Read This: Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man In The World really is that interesting

One of the more memorable commercial personalities to emerge since the turn of the millennium is the Most Interesting Man In The World, Dos Equis’ Hemingway-esque spokesman. Surrounded by beautiful women and exotic animals, the bearded playboy would lovingly sip the Mexican beer while hinting at a life that even Chuck Norris would envy. One might think Jonathan Goldsmith, the man behind the role, was, like most other actors, nowhere near as interesting as the man he portrays. But, as Goldsmith himself puts it in this new profile from MEL Magazine, “You can’t just act interesting, my friend. You have to be interesting.”

An actor who’s appeared in an assortment of interesting TV shows, from Gunsmoke and Bonanza to Charlie’s Angels and Knight Rider, Goldsmith has hob-knobbed with the nearly every echelon of the entertainment industry. As the piece puts it:

During the course of his career, he worked with Burt Lancaster and John Wayne, Shelley Winters and Joan Fontaine; caroused with playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller; crossed egos with Dustin Hoffman; [and] painted houses with Nicholas Colasanto (the guy who played Coach on Cheers).

Still, Goldsmith faced some demons. Once his Hollywood career trailed off, he started a company that “marketed waterless car-wash products” and, at one time, made “$150 million a year in profits” before crashing and burning for mysterious reasons. Goldsmith was living out of the bed of his truck when he scored the role of The Most Interesting Man In The World.

His entire story is interesting, as is his response to Dos Equis cutting him loose as a spokesman last year, so the entire article is worth a read. Or you can pick up his forthcoming autobiography, which is sure to have some details about those nine Buddhists.