Jake Johnson is known for his comedic timing and getting cast as the snarky, 30-something man-child type he perfected in New Girl, and he leveraged beautifully in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, just FYI. So Johnson was definitely up for the challenge of stretching his acting chops by playing the slick, yet multi-faceted pornographer Doug Renetti in the new HBO Max series Minx. However, show creator Ellen Rapoport wasn’t fully prepared for all of the thirst out there for her leading man, particularly his chest hair, which Johnson works, and works, hard thanks to the ’70s fashions featured in the series.
Via Thrillist:
Rapoport had no idea that casting Internet Boyfriend Johnson would add another angle to her show about female desire. “I did not know that there was so much thirst for Jake Johnson until I started reading Twitter two weeks ago,” she says. “I’m so happy people like his chest hair and open shirts. I would have opened them more if I knew there was such an appetite for them.”
For Johnson, the opportunity to bare his lusty chest hair wasn’t so much his concern as getting to play a smooth-talking, yet oddly endearing character who reminded him of his dad.
“Doug reminds me of my uncles and parts of my dad,” Johnson told Thrillist. “These salesmen, who you’re not sure if they’re on the good team or the bad team. They have tons of heart and morality, but in the same sense, they’re really shady. And you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I can trust this person.’ Those parts don’t come my way very often.” And you don’t often get to look like this either. Real win-win here.
Minx starts streaming March 17 on HBO Max.
(Via Thrillist)