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Hangin' With Archives
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Oliver James:Boyfriend Materialby Lynn B.
We sat down with Oliver at the 4 Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Ca. recently and found the guy to be as charming and laid back as when we last interviewed him. In jeans, flip flops and green t-shirt that I’d swear said “Hungover Again” although he said “no”, Oliver was California casual although he still calls England home. He told us that he’s fine with the boyfriend roles although he’d like to play a bad guy or something meatier soon so that he can show us “what I’m made of”. Right now, what’s he’s made of looks pretty good. Tune in… AGW: Okay, you’ve now kissed Hilary Duff and Amanda Bynes. Oliver: I have kissed them both. It’s official. AGW: Are they different types of actresses? Oliver: Well they are similar ages and in similar genres but I think they have different essences as actresses. Amanda has amazing, natural comic timing, that physical comedy side to her yet a very beautiful young woman and then there’s Hilary, also very beautiful, so photogenic but she has that kind of wholesome, girl next door essence which is what people can relate to. There are no airs and graces. She’s very relatable which I think is quite important. AGW: Is she as wholesome as she appears? Oliver: Yeah. I think so. I mean I don’t know. Perhaps there is a whole secret life of Hilary Duff but sure didn’t see it. AGW: So you didn’t corrupt her? Oliver: No. Of course not. I’m very sensible. AGW: At the What a Girl Wants junket you said that you hadn’t known who Amanda Bynes was. Did you know about Hilary Duff? Oliver: No, not really (laughs). To be honest, I’d seen the billboards. I knew who Lizzie McGuire was and I knew Cody Banks. I knew that Cheaper by the Dozen was coming out so I was kind of clued in. I wasn’t too sure about her music but I picked that up as I went along. I filmed with her on the Monday and a friend who was musical supervisor on A Cinderella Story invited me along on a concert that she was playing the Saturday night before. It was at the Universal Citiwalk. So, it was thousands of screaming young girls (little girl voice) ‘oh Hilary, Hilary’. It was crazy. I knew I’d be talking to her on Monday morning so I think that kind of brought it home and then walking by newsstands and going ‘oh, there’s Hilary, there’s Hilary and there’s Hilary’, right. I get it now. AGW: Tell me they didn’t shoot the kissing scene first. That’s so awkward when you don’t know someone. Oliver: No they didn’t. I think that was like four weeks into the shoot so they were gentle. They broke us in gently. AGW: Were you looking forward to that? Oliver: I don’t think it’s a hardship having to kiss Hilary Duff but I don’t think I was looking forward to it because, at the end of the day it winds down to any other sort of scene. It’s about the mechanics. It’s about what you want from the scene, how you come into it, where you are in the story. But, it was fun to kiss one of Hollywood’s most beautiful young leading ladies. It’s not a hardship (he grins). AGW: Anybody going to get jealous over that scene? Oliver: Yeah, my girlfriend might. I don’t know. She’s fine. She’s very pragmatic about it. We don’t have an immature relationship where we throw it all away over a bit of ---I’m not saying who my girlfriend is but she’s not a famous actress anyway. She’s working in theater in London at the moment. AGW: You’ve sung now in two films. Would you be interested in putting out a pop album someday?
AGW: This is your second romantic film. Are you romantic in real life? Oliver: Yeah. I guess I am. I don’t always believe in these huge romantic gestures. I think when you are with someone for a certain amount of time, it’s the little things that count. (we shake our head. “no”) No? The big gestures? Okay, all right. Maybe a bit of both. I am a romantic person. I think it’s a nice thing to have in a relationship. If that goes out of it, what have you got? AGW: Did you have to work more on your guitar-playing for this film? Oliver: I’d always sung and I played drums from the age of about eight to twelve and then I went to violin but that didn’t last very long. And then with What a Girl Wants I sang and played guitar and that’s when I first picked up the guitar. So, I got a bit lazy and left it for a while and this movie, the opportunity comes along and I have to get the blisters again and the hand ache and everything that comes with learning the guitar again. AGW: What was with your hair in the film (spiky, dark with blondish-brown tips). Oliver: The hair was my idea. It was a bit of a character choice. When I did my subjective background on my character, which I like to do from my acting school days, I kind of figured his taste in music would be very sort of niche. And I think his hair, for me, had to reflect that. And, of course, he’s English so I wanted to go with something that was typically that punk, English style. AGW: Yeah, you guys certainly have a pioneering musical history. Oliver: That was what was so great about our music industry. I’m not sure we can claim to have such a almighty one any more, but during the ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, we pretty much ruled the world in music. I think that’s what he would have grown up listening to and what would have inspired his music. AGW: There are a lot of British male love interests in films aimed at teens. The Prince and Me, Princess Diaries 2, etc. What’s with that do you think? Oliver: I’m not complaining. But, I actually auditioned as an American for this film. When I went to acting school we studied loads of accents but I think it’s the fact that we get so much American TV, culture and movies. I’m a movie fanatic. I watch everything so it’s kind of natural, second nature to me to do an American accent. It was a producer’s decision and also Hilary thought it would be cute if I was English. So, perhaps, that in itself is an answer to the question. AGW: Do you still live in England? Oliver: I kind of live in both places. I spend three months here and then I go home and recharge my batteries because L.A. is a unique place (smiles). I love both places for different reasons. I think I’m very lucky to have a bit of London, a bit of Los Angeles. It’s not a bad life. AGW: Do you have that same burden your character does? Girls