The man who has become one of the most recognizable memes in the world was born and raised in The Bronx!
When we saw the headline above from The Schmooze, it immediately caught our attention because we already know who ‘The Most Interesting Man in The world’ is (great job marketing department at Dos Equis for drilling that into our subconsciousness).
Jonathan Goldsmith famous for his line in the commercials, “I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” told The Schmooze that he hails from our awesome borough.
According to the article:
Goldsmith, who was replaced by younger actor Augustin Legrand in 2016, is meeting with me to discuss his new memoir “Stay Interesting: I Don’t Always Tell Stories About My Life, but When I Do They’re True and Amazing” (Dutton), published on June 13th. The book is filled with interesting anecdotes from Goldsmith’s life but the actor doesn’t have much in common with the Latino debonaire he plays in the campaign that made him in a star. In fact, Goldsmith isn’t Latino at all. He’s a Jew from the Bronx.
That plan was dashed when he got a call one day from his agent, who said she knew of a role for which he would be perfect. It was this call that would change his life forever.
Goldsmith had nothing to lose. He said yes to the audition, packed a bag, and drove his old pick-up truck out to Los Angeles. Within the year, his very Yiddishe punim had become synonymous with one of the most famous commercial campaigns of the new millennium.
“There was a line of 500 men and they all looked like Juan Valdez, the coffee merchant,” said Goldsmith of the fateful audition. “I said, I’m all wrong for this.”
The producers of the commercial were looking for an actor with an improvisational background, which Goldsmith had. But his confidence wasn’t at an all-time high.
“I didn’t know if I still had it in me, if I could still make them laugh,” he says. “They asked me to tell them a story – any story – but it had to end with ‘and that’s how I arm-wrestled Fidel Castro.’”
Goldsmith concocted a wild tale about meeting Fidel Castro through a romantic tryst with Che Guevara’s sister. The bit was a roiling success.
“I had them laughing more and more,” says Goldsmith. “And in the end, they chose a Jew from The Bronx.”
Who knew?!
