Did you happen to catch Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts on the cover of The New York Times’ admirably revamped T fashion magazine? Yes, of course you did. And we know just what you thought. (Hey, I have two female friends, sisters sharing a house, who got into a mock tug-of-war over it. I might have to referee.)
Down, ladies. There’s enough of him to go around. First off, he comes to DVD this week in “Rust and Bone,” which one wag at HuffPo said told the same story as “Life of Pi” (see my review here) only more entertainingly.
And then there is that profile in T (click here to read), in which The Times hails Schoenaert’s animal magnetism, the subject of April WAG. Animal magnetism is hard to define, yet you know it when you see it. Brando, remembered in April WAG, had it in spades. Certain actors have it in certain roles. I always think of the moment in “Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights” when Ralph Fiennes’ Heathcliff sits eating in the kitchen, watching Juliette Binoche’s Cathy as she bends over to look for her hair ribbon. Yep, pure Stanley Kowalski.
Schoenaerts certainly has it in The Times’ Bruce Weber photographs. There he is looking all tousled and sleepy – and naked – in a black-and-white photo while, in a color one, he pops a cherry – into his mouth.
Yeah. Sigh.
Other actors who possess animal magnetism’s strange, intoxicating blend of “brutality and grace” (as W magazine described Schoenaerts’ performance in “Rust and Bone”) include Daniel Craig (with or without his James Bond persona) and Tom Hardy.
Which favorite actor of yours embodies animal magnetism? Head to our WAG Facebook page to let us know, and we’ll let you know if they make our list, too.
– Georgette Gouveia
