Before he became the Most Interesting Man in the World, Jonathan Goldsmith was sleeping in his pickup truck in a campground above Malibu, California. He was struggling to make ends meet and didn’t even get to take a hot shower before the audition that changed his life—and would take him from the campground to a president’s birthday party.
Goldsmith almost turned around when he saw the crowd at the audition to be Dos Equis spokesperson.
Though originally told the casting director wanted someone younger, months later, Goldsmith found himself in the studio channeling his late friend, Fernando Lamas, in delivering the line, “Stay thirsty, my friends.”
But it was still a surprise even to him when the most powerful man in the world, Barack Obama, recognized him. And an even bigger surprise when Goldsmith was invited to Obama’s private 50th birthday party at Camp David.
In an excerpt drawn from his new memoir, Stay Interesting: I Don’t Always Tell Stories About My Life, But When I Do They’re True and Amazing and published in Politico, Goldsmith dives into all this and the unlikely friendship that formed between him and the former president. Goldsmith discusses their conversations, laughter and what he’s learned from the friendship and his role as the world’s most interesting man.
“I had millions of fans all around the world,” writes Goldstein of their 2011 first encounter. “One of them happened to live in the White House.”
And maybe the best piece of advice from the most interesting man in the world?
“I can say with certainty that to be interesting you have to be interested.”
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
