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Q: Can you tell us about the nice gentleman in the Trivago commercials?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

As a matter of fact, I can tell you a surprising amount about Trivago Guy (as he has been dubbed in the media).

The series of commercials intended to introduce the German travel company to American audiences has become a career-defining moment for the actor, an ad industry talking point and, according to some, a landmark in male-female relations.

Houston-born Tim Williams was a struggling actor whose biggest role was a bit part in an episode of "The Sopranos" in 1999, when he landed the male lead in a German romantic-comedy film ("In Search of an Impotent Man," released in 2003). His temporary move to Berlin turned permanent, and it proved to be good for his acting career.

He appeared in a number of German shows and films before being cast as the talking head in commercials for the Dusseldorf-based travel website Trivago.

Indeed, his somewhat controversial look in the first Trivago commercials was partly due to his commitment to a German soap opera, which required that he keep his shaggy haircut. The rest of his look matched: baggy pants, unbuttoned shirt, stubbly beard.

However, Williams' Trivago Guy got a makeover for the most recent series of commercials. It's a little neater, and the hair is shorter (since his German soap gig came to an end).

The ads made him into an unexpected icon of middle-aged-male fashion. His fame led some in the ad industry to question whether he was outshining the brand he was supposed to be representing. More interestingly, the scrutiny his appearance received led a columnist with the Toronto-based "Globe and Mail" to question whether "middle-aged men are subject to the same uncharitable judgment women of a certain age endure."

An avid traveler himself, Williams is happy with all the attention his ads have brought, even though he has personally taken a lot of criticism for his character's look, which he says he had little to do with.

"Just so everyone knows, there is and are stylists all the time around you while you shoot a commercial."

 

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