Like many of her stunning counterparts, James King wants to parlay her modeling career--she was spotlighted as one of fashion's up-and-coming stars in The New York Times Magazine when she was only 16--into Hollywood success.
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Unlike many of her stunning counterparts, however, King has already worked opposite some of the Industry's biggest names in four films coming out one right after the other. This spring she's Johnny Depp's daughter in Ted Demme's real-life cocaine saga Blow, Jason Schwartzman's love interest in the college flick The Hook Up, and a free-spirited counselor in Happy Campers opposite Brad Renfro and Dominique Swain. Then comes the big one--King portrays a nurse opposite Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Cuba Gooding Jr. in director Michael Bay's big-budget Memorial Day behemoth Pearl Harbor. With the release of this spate of movies, King is duly prepared for a higher profile. "When you're in the limelight, people want to make a much bigger deal of your problems," she says, predicting a renewed interest in the heroin addiction that plagued her in her early modeling years. "I think I would've done the same thing if I'd stayed in Omaha, where I grew up, because of the curiosity factor. I love anything that smells good, tastes good, feels good. Now, I just get my good times in different ways. I've been sober for three years." King spends a good part of her sober good times with her boyfriend, notorious bad-boy rocker Kid Rock. "He's got the same kind of independence I have," she says, downplaying Kid's hell-raising image. "And it's easier to be involved with someone who understands being away all the time and who has his own career." While Kid is supportive of his girlfriend's acting pursuits, another man is responsible for King's current determination to make good in Hollywood: "I loved working with Johnny Depp. There was a moment on Blow--I can't pinpoint it--but watching him was such an inspiration. It just sealed the deal. I knew I wanted to act for the rest of my life."
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Dennis Brabham