Shane West

Slinking around with the sultry Shane West

Shane West, born on June 10, 1978, in Baton Rouge, LA, has been described as sultry, having a mesmerizingly raspy voice and has an increasingly adoring fan base. Pursuing his dream to be an actor in 1995 Shane has played roles in a number of teen movies and has recently landed a role starring with the ever-so-suave, Sean Connery, finally breaking out of the teen-circle. At the tender age of only 24, West has also found much success on dramatic television and made a cameo appearance in Ocean's Eleven.

Chatting candidly with Shane, he reveals to us a big heart, a willingness to play versatile roles and how he feels about being idolised. He also gives us a closer look at his new haircut and goatee as well as shares with us his love for music and his band "Johnny Was".

We can see why the fans love him…



GIRL: Now it says in your Bio that you realised your love for acting at age 15, what was it that helped this passion come forth? Any defining moment?
Shane: For me it came from being at high school. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I played basketball, I played a bunch of sports, I was an artist - but they were all things you have to be extremely good at to succeed. I happened to do some commercials and I had always been a huge movie fan and finally it just clicked for me. I was in the right city to embark on this kind of career and I just gave it a whirl. I didn't work for two years and I used that as an incentive to try to prove myself. When it started to work out well I was really happy.


GIRL: What did you want to be before you decided you wanted to be an actor?
Shane: I would have studied Psychology, but I pretty much knew I wanted to be an actor.


GIRL: If you weren't acting, do you think you would be pursuing a full-time music career with your group JOHNNY WAS?
Shane: Yes - we've been playing around for two years now, this has always been a passion of mine and if this acting thing wasn't going well we'd probably be touring around.


GIRL: Do you get much time to play with the band?
Shane: Yes because most of the stuff we've been playing; well I did 3 years on a show "Once and Again" and that was based in LA, so we played in LA a lot; we didn't get to really travel much but it did fit in well with what I was doing with the show.


GIRL: Now you have been described as having a mesmerizingly raspy voice and genuine handsomeness? What do you say to comments and descriptions like that?
Shane: Really? Wow! I have never heard that description but um - that's pretty awesome I guess. I have always been told I have a raspy voice but I don't necessarily think it is sexy, I don't really think about it. You know when you hear your voice played back it sounds like hell?! When I hear my voice played back I am embarrassed.


GIRL: How do you feel about being idolised?
Shane: That, I haven't really thought too much about unless the question is brought up. It's very cool, but it's hard to believe that people would want to idolise me and I don't know of anyone particularly that does. However I am very much in appreciation of it. For me, my idols were and always have been my parents so I always try to "keep it there" then it doesn't get blown out of proportion.


GIRL: Are you ok with being a role model?
Shane: Being a role model is tough. It's tough because everyone is their own person, we all have our own faults you know, so it is hard to think that someone would consider having me as a role model when I know all of my faults (laughing). But I did the same thing. Again role models for me are my parents so I try to be the best I can; if I am going to be a role model for somebody I try to be my best in and for the public.


GIRL: Following in the theme of your current film "A Walk to Remember" - if a loved one of yours was dying, do you think you would go as far as your character Landon did to make that persons dreams come true?
Shane: Definitely. I think I would have period. Now after shooting the film, it's part of my life. If that were to occur [knock on wood it never does] but if it were, I would do exactly the same kinds of things.


GIRL: When I was at the screening of the film I noticed other Media nodding their heads or mumbling to each other obviously identifying with particular aspects of the film such as peer pressure. Did you take anything away, any messages, from being involved with this film "A Walk to Remember"?
Shane: Besides the experience of being in the film, of working with Mandy and the Director Adam, and all the other cast members - it became very much like a family down there - it was kind of depressing when the movie was over. We shot in North Carolina and we all had to go back to wherever we were from. But we kind of took out of it a very strong sense of a different kind of family. So I guess that's the message I took from working on the film.


GIRL: What attracted you to working on "A Walk To Remember"?
Shane: Basically the character and what he goes through. I am also from a divorced family, I know what it's like, maybe not as harshly as some peoples experiences. The fact that he plays a tough guy, he doesn't know where he is going, he's from a small town in the South (and I was born in a small town in the South) and he finds this person who basically makes him want to live, helped me be attracted to taking on the role in the film.


GIRL: So are you a tough guy?
Shane: No, I get that and have gotten that before. I've heard that I have fallen into that category but I am definitely not.


