GQ USA – June 2019
English | 138 pages | True PDF | 158.9 MB

when we kicked off this new era of GQ USA magazine back in February with Frank Ocean on the cover and a renewed focus on cutting-edge fashion and style, it wasn’t necessarily a given that Seth Rogen would be one of our first five covers. But then Rogen debuted his film Long Shot at SXSW in March to sparkling reviews. In the film stills, he was wearing a cool nylon windbreaker and a dad cap. And at the premiere, he showed up in a slick electric blue suit while sporting an easy confidence that knocked my wig back. He looked stylish and proud.
He looked like he cared—about the film he put so much work into as producer and star. But also about himself. He was kinda glowing. He seemed fully embodied. I remember thinking, Damn, Seth Rogen has really become his best Seth Rogen. Since I started working at GQ, in 2007, this magazine has been charting the evolution of man. Back then, we were dealing with an American male human that was still fairly dim—willfully ignorant of how to dress and how to take proper care of himself. But over the past decadeplus, somehow, gloriously, it has become imperative for
the modern man to care more than ever. About the way he looks. About the way he feels. About the way he behaves toward himself, for starters— and toward the rest of the world from there. Kindness, grace, love—we are learning that you gotta give these things to yourself first. Then you can share. Relatedly, men’s fashion has gone from being a small
subculture to becoming an integral part of the pop-culture fabric. Part of the growing conscientiousness of so many men is just a deliberate, intentional knowingness about what we’re wearing. I mean, half the songs on the Hot 100 sound like someone reading o≠ my Fashion Week schedule: Gucci this, Gucci that. Rick Owens. Rolex. Richard Mille. Please don’t touch my Raf.
We have become a new man. A stylish man. And while Seth Rogen doesn’t really fashion himself as a TED Talk or Tony Robbins–type lifestyle guru, he is on the cover of this issue because we here at GQ magazine think that, in this moment, he’s worthy of a little emulation. The stoner from Pineapple Express is a success, according to the new multi-hyphenate definition we now hold dear:
He’s a Hollywood boss. He’s humble. And as you’ll see in our cover story, he’s thoughtful about everything from family to film to fatherhood. Plus he’s got balance: On the one
hand, he gets up at 6:45 a.m., exercises, and gets to work. On the other, he still gets higher than Cypress Hill. Which only proves to me the essential point that Seth Rogen hasn’t become someone else entirely, but he has evolved mightily. And there’s no higher calling than that.
Will Welch
EDI TOR IN CHI E F