Alberto Rey
Updated Thursday, January 25, 2024-21:33
How many people know who Jeremy Allen White is but have never seen him in a series or movie? The protagonist of
The Bear
shows that being an actor and being a star are different things. Being a star and being famous are not the same either. Allen White is just two of those three things: he is an actor (and a very good one) and he is famous, but he is not a star. Not him yet. But his people ("his people") have already set to work to make it so as soon as possible. Because there is no time to waste.
Like Jacob Elordi, Florence Pugh or Paul Mescal,
he has not yet starred in a big movie that uses his face and his name as main attractions to attract audiences. Timothée Chalamet has already removed that thorn:
Wonka's success can be largely attributed to his presence.
He is already a superstar. Another thing is that those of us who have gray hair find it a bit aberrant that this half-made person is an important name in Hollywood. But the world is as it is, not as we (old people) want it to be.
With
The Last of Us,
Pedro Pascal has also shown that the almost ridiculous (due to its intensity and irrationality) investment we have made in him was worth it. Economic, emotional and sexual investment. At the last Critic's Choice Awards gala, Chelsea Handler, master of ceremonies, joked that Pascal made everyone horny. That's what Jeremy Allen White is trying to do with his underwear advertising campaign. That and many more things. Posing for Calvin Klein Underwear is one of the tools that Hollywood actors have to establish themselves as stars.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jamie Dorman and recently Jacob Elordi
have also done it. The pop impact of his photos will never be like that of Marky Mark's at the time (when he was not yet Mark Wahlberg, fortunately and unfortunately), but the "Calvins" campaigns still matter. And they are still very well paid.
I, who know a lot about actors but very little about athletes, did not recognize the athlete who recently starred in another campaign for the brand. What's more: I thought it was one of those things with a social alibi: non-normative bodies, non-normative minds, we can all be Calvin Klein models.
Thank goodness I didn't mention it in public (or here), because they would have stoned me.
See this post on Instagram
I have no proof but I also have no doubt that something similar will happen to many of those who see Jeremy Allen White in his underwear: and who the hell is that guy? If Jeremy achieves his goal of being a star, in a few years he will tell anecdotes about the photo shoot and the filming of the spot on TV shows. They will play the muscular images in the background, the audience will cheer them and then he will talk about his next blockbuster and his plans to direct.
And his Oscar, because he will already have one.
That has happened before too.
I am a Calvin Klein underwear wearer. If I didn't really like it, why would I write this here (and I don't think it's the first time). I would love to say that the brand's ubiquitous advertising strategies had nothing to do with my choice, but I accept my reality as a highly influential person. Plus, Calvins aren't that expensive either. Caro is Merz B. Schwanen. From that German brand are the white t-shirts that Jeremy Allen White wears in
The Bear.
When the series premiered, those basic, thick cotton, perfectly cut t-shirts became almost a trophy. I think that
the only store in Barcelona that had them was a little fed up with the very annoying fans
of
The Bear
(see: me) asking if they were planning to sell the specific model that chef Carmy Berzatto wears. Another of Merz B. Schwanen's Spanish points of sale didn't even bother to respond to an email from a crazy person (see: me) asking them about the exact weight of the garments. Not even in
The Bear
do they lose their roles anymore.
Merz B. Schwanen's expensive t-shirts are extraordinary. Their regular users choose them for their unmatched quality, not because so-and-so wears them or so-and-so advertises them. I can attest that they can handle anything you throw at them, including ketchup stains, baby vomit, and the long dryer setting. Calvin Klein briefs aren't Primark throwaways, but they also don't have a much longer lifespan than noticeably cheaper brands. Being their ambassador, Jeremy Allen White proposes a deal: I turn you into a cool product in 2024 and you give me the status of a star capable of turning
ordinary boxers into a symbol of having succeeded in life.