Jeff Goldblum's (Hilarious) Rules for Life

THE WICKED STAR AND MARRIED DAD SHARES SOME OF HIS WACKY BUT PRACTICAL WISDOM

- ERIC ANDERSON and JULIET LOPEZ

Jeff Goldblum had just begun filming on his first major movie when someone on-set sideswiped him with a negative review: You stink. No, it wasn’t Goldblum’s performance, but rather his body odor. To convincingly play a menacing street thug in the 1974 Charles Bronson thriller Death Wish, the normally fastidious Pennsylvania native thought he should stop bathing in what he calls a “misguided” attempt at Method acting. “The assistant director came up to me and said, ‘Jeff, we’re in a small space here. You smell. Can you do something about that?’” recalls the Jurassic Park actor, 72. “I was shamed, but it was a good lesson: In show business or any collaborative, close area, keep your hygiene up.”

It’s one of many nuggets of wisdom the proudly quirky actor, now starring as the Wizard of Oz in the blockbuster movie Wicked, learned through the years. Asked for his rules to live by, Goldblum, who shares sons Charlie, 9, and River, 7, with his wife, former Olympian rhythmic gymnast Emilie, 41, offers up a few more.

Wicked's Wizard Goldblum (with Michelle Yeoh) compares his character to inventor Nikola Tesla.