Tom Ellis Met His Style Icon George Clooney While Wearing a Bathrobe

THE LUCIFER ACTOR HAS A SOFT SPOT FOR SWEATPANTS, TOO.

In the five years since he first took on the title role in the supernatural drama Lucifer,Tom Ellis has learned the value of a tailored suit—“a real game changer,” he says—and done his best to channel his style icon, the “effortlessly cool” George Clooney.

In fact, the actor once ran into Clooney while leaving his Vancouver hotel room between filming, an experience he wished had gone differently.

“I had put on my ‘man Uggs,’ and I didn’t realize at the time, but I had put on a ‘her’ robe and not the ‘his’ robe from my room,” he says. “I hit the elevator door and George Clooney is in the elevator on his own. He looks up and has the coolest sunglasses, I had a bright smile on my face and in my head, I’m just thinking ‘it wasn’t meant to be like this.'”

While meeting his hero may not have gone his way, the actor has plenty to look forward to in any case. On August 21, the first part of the fifth season of Lucifer drops on Netflix. Ellis says the series’ massive audience is vindicating after so many rumors of cancellations. “The nice thing about Netflix is that everyone is getting it all at the same time,” he says. “I’ve been traveling around the world promoting the show and it really felt like this gaining traction and people were really watching it.”

When the cameras stop rolling, and Ellis isn’t wearing a robe, he leaves the tailoring at work and keeps things simple. “I don the suit for my job, so any opportunity to not get dressed up, I’ll take it,” he says. “I’ve got a few pairs of special pants that are the comfiest material I’ve ever had in my life.. And I just love a Henley and a pair of sneakers. That’s my favorite thing to wear.”

Most days, he says, fans don’t recognize him in his daily get-up, which usually involves a pair of sweatpants. His go-to style might be on the casual side, but with Lucifer fast becoming a cult hit, he may well find himself wearing more suits in the future.