He proclaimed to the world, "I'm bringing sexy back."
In Timberlake's new comedy, The Love Guru, the 29-year-old plays a French-speaking, sexed-up, physically-endowed, professional ice hockey player named Jacques "Le Coq" Grande.
Grande wears tight-fitting Speedo swimwear . . . in public.
It raises a question: if Timberlake brought sexy back, is he also the man to bring Speedos back?Will men be safe to appear on beaches and public pools in budgie-smugglers this summer without being mocked?
"No!" Timberlake shrieked, banging his fist on a coffee table next to him during an interview.
"You can't bring sexy back in a Speedo! There is nothing good about a man in a Speedo."
The Love Guru is the latest slapstick comedy from Canadian funnyman Mike Myers, who plays Guru Pitka, an American-born, Indian-raised self-help maestro called in to resurrect the career of broken-hearted Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey player Darren Roanoke, whose wife has run off with Grande.
Timberlake may not be a fan of Speedos, but he did not mind slipping on a pair a few sizes too small for the sake of generating laughs.
In one scene, Timberlake belts out a Celine Dion classic and, yes, he's in the Speedos and, surprisingly, Dion was OK with it.
"I think she's seen the film and loved it," Timberlake offers.
Myers, whose Austin Powers and Wayne's World comedies have earned hundreds of millions of box office dollars, had his eye on Timberlake as a future co-star since 2004 when they bumped into each other at a party in Europe.
The cast of Shrek 2 was travelling through Europe promoting the film and Timberlake was in a relationship with Shrek co-star Cameron Diaz.
"We started talking and ended up doing comedy bits for an hour. Everyone else at the party left, but we stayed and kept doing jokes.
"I was thinking 'This guy is super funny'.
"Then, a few years later, [Shrek producer] Jeffrey Katzenberg called and said 'We're thinking about having Justin Timberlake in Shrek The Third'.
"I thought it was a brilliant idea.
"Then, of course, I saw Dick in a Box and I knew I had to write a part for Justin in the film."
Dick in a Box is a skit Timberlake performed on American comedy TV show Saturday Night Live.
The skit ended up winning an Emmy Award and became one of the most downloaded videos on YouTube.
Myers' revelation creates another obvious question.
Did Dick in a Box inspire Myers to put Timberlake in Speedos?
"I'm going to say . . . no," Myers responded with a straight face.
The role was a dream for Timberlake, who has drawn plenty of praise from film critics for his first few acting roles, including performances in dramas Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan.
He will next be seen in the comedy The Open Road, opposite Jeff Bridges and Mary Steenburgen.
Acting is the latest step for the entertainer, who began his career aged 12 on the Mickey Mouse Club, two years later joined boy band NSYNC and managed to do the impossible, shrugging off his teen image to become a successful solo performer.
His film success will not mean the end of his music career. Timberlake is happy to juggle.
"I'd like to carry on doing both," he said.
"Music is in my blood. But I enjoy film as well."
His talents do not rest with the entertainment business, as he showed at a celebrity event a few days before the recent US Open golf tournament at the treacherous Torrey Pines course near San Diego.
Timberlake managed to shoot below 100 on the course, an impressive feat considering similar scores carded by professionals during the US Open.
He has a three golf handicap, so he's no fool on the links.
Myers said Timberlake had no problem playing Grande.
"I find most people want to make fun of themselves," Myers, who began his career on Saturday Night Live, said.
"I've worked with a lot of famous people because we would always have a guest host on the show and I got to meet most of my heroes.
I would say the high 99 percentile have a true sense of humour about themselves [are] and happy to make fun of themselves.
"Justin was no different. He embraced it." - Peter Mitchell
