|
We love Gossip Girl bad boy Chuck Bass, played by the  gorgeous Ed Westwick.
We scored an interview with the 21-year-old (who is actually British!) to find out what he thinks about his sleazy and slightly evil character, faking an American accent and handling all that celeb goss that comes with the territory of being one of Hollywood's latest 'it' boys...
If you can't wait for your next Gossip Girl fix (TV 2, Fridays at 10.30pm) you'll be pleased to hear we've got five copies of tne Gossip Girl novel to give away! Read on to find out how can you get yourself in the draw...  There was a thing about keeping -- having you keep your English accent?There was, actually. When I auditioned in February last year for the pilot season in the US, at first I auditioned not only Chuck, I also auditioned for Nate and, you know, when it was kind of decided that I’d stick with Chuck, there was this debate about whether or not to do it in the English accent. I kind of thought it would be an interesting angle, you know. Trouble about that, would have given the English a bad name, I think, you know, so…luckily, I guess, or unluckily, we decided to stick with the American.
To what extent have you been familiar with all the intrigues and all this evil stuff between teens and from your own past?
When people are young they can be nasty, and I think kids can be cruel. I mean, growing up I think there were kids that maybe bullied and things like that, so I think there was evil stuff in that respect. And in a certain way, the character of Jenny in Gossip Girl is bullied to a certain extent by Blair, and is blackmailed and stuff like that. So, yes, the situations are ones I've definitley seen.  What would you like for the future of your character?I don’t know. I think he’s one of those - he’s kind of multi-layered, you know. There’s lots of things that are happening. There’s this kind of bad boy overall image, but there’s been signs of vulnerability with regard to his feelings towards Blair. He leaves himself very open. And also the way he is with his father...seeking appreciation. I’d like to see where it goes with the family,because there’s no sign of the mother. You know, he lives in this hotel room that his father owns. What 16, 17-year-old kid does that, you know? So I’m interested to see whether it goes inside of the family...
Have you ever met anyone like Chuck; is he inspired by anyone? No, I’ve never met anyone like him. Would you like to? No, I don’t know. Maybe if he takes me out and spends money on me.  What’s the best part of your job?Being paid for doing something you enjoy, you know, something that’s creative and at the end of it you can say, “This is what I did”, “This was my purpose today”, “This is what my product is”, you know. I can have a DVD for the rest of my life and when I’m 80 years old, I can look back at it and say, “This is what I did”.
Do you have any fear that you’ll get labelled as a villain just for that role? Yes. People have kind of been cautious of me when they’ve seen me in the street. But no, I think people recognise, I hope they recognise, that it is just a character… What about in your career? It's not really a concern for me just yet, because I’d like to think also, depending on where the character goes; there might be a chance for him to change, transition... He may become a good guy, maybe turn a new leaf. So I may have the opportunity to show that I can play these different emotions and these different sides Do you have your favourite TV show yourself? At the moment it’s Family Guy. I love it; it’s hilarious.
What’s the weirdest thing magazines wrote about you? I don’t know. I don’t know what any magazines have written, but as I say it’s all very new to me, so I haven’t seen too much just yet.  Do you have a funny story to tell us about your shooting?It was in the kitchen. I’d been trying to force myself on to the character of Serena, and she kind of runs out of the kitchen, and as she runs out the kitchen she’s supposed to run into the character of Dan. We did about three takes of it and then on one, as she runs out, she kind of bumped heads straight into him and they were like, laying on the floor and were out for like an hour and a half. That was probably the funniest thing that I’ve seen. Also, a painful thing.
To get yourself in the draw for one of five Gossip Girl novels, simply tell us what time Gossip Girl screens on TV 2! You can have your Gossip Girl fix no matter where you are... |
