Amongst the many carbon-copy characters of the Hollywood scene is a perfectly odd gem of a man. This person, who loves jazz, hand gestures and thick-rimmed glasses, has answered to many names over the span of his long and memorable career: Ian Malcolm, Seth Brundle and David Levinson, to name a few. Today, he seems to have reached peak immortal icon status, with a semi-nude giant sculpture of him appearing in London only a week ago.
If you haven’t already imagined the world’s most beloved eccentric Jeff Goldblum, then you are simply a fake fan. The man, perhaps most known for the phrase, “Life, uh, finds a way,” has been the talk of the town ever since he came back into the limelight during the promotional tour for “Independence Day: Resurgence.” Although he’s been in both films and television almost every single year for the entirety of his career, now more than ever the world seems to be falling deeper in love with the 65-year-old actor. But why now, and why him?
A great amount of his growing fame has to do with the fact that Goldblum has recently starred in more blockbuster, big-budget films, like the before-mentioned “Independence Day: Resurgence,” as well as “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” These movie press tours and back-to-back releases have catapulted Goldblum to the forefront of the silver screen.
For those that fall into the millennial bucket — also the group that essentially runs social media and the internet — the “Jurassic Park” actor may have only been seen in his numerous collaborations with award winning director Wes Anderson, having starred in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”
However, Goldblum’s recent work in larger-budget and heavily commercialized films have made him more accessible than ever before. Every time I open YouTube, I see at least a few videos in my recommended from companies such as Wired, GQ, Buzzfeed and Vanity Fair with Goldblum as the star.
Most recently, I came across a video from Funny or Die where the actor shops, prepares and cooks a meal with special guest and “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom” co-star Bryce Dallas Howard. Almost every top comment on the video has viewers begging for Goldblum’s cooking antics to become a regular series. I probably replayed the video at least 10 times, laughing my ass off and sitting in complete bewilderment at Goldblum’s way of being.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgLSXLs5ZYc
Goldblum, plain and simple, is weird. He is uniquely strange in the most self-assured, nonchalant and subtly obvious way. In the Funny or Die video, his odd-ball personality already reveals itself. Shortly after hugging the produce expert at Ralph’s and telling him he’d be “ripe in two days,” Goldblum returns to his kitchen. Here, he starts to cut an avocado, skin and all, into cubes.
After realizing that this might be incorrect, he states, “We march to the beat of our own avocado.” He then later almost trips on the carpet, and while he goes off on a tangent about how that’s very dangerous, a piece of his beloved avocado toast slides off his wooden cutting board onto the floor. His response? “That’s the worst thing that’s ever happened.” Same, Jeff, same.
His enchanting personality and behaviors aren’t isolated to just cooking, either. In every video, interview and appearance, Goldblum retains his signature weirdness. For example, the actor has been known to get along with late night talk show host Conan O’Brien.
Some of Goldblum’s most iconically peculiar moments have occurred while on air with the comedic host, including almost choking on his cough drop, showing off his calves and examining the bottom of Conan’s shoes. Conan put it best when he said, “This is the weirdest interview I’ve ever experienced.”
However, the most humorous part about him — and what makes Goldblum completely stand out — is not his actions but his mannerisms. A lover of hand motions and movements, the actor almost always uses them, very enthusiastically, to communicate something. He also harbors a well-read, expansive vocabulary and has an incredibly unique, articulated tone of voice, full of “aahs,” “oohs” and “mmms” — something of pure curiosity and interest not often found among Hollywood’s elite.
This curiosity, something innate in Goldblum that he has expressed on many occasions — including the cooking video where he calls the inside of a bell pepper “absolutely miraculous” — has recently gotten the actor a new gig with National Geographic. On the new 12-part docuseries, as of now titled “The Curiosity of Jeff Goldblum,” the screen legend will explore “the extraordinary stories behind the world’s most ‘ordinary’ things,” as reported by Deadline.
The father of two is also on track to debut a jazz album with Decca Records later this year. If you thought Goldblum was a one-trick pony, guess again. He frequently plays shows around Los Angeles and New York City with his jazz group, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, and also hosts a weekly jazz variety show at L.A.’s Rockwell Table and Stage.
Goldblum is truly an idiosyncratic masterpiece of a human being. There is no one else in the world quite like him, and I don’t believe there ever will be. He really does “march to the beat of his own avocado.” There are few veteran celebrities like himself that have both starred in everyone’s favorite movies and are a favorite in everyone’s hearts as well. If only I lived in London, I would probably build my home on Goldblum’s left peck. I’m sure I wouldn’t be the only one.
