Beer company Dos Equis hit promotional gold when they unveiled an ad campaign centered around “The Most Interesting Man In The World.” People loved the funny ads; the commercials even spawned a meme. But what do we know about Jonathan Goldsmith, the man behind the Most Interesting Man in the World?
Who Is ‘The Most Interesting Man In The World?’
Goldsmith has been appearing on screen since 1963, with over 350 television appearances under his belt. Despite many roles, he never got that big break to make him a star. After years of bit parts and endless auditions, Goldsmith tired of the rejections and left Hollywood.
In the ‘90s, he started a waterless car wash products company, Dri Wash & Guard, which was successful enough to let him retire from acting. His annual profits were over $150 million, but a bad business partnership caused him to lose it all.
Goldsmith was flat-broke when he showed up to audition for the Dos Equis commercial; he’d even slept in his car the night before. The audition required the hopeful actors to improvise a monologue that ultimately ended with “….and that’s how I arm-wrestled Fidel Castro.”
“I started streaming this line of bullshit and the casting team started laughing,” Goldsmith said in an interview with the Boston University Collegian. “So I just continued with this outrageous story about how I met Che Guevara, I loaned him a motorcycle, I became a legend with women and I shared my expertise, Fidel heard about me, I met him, we had a game of chess, and he then decided we should have a duel, and I said, “Well, we could get hurt,” and he agreed, so we decided to arm-wrestle.”
What Is He Doing Now?
Goldsmith landed the job and served as Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man” from 2007 to 2015. The ad campaign was credited for helping to fuel a 15.4% sales increase for the brand in the United States in 2009.
In 2016, he was replaced with French actor Augustin Legrand. The following year, Goldsmith returned to TV commercials, promoting Astral Tequila. He’s also continued acting; his most recent movie credit was actress Christine Baranski’s love interest in the 2018 blockbuster Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
Goldsmith might not be the “Most Interesting Man” anymore, but he still does his best to live an exciting life. “To be an interesting person, I think you have to be interested in things,” he said. “Get out of the rat race. Take that time to go inside yourself and explore silence and experience dreams.”
“The way I sum it up sometimes is, life is a parade, an endless celebration of possibilities,” he continued. “Most people watch it go by and live vicariously through others. Some get in and enjoy the journey. I’m at an age now where I’m losing friends, and I want to feel it and touch it and sense it. I don’t want anything to hold me back from that.”
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