Love, Simon’s Nick Robinson graduates to the big time in the season’s louche looks—a little bit ’70s, a little bit Elvis and entirely unforgettable
Words by KELSEY McKINNON
Photography by CHRISTIAN ANWANDER
Styling by ALISON EDMOND
“I would like to keep making movies that speak to people”
Nick Robinson was just 15 when he left his childhood home in Seattle to give the acting thing a try. “It was a tender time, I was a freshman in high school. It was a really big deal,” he remembers. His parents rented a small apartment in Burbank as the actor paid his dues with a supporting role on the Melissa & Joey show until his big break came along three years later with the soul-quenching, Sundance-tapped indie The Kings of Summer. “This movie reminded me why I wanted to be an actor,” he says.
Robinson, now 23, went on to land a string of coveted roles in Jurassic World, The 5th Wave, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Everything, Everything and this spring’s much anticipated Love, Simon, a John Hughes-tinged gay coming-of-age story with the backing of a mainstream studio (20th Century Fox).
“[Love, Simon] wasn’t an immediate, ‘Yes,’ ” admits Robinson. “But I’m so glad that I was convinced because it’s been a very personal journey and there have been a lot of very serendipitous things that have happened in my life that have sort of pointed me to the conclusion that this was a good decision.” While the film was in production, for example, his own brother came out as gay. “We were able to talk about it on a totally different level,” Robinson says.
Next, the actor stars in the noir thriller Strange But True and the William H. Macy-directed dramedy, Krystal. “On my short-term to-do list, I would like to spend more time in nature. I’m planning a backpacking trip either in [Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks] or Yosemite,” he says. Plus, one other thing: “I would like to keep making movies that speak to people.”
Feature image: PAUL SMITH jacket, $1,800, sweater, $495, and pants, $495. STEPHEN WEBSTER ring, $1,800. GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI loafers, $825. FALKE socks (seen throughout), $22.
Grooming by MARISSA MACHADO at Art Department using R + Co.
This story originally appeared in the Spring 2018 Men’s Edition of C Magazine.
