
While he reckons it’ll probably be fleeting, and he “know[s] I’m not everybody’s cup of tea“, Goldblum says the fact he’s having a cultural moment rn is probably due to his appearances in a few “well received and widely seen” features like the Thor sequel, and Wes Anderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs.
Still: “I would hope any interest in me or my work comes from my aspiring to be authentic,” because “being real and true” is, for Goldblum, what acting’s all about.
But he doesn’t want to be reduced to playing a caricature – or a vulgar version – of his off-screen persona: “I don’t want to be a skeevy reality-show version of myself. But what I mean is that there might be great roles still to come for me that incorporate things that are recognisably my straight behaviour.”
Yet he won’t be limited to being typecast: “I still am excited about transforming for roles. I wouldn’t mind playing a part with hair extensions and an eye patch and a funny accent.”
So let’s hope the next person to think about casting Goldblum keeps that little tidbit in mind – we’re VERY INTERESTED.
