He has that trademark, part mumble, part can’t-remember-his-next-line style of delivery. His acting is replete with enough quirky mannerisms to give Stanislavski cold sweats. His form - his lankiness, those outsized ears, a complexion that means he could be from anywhere on the planet - hardly makes him matinee idol material. And yet, as the chat show host Conan O’Brien noted to him, “there is nobody remotely like you. You’re one of a kind. There’s just one Jeff Goldblum in the world.”
He’s back in another world this year, in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, once again playing the scientist-with-style that has become a career staple. But what style: while much of the cast is dashing about in outdoorsy action duds, Goldblum’s there in tone-on-tone, darker-than-dark tailoring: Richard Dawkins as though outfitted by the yakuza. That may have been the costume department’s choice - although it’s become a rule of thumb for most of Goldblum’s roles that he puts a little of his own wardrobe into the character mix - but it fits the man as well as the role: for while other Hollywood big-hitters have been lauded for their dress sense - many of them without much evidence - Goldblum has been unfairly overlooked. And this an actor who - excepting perhaps his madcap snakeskin-jacketed style in ‘Nashville’ - tends to look that much better in his civilian attire than he does on set; an actor, lest one forget, who will be of pensionable age this year.
But don’t expect that to mean a man who has retired in a litany of respectable suits. He’s more likely to be found in something akin to a biker jacket, printed shirt, chinos and sneakers - all of which sounds like a much younger man’s game, all of which Goldblum pulls off in a way that makes it entirely in keeping for a man of his years. His dressing has, in fact, got better over the last decade. OK, so he’s used a stylist to overhaul his wardrobe - but has been very open about the fact. And it’s worked.
