For Ryan Gosling, Regé-Jean Page, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas, the Group Shot Is a Contest
The group shot is a real bag of mixed nuts. There's the token show-off, usually laying on the ground in front because that's really funny and nobody's ever done that before. There are the best friends, so inseparably shackled that arms are rested upon shoulders at every given opportunity. There's the good-looking one: chin down, eyes up, wry smile. There's the one that's better-looking in real life: chin doubled, eyes closed, mouth wrinkled. And then there are the quiet ones, happy to take a backseat, a thumb up to the wind.
They don't live around Hollywood. In a town that's built on the very peculiar, nebulous concept that is FAME, everyone has Main Character Energy because they're forever chasing Main Character gigs. There are no quiet ones. Apart from Keanu Reeves. But everyone else is hustling and acting and showing off in the funnest way, and nowhere is that more clear than in the Hollywood group shot.
Take The Gray Man premiere. As a film that marks the return of the Good King Gosling, all eyes rest on an actor that has been famously evasive in recent years. And he's back, baby! Yesterday, it was prom night at a Milwaukee high school circa '79: all ice cream shades and a hint of chest and that general look that makes your significant other talk about hypothetical hall passes. Which was, and is, a big move to play.
But his colleagues came out to bat too. Chris Evans, fresh from going mad sexy on a trad suit, went Mr Ripley this time in pleated trousers, loafers and a striped knitted polo that is especially flattering if you're built like an ox at CrossFit. Bridgerton's preferred bodice ripper Regé-Jean Page elected for the retrofuturist suit; it was Seventies, but sci-fi TV show Seventies. And Ana de Armas, the saving grace of No Time to Die, Duned into the actual future with high (tech) priestess in a silver gown and accompanying slickback.
There's a lot going on. This is a long way from the Noughties, too. Hollywood group shots were largely classic affairs: navy or black suit, dresses that E! sycophants would lazily describe as 'Golden Age Hollywood'. But now, big actors are fighting to get to the front as the tabloid media publish more red carpet looks than ever. A good headline on a good fit can go a long way.
A bit of friendly competition never did any harm either. On the contrary, it's a positive thing for style. Men get more experimental. They take their lead from Very Famous Guys, and thus take more risks. We're all having more fun. The odds on Brad Pitt wearing a skirt to a premiere back in '99 would be longer than Meet Joe Black's runtime (181 minutes, if you're ever at a very loose end). And yet that's exactly what we got at Bullet Train's Berlin premiere. That, and a main cast who also pulled out all the stops. Joey King went for a Matrix 2.0 body suit. There's Brian Tyree Henry in a fanged out green suit. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is now a Miami mob boss.
The biggest winner of such a well-dressed Cold War is the box office tiller: more clicks for the looks means more publicity for the film. But everyone's taking home a prize. There are no duds in this group shot.
From: Esquire UK
