Justin Timberlake’s in the middle of what might be his best week ever.
On Monday night in San Diego, he began his FutureSex/LoveShow world tour. His “SexyBack” single won a People’s Choice Award on Monday, and the album it’s from, “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” remains near the top of the charts. And let’s not forget that “Saturday Night Live” skit about his special holiday gift: It’s still a hit on the Internet.
But the biggest buzz he’s getting now is for his fledgling acting career. On Friday, Timberlake’s second major foray into acting hits screens. In “Alpha Dog,” he plays Frankie Ballenbacher, one of a group of drug dealers that kidnaps and kills a 15-year-old boy.
It’s not what you’d call a fan-friendly role, but Timberlake doesn’t seem to mind.
“The point was just to show the truth of what was happening with the story,” Timberlake said at a movie news conference, according to the Boston Herald. “… This is a tough movie to watch. But this is as close to what happened as we felt like we could make it.”
The movie is based on the true story of Jesse James Hollywood, the head of the drug gang whose role in the 2000 kidnapping and murder made him one of the youngest men to ever make the FBI’s most-wanted list. It also stars Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone.
The names and several identifying details have been changed for the film, but most of the events remain the same. In the film the kidnapped boy, Zack, looks up to Frankie, who is told to watch over him. According writer/director Nick Cassavetes, Frankie had the most power to rescue the boy from his 72-hour ordeal.
As Frankie, Timberlake exudes a laid-back charm. The director credits him for giving the character charisma.
“Justin was just Justin, and that’s hard to describe, but when you’re with him, you just like to watch him,” Cassavetes said. “But at the end of the day he was very much a team player.”
Timberlake has said that before filming began, he knew he would be the new kid on the block. “I felt like a fish out of water,” he told VH1 recently. “It was amazing for me to be around people my own age who are so gifted. Everyday I’d just watch them.”
Timberlake, recently rumored to have split with longtime girlfriend Cameron Diaz, saw no risk in taking on the tough role in a tough movie.
“My only stipulation for the movie was I just wanted to crack a couple of jokes here and there, and that was it,” he said, according to the Boston Herald.
Those jokes must have loosened Timberlake up for his successful December appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” The former ‘N Sync singer teamed with “SNL” cast member Andy Samberg for the boy-band parody in which the two sang about making gifts out of their male anatomy, which they wrapped in strategically placed boxes. In less than a week, the uncensored version of the video released by NBC was viewed by more than 2 million people on youtube.com alone.
It’s just one of Timberlake’s many successes in the past year. In addition to his hugely popular second solo album, he has a clothing line, restaurants and four nominations for the upcoming Grammy Awards.
“When I see him in other movies and on ‘SNL,’ I really respect how he’s handling himself,” Craig Brewer, who directed “Hustle & Flow,” told the New York Post. “Even his critics and detractors are looking at him, shrugging their shoulders and saying, ‘God, am I really loving Justin Timberlake? It’s about time.”
Before “Apha Dog,” Timberlake’s acting career was the butt of jokes. His first movie, last year’s “Edison Force,” went straight to DVD despite a cast that included Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey. Many pundits joked that Timberlake’s performance caused the DVD release. Next up, Timberlake plays a soldier who suffers anxiety attacks in another gritty film, “Black Snake Moan.” After that, he has supporting roles in “Southland Tales” and “Shrek the Third.”
“With a pop star, you can kind of write your own ticket with a cheesy way to get into movies,” “Black Snake Moan” director Brewer told the New York Post. “Justin could have done a ‘Glitter’ or something where he was a lead, but he began making these interesting choices for supporting roles.”
Timberlake has no plans to abandon his music career for acting.
“To me acting is a hobby,” he said at a Beverly Hills news conference for the movie. “I’ve been lucky enough to have a musical career that has gone pretty good, and acting is something I have always wanted to do.”
