Chris Pine Explains His Recent 'Playful' Red Carpet Style and Why He's Not Striking '“Zoolander” Poses' Now

The actor kicked off the 'Poolman' press tour in a wild look including jorts — here’s why he did it

Chris Pine isn’t taking himself — or his fashion — too seriously on the Poolman press tour.

In fact, the actor's love of short-shorts has been heavily documented across the internet. (“I don’t think there’s anything to defend,” he told E!).

So it wasn’t a shock when he stepped out for the April 24 Poolman premiere in a tiny pair of jorts, plus an “I heart L.A.” T-shirt…plus hiker boots and long blonde hair —  but it definitely showed a new side to Pine’s red carpet style, which usually consists of sharp suits. That's because Pine is jumping on the method dressing red carpet bandwagon.

“The film I made is a joyful, silly, playful film and it just didn’t seem to be the right vibe if I showed up trying to strike Zoolander poses on the carpet. So I decided to go all-in,” Pine — who stars in and directed the film — told Today’s Savannah Guthrie in a May 1 interview.

Guthrie interpreted the style move as “method promoting” (also referred to as method dressing), which is when an actor gets into the theme or character of a film by looking the part off-camera.

Related: The Curious Case of Chris Pine's Hair Length, from a Buzz Cut to a Bob in One Year: See His Evolution

Pine even channeled his character, "pool guy" Darren Barrenman for his appearance on Today.

"This is actually the blazer that I wore in the film,” he said, referring to his checkered jacket. He also wore the L.A. shirt from the movie (Darren is an Angeleno), but kept his hair to a blonde bob.

“My character’s a big city council gadfly, as they call them, because the city council all the time argues for more public transportation (because L.A. obviously struggles with that) and better composting.”

Related: Chris Pine's Latest Red Carpet Look Includes Jorts and Tube Socks and We Can't Stop Staring

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Fashion aside, Pine was very committed to making this passion project happen. He told Guthrie that he’d been thinking about making Poolman for five years and finally got down to business during the COVID19 quarantine because he needed a “creative outlet.” When a writer “fell through,” Pine decided to take matters into his own hands.

“So we sat down and started writing it and it was really joyful and fun. As I was writing it, I was envisioning it, so it was very holistic and natural and seemed to be the thing that I was going to direct,” he said.

Related: Chris Pine Searches for 'Love and Connection' in Trailer for Poolman, His Directorial Debut (Exclusive)

Poolman also stars Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Danny DeVito, who Pine revealed he’s known mutually for decades through his kids, with whom he went to school with in San Fernando Valley.

The film is slated to officially hit theaters on May 10. 

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