GIRL: Must be the raspy voice?
Shane: Yeah - that probably helps too and I also think it's the visual, some people think I look mean with my shaved head and my goatee.


GIRL: Now you recorded the song "So what does it all mean?" for the film soundtrack with Mandy Moore, how did you find that?
Shane: That song was a song that I wrote while I was in North Carolina shooting the film, I did it with my acoustic guitar and we went back and recorded it with a guy named Sandy Pearlman who had recorded some of The Clash's work. Mandy was great, she liked the song and she fought hard alongside me to try and get that song onto the soundtrack. They had already said yes but you have to be on them to make sure they actually put it in the film.


GIRL: You have a definite appeal to the younger audience, do you ever get concerned that you will be pigeon-holed as an actor to play these type of roles?
Shane: It's always a concern. There are a few friends of mine who don't seem to care and they just work to work and I guess that is a good attitude as well. I am always paranoid and I had done some teen films before "A Walk to Remember" that hadn't done as well but had been "out there". I think what helped me was doing "Once and Again" for 3 years. Even though I was the teenage son in it, it was an hour drama about divorced families and all the stuff they go through that helped me out as it wasn't a teenage show. Also I am getting ready to do a film in Prague for 5 months called "A League of Extraordinary Gentleman", that's with Sean Connery and I am the only young person in that. So there you go, I have broken out of it [the teen stereotype] already.


GIRL: Who has been your favourite person to work with to date?
Shane: That's a tough question to answer. It's got to be that pretty much in every film I have done, I have worked with someone I really like. I did a film "Whatever It Takes" which was basically my first film and I got to work with Marla Sokoloff and Aaron Paul who were good friends of mine before we even shot the film. The same thing when I did a film "Get Over It", I worked with Ben Foster and Colin Hanks and they were good friends of mine. And with "A Walk to Remember" working with Mandy, Darryl Hannah and Peter Coyote - that was great too.


GIRL: What would your ultimate acting role be?
Shane: Hmm. I don't know. There's a lot of fantasies of mine; I'd like to kind of do everything. I'd like to do a war film, I'd like to do a western and I'd like to do a space movie, it's kind of like playing dress-up - well that's what it is like for me. Basically grittier characters and also characters that may look nothing like me. I'd like to show the public that I have some range.


GIRL: Do you have any desire or future plans to get on the other side of the lens?
Shane: Yes, but not necessarily directing. I don't want to direct until I know exactly what to do. There are a lot of people who get behind the camera and start directing when they really don't know what their doing and lack the experience but they were given the opportunity, I wouldn't want to slow down production. But what I WOULD definitely be interested in doing is production for sure because ultimately it gives you a little more control.


GIRL: Now your Birthday is on June 10. Will you be spending it here in Australia?
Shane: No I am not actually, I thought I was going to be but I am leaving on the 8th.


GIRL: Have you been to Australia before?
Shane: No I have never been here.


GIRL: Will you be getting an opportunity to see some of the sights while you are here?
Shane: I hope so, today we're going to have practically the day off and won't start really working until tomorrow. And it will be pretty crazy; we're all going to Sydney as well but I am looking forward to it all. I have always wanted to come here so I hope it will be a blast.


We put Shane West on the Spot and asked him some Quick Questions

Fave Food: Pizza
Fave Film:True Romance
Fave Artist: (actor/singer/writer) Joe Strummer and Sean Penn

What are you reading at the moment? Tom Sawyer
Do you prefer women with/without makeup? Without
Who's your best friend? I don't have just one best friend
Are you a Pub, Bar or Club kind of guy? Bar

What is your ultimate dream? To have somewhat a successful life, to be comfortable, have a big family and be able to retire early on in my life.
Have you ever had a mentor or still have one now?
Not particularly, my parents - but I tend to go through things alone and learn from my own experiences.
What is the worst pick-up line you have heard?
I don't think I have ever heard any. Because I am a guy I don't really get any tried on me.

So what turns you on? Sexuality I guess.
What turns you off? Girls that bite their nails too far.

What is over-rated in this world? Money
Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes I do

How far would you go to win a girl's heart? As far as I had too.
If you could bring only three items with you to a deserted island, what would you bring? Good Lord! Nice question! CD Player with CD's, cell phone and if I had a girlfriend, my girlfriend.


- Michelle Palmer