Chris Pine is definitely used to drawing eyeballs in his direction, which usually happens on the big screen for blockbusters like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves or his upcoming Disney feature Wish. Sometimes, however, the widespread attention comes from something far more mundane, such as the actor stepping out in a pair of short shorts that showed off far more of his thighs than they covered. Fans shared gaga reactions after the candid pics went viral, and the Wonder Woman star has now addressed his wardrobe choice with casual references to such legends as Tom Selleck and Magic Johnson. As one does.
Pine was promoting his royal role as Wish’s King Magnifico when E! News brought up the short shorts that he donned for an L.A. workout class. Ever the self-aware gent, he waved off the idea that the look needed justification, saying he didn’t think there’s “anything to defend,” and went on to say:
It’s called short shorts, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be short. . . . Corduroy short shorts. I mean, it’s a vibe. It’s the best vibe. It’s like a Tom Selleck vibe. It’s like a ’70s surfer vibe. I prefer that.
The idea of corduroy shorts can strike instant dread in certain people, just from the thought of the scritch-scritch sound it would make. But I guess it helps if the scritching is coming from a Hollywood A-lister like Pine, especially if he also happens to be wearing his eye-catching grandma cardigan at the same time. Which he wasn’t at the time, but it would have helped, I just know it.
Undaunted by any less-than-positive opinions about the look, Chris Pine said he’ll be rocking such cropped bottoms “until the legs go,” and advised everyone to look up Tom Selleck. And by all means, anyone who needs proof of Selleck’s thigh game needs not look any further than his iconic stint on Magnum P.I., with a few pieces of evidence seen below.
Not that Chris Pine only pulled from the world of acting when speaking to the appeal of short shorts. He also brought up Magic Johnson and the L.A. Lakers’ Showtime era to prove his point, saying:
It’s like Showtime. Lakers—would you rather see them with the short shorts and Magic Johnson looking like a basketball player and athlete, rather than wearing some sort of capri on the floor? No. So, I’ll be wearing the short shorts.
I believe HBO’s Winning Time would have looked a lot different if all of its dramatized games were filmed with the actors wearing capri pants. Not just from the visual of the athletes in different uniforms, but from everyone attempting to move the same way in far more restrictive clothing. Those legs need to be able to move freely in any direction.
So anyone taking issue with the Don’t Worry Darling star’s wardrobe may want to just ignore him completely in the months and years to come, as we may just be at the earliest onset of the Era of Short Shorts. Now I’m gonna have Nair commercial jingles in my head for the rest of the day.
Chris Pine will next show up in theaters for his directorial debut Poolman, which drew much critical panning following its world premiere at TIFF 2023, including CinemaBlend’s own negative opinion piece. While waiting for that, though, go back and re-enjoy his action-adventure glee in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves with a Paramount+ subscription.