TIMING IS EVERYTHING
TAG Heuer hosted a special Bangkok screening of The Gray Man, which stars brand ambassador Ryan Gosling, and, of course, their TAG Heuer Carrera watch. Charmaine Ho reports
On Tag Heuer’s invitation, I’m standing in the foyer of the Embassy Diplomat Screen cinema at Bangkok’s Central Embassy for a private screening of Netflix’s The Gray Man, along with a contingent of celebrities, personalities and VIPs, who flew in from across Southeast Asia for the event. Yet, despite the tasteful decorations and the free-flowing drinks, I find myself fixated with the movie posters that adorn the theatre’s walls. The Ryan Goslings that gaze at me from the glossy prints look remarkably different from the Gosling I’ve watched—getting shot at, blown up and chased across the screen—in the trailers for The Gray Man. For one, he’s completely clean-shaven and missing the facial hair that his character, Sierra Six, sports in the spy action flick. There’s also the fact that his hair is noticeably blonder as well.
“Apparently, Ryan had already started filming for Barbie [which is set to hit the big screens in July 2023] when the campaign images were shot,” someone tells us at the reception before the movie screening—a titbit of information that makes it even more humorous when the film’s primo villain Lloyd Hansen (played by Chris Evans), frustrated at Six’s inability to die, yells: “Extra ten million to the first guy to put a bullet in this Ken doll’s brain.”
It's an inside joke moment that immediately causes the audience to guffaw, delivered with impeccable timing by Evans. Then again, if reports are accurate, TAG Heuer’s entire involvement with this movie (perhaps barring the campaign images) could be seen as the result of fortuitous timing.
It’s said that Gosling inked the deal to be TAG Heuer’s newest star (it’s Gosling’s first-ever brand partnership) shortly before filming for the movie was set to start. And in a whirlwind of events, the watchmaker flew out their automatic TAG Heuer Carrera Date watch to the actor at his request in a matter of days, signed a deal with Netflix and became the only watch that the character wears throughout the film.
It was a match made in horology heaven not only because almost every notable spy in film history is known to have a favoured watch, but also because TAG Heuer’s classic round-faced timepiece adds nuance to Gosling’s role as a no-fuss, bareessentials kinda guy. Plus, it goes with every outfit the international spy dons in the film, from sharp red pantsuits to 1980s tracksuits—a fact made all more salient having watched the flick on the big screens in Gold Class comfort instead of a living room couch.