chasing you? That English thing charms Americans. Oliver: Perhaps I’m really bad at picking up on signals but no, I haven’t really had that. I wouldn’t complain but I haven’t really had that so much. AGW: We last talked with you in April, 2003. How has life changed for you? Oliver: I remember I was just living in L.A. then. I had found a place and I was settling down. So, I guess this year has been an adjustment period. For Raise Your Voice, it was great to actually shoot in Los Angeles because I got to see a lot of the city that I wouldn’t normally have seen. Like downtown. It is really cool down there now. They’ve got the opera house and is it Griffith Park? And there is some awesome new art. It’s a cool place to be. And, usually there would be no reason to go there because my business is elsewhere. AGW: You went to acting school, did you relate to the music school in the film? There were a lot of talented kids. Oliver: Yeah. I don’t think there was quite as much cattiness (where he went to school). I think when you write something (a script) you always look for contrasts and opposites and extremes because that’s what makes relationships so interesting. I think, in real life, it was toned down somewhat. AGW: So no big rivalries? Oliver: I got on really well with my schoolmates. Of course there were some rivalries and everybody wants the best for themselves. But, my big lesson out of acting school was not to look over my shoulder at how other people are doing. It was a question of working on yourself really. With that, you sort of come into your own. AGW: Are you worried about getting typecast as the cool boyfriend now? Would you like to play a bad guy? Oliver: It’s a job, it’s work and it’s great. I’m doing movies. How many actors can say they are doing movies? I’m fully aware of how lucky I am. In those terms, I very happy with the parts I’m playing. In terms of my ambition, I’d very much like to test myself. I’m a classically trained actor. I’ve trained in Shakespeare and loads of different styles Jacobean and naturalism so I think there will be a time. Perhaps how old (young?) I look sometimes prohibits that but if there’s the right part out there I’d love to take a challenging role because I’m more than ready for it. I think it would be fun. In any walk of life, to challenge yourself and go outside of your comfort zone is a good thing. You get to know more about yourself. AGW: Do you get carded at pubs or bars? Oliver: Yeah, they do here. In England I get away with it but they card pretty much everyone over here. AGW: You just look young. Do you ever wish you would just go a bit gray or something? Oliver: I used to. I used to struggle with that. All my friends had growth (beards) and were turning into guys and I would think what’s happening? But why wish it away? I’m lucky that I’ve inherited my mum’s skin. AGW: Are your parents okay that you are an actor? Oliver: Actually my mum said she’d be happy for me even if I was a dustman (trash collector) she’d still love me. I don’t think that’s any disrespect to dustmen. But she’s just saying whatever I wanted to do they’d support me and still love me so I was very lucky. I never had to worry about being a success to make my parents proud. They’re proud of me anyway which is really lovely. AGW: Why did you choose acting? Was that a comfort zone for you? Oliver: I don’t really look at acting as my comfort zone. It’s something that I’ve always had fun doing. I think that’s why I went into it. It was fun. I wasn’t a genius at school. I wasn’t the most academic. I certainly never really imagined myself to be doing movies actually. I liked theater and I liked a bit of musical theater and then I studied the acting course and changed my perspective on things. I think I chose acting because it was literally fun to me. I was getting into motor sports actually. I really love racing. I still race when I go home and I raced go-carts and cars when I was younger. AGW: What was your first acting job? Oliver: Amateur was a play called “The Claremont (Clairmont?) Experience” because that was the name of my school and it was written by our drama teacher and I played daddy opposite mummy. I was seven. Then my first professional job was a drama for schools and I played a character called Dean Truro and it was called “School’s Out”. AGW: How much did you get paid? Oliver: I’m trying to translate it into dollars. About five hundred dollars. It was okay. About a week’s filming and I’d just got out of acting school. AGW: Do you have any hobbies other than motor sports? Oliver: I like soccer. I go down to the gym a lot. Music, I watch movies all the time. I like golf. AGW: What’s going to separate you from the mob of cute young guys vying for roles out there? Oliver: I was talking to my manager the other day. What separates someone when they get in a room? I’ve directed things before and I’ve cast things so I know exactly what you look for. You know instantly when someone walks in a room in the first fifteen seconds whether you’re going to like them or not. I’d like to think talent is the ultimate decider and, hopefully, I’m going to get the chance to show you guys what I’m made of in future projects. We’ll be watching, Oliver! |
 
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In
2003, there was this really cute, guitar-playing dark-haired Brit guy
in London who fell for Amanda Bynes. He had What a Girl Wants.
Evidently, 24-year-old cutie Oliver James still has “it”.
He is now playing guitar and singing with Hilary Duff in their new film
Raise Your Voice. What is it about his guy that attracts teen
queens? How does he feel about being the love interest for some of the
hottest young actresses in Hollywood? We decided to ask him. 
Oliver:
Yeah. But, the way record producers would push me, into that kind of very
commercial kind of pop, is not really the sort of stuff I would want to
make or listen to. My tastes differ. But, if the circumstances were right,
if it was going to be the kind of music I wanted to make ---. The kind
of stuff I’m listening to at the moment is Paul Weller. He’s
just released an amazing acoustic cover album. I listen to Keen who are
an English band. Modest Mouse I listen to. I listen to Coldplay. I think
music touches me when it’s inspired, when it’s about a time
in your life that you’re trying to communicate that other people
can relate to. That’s my kind of music; one that touches you.