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Recently I interviewed Bob Odenkirk, the 58-year-old actor best known as Saul Goodman who has gone through a two-year transformation for his movie Nobody. He says in the interview that he was hoping to reject any kind of audaciousness in the choice he made to play this character and get into this kind of shape, but he knew that was not particularly convincing, seeming as he was known in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul as a mulleted man in ill-fitting suits, and 50 kilos heavier. The film is tremendous fun but the impact of a man his age having that kind of horsepower was a pleasant surprise.
Steve Carrell is another. Even in 40-Year-Old virgin, the premise that he was supposedly entirely unremarkable and unappealing was undone by the fact he clearly benched a remarkable amount and he’s not done much to diminish his sex appeal since.
Parliament has even got in on the action. Vaccines have brought the shirtless out of our politicians from all over. Johnny Mercer represented the UK, with his bulky commando heft. In Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis surprised us all with his physique, remarkably similar looking to the pre-waxed Carrell. In France, Olivier Veran was equally in shape, albeit less hirsute.
Back to William though, the idea of a ‘Royal physique’ is a fluid concept. King Edward VII – Dirty Bertie – clearly enjoyed endurance sports like Backgammon and shooting, King Edward VIII was slender and slight, Prince Philip was in terrific shape, and since his passing a few images have cropped up of him topless in a kind of posthumous reevaluation. The same can be said for Prince Charles; there is plenty of imagery of him as a young man in tremendous shape, but not much has changed even as a septuagenarian, with Richard Kay writing about ‘His Royal Buffness’ as recently as 2019.
What William benefits from is his reputation as the quieter brother. Action Man Harry with his beard and Apaches is expected to be in good shape, all the more so now he’s swapped Blighty for LA. William was more readily seen opening schools in a flannel shirt, crewneck sweater and chinos. The element of surprise is there; he is a beneficiary of our low expectations. Now that Harry has taken over our low expectations, this is Williams time to strike, and his opening gambit is masterful.
Because you read about prince william
Also by Tom Chamberlin
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