Danny Ramirez has bad cell service—for good reason. The 33-year-old actor and new Michael Kors campaign star is calling from Guadalajara, where he’s filming De Noche, a period piece directed by Todd Haynes, in which his character, a boarding school teacher, falls in love with Pedro Pascal. His phone keeps glitching, transmitting a voice that sounds like a movie star on Auto-Tune. “I might be a voice double,” he tells ELLE. “Should we tell everyone this is AI?”
For the record, Ramirez is very much a real guy, albeit one who has become a fantasy boyfriend for millions thanks to his hunky work in Mission: Impossible and the Marvel Universe, along with his paparazzi-candy relationship with certified goddess Jessica Alba.
The thing is, his current dating situation is the least interesting thing about Ramirez. An avid literature junkie and former soccer star, he’s currently reading four books at once, working on a Basquiat biopic and a Scarface remake, and—somehow—teaching normal dudes how to carry a designer man bag without evaporating into a puff of smoke. Surely that’s worth a good talk. Read more below.
Courtesy Michael Kors
Your Michael Kors campaign features man bags. Some guys are resistant, even though they’re great. Is this a better move for you than pockets?
I’ve done the overloaded pocket experience, and it’s one of the most uncomfortable feelings on the planet. Because guys tend to have pockets, we overuse them and are stubborn about using a bag. But through sports, I started adapting to needing a place to hold my cleats or an extra pair of clothes, so I’ve always been bag-forward—it’s just about the type of bag. Once I started going to coffee shops, a nice little satchel worked great. I have sympathy for people without pockets and the need to carry a bag. It just makes life easier, and the moment you can make it stylish too, it’s kind of the perfect storm.
It sounds like you’re getting really into fashion, in a good way.
Well, now that I’m exposed to fashion more, I go down rabbit holes, and by the end I’m like, I respect the craft of this, and I can see why people love it. I’ve definitely started relinquishing my expectations about what I thought style was, and now I’m slowly learning the language. I went from having the classic suit, which I thought was the only way to go, to experimenting with bell bottoms, longer lines, different layers…it’s like opening a book on a random subject—by the end, you’re hooked.
What book are you hooked on right now?
I’m reading…wait, let me think…four. I’m reading four books right now.
Four?
Yeah, The Psychology of Storytelling is one. I just bought The Tipping Point—I read it about 12 years ago and there’s a sequel now! So why not revisit it, and see if it’s still something that feels like a phenomenon in the world, you know? And there’s a book about film editing…you kind of opened the floodgates, here. Every time I go to Barnes & Noble, I go in for one book and come out with 12.
Courtesy Michael Kors
They can go in the man bag.
Perfect.
Was Michael Kors a big brand for you growing up?
I’m from Miami; it’s so big here. It’s on everyone’s Christmas wish list: my mom, my sister. I grew up seeing it as, like, that’s the thing to have. Your first associations with things are where it sticks, and it was always a wish list item for everyone I knew. I’m actually excited to go back to Miami now with this campaign and hopefully hook up my mom and sister. To them, it’s like the biggest thing I’ve done. Movies? Fine. Michael Kors? A bigger deal.
Movies like Captain America are finally incorporating Spanish dialogue into their scripts. But Spanish has so many dialects, even just where you’re from in Miami. How do you work with screenwriters to make sure their Spanish is the characters’ Spanish?
This is a good question. Honestly, it’s gotten better. There are people doing a much better job now in regard to getting resources to getting the right dialogue for the right character. Definitely the ones I play. But I think I’m like any actor that just has to find the words to fit into the scene, whether it’s Spanish or English. I adjust it if it feels—you know, it’s like you get dressed by the [costume] designer and then you have to adjust your clothes so they fit? I also have to embody these lines. And when it’s in Spanish, even if the Spanish is “right,” that doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be “right” for you. And so there’s a flexibility that happens. It’s character over dialogue. That’s a dance that happens every time. It’s a very exciting part of the job.
What are your prerequisites for a great weekend getaway? Perhaps a trip to Miami or Saint-Tropez, where the campaign was shot.
Well, I think the thing about a “weekend getaway” is that it’s gonna pop up randomly, and you don’t always know when they’re coming. Especially for me, because with shooting, I just don’t know when I’ll have free days. It’s kind of like, “Oh, wow, I have these two days. Let’s make something happen.” And so I think the first rule of a weekend getaway is having a wish list of where we can get away if you have the time. Then when the moment arrives, it doesn’t just pass, because you’ve made a plan. Now let’s say you’re going on the getaway and there’s a relationship. Let’s say you’re going with someone.
Let’s!
So I think before you leave, you both need to check in on your relationship with your phone and your laptop, and kind of pre-agree with yourself, like, how much you want to engage in technology and how much you can just shut it off. Setting that hard boundary about no phones or no laptops is a thing, now more than ever, because our phones and our social media accounts are often an extension of ourselves. But once you set that line on a vacation, it’s really good to make sure that line doesn’t change. Whether you’re going to the beach or Aspen or wherever, solidifying that you’re there to be in the moment with each other, that’s really important. And then when you get there, even though it’s hectic, just trying to say in the moment.
You should also pack your laptop and iPhone away in your Michael Kors luggage once you land.
Oh, absolutely. And also, honestly, take the sunglasses with you. They’re great on the beach. They look so good with everything.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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