If you're a struggling actor, you might not be pleased with the luck Asher Book has had, and he knows it. At age six, he auditioned almost as a lark for Broadway's Beauty and the Beast and landed the role, and when he debated whether to bring a life of performing to a close in college, he was plucked from his studies to lead the boy band VFactory. It's at that point that Book decided to cut back on his acting auditions to focus on music; naturally, he got his first feature film lead in Fame within the year.
It may all sound a little too easy, and as Book told Movieline, it was -- until now.
Tell me a little bit about Fame. Wasn't Thomas Dekker from The Sarah Connor Chronicles originally cast in your role?
You're the first person who's asked me that!
See, I know things, Asher.
No, it's true. [Laughs] It's a battle, man. I battled for this role for about six months. Right from the beginning, I'd go up there with Kevin [Tancharoen, the director] and everybody, and they seemed to really like me. It was six months, so I was like, "C'mon, why don't you just give it to me?" I guess it was one of the heads of the studio that didn't necessarily approve and actually came from [a VFactory concert] and felt maybe like I didn't stand out enough in the band. Like, we're not really supposed to stand out -- it's a group effort, you know? So there were a lot of issues going into that. What's funny is when I came back to test the second time [after Dekker had left the role], the head of the studio was in another room, all M.I.A. She had a little key monitor to watch me in my scenes. And sure enough, she said it was OK, and they cast me on the spot. It was like the most exhilarating feeling ever.
Were you trying to get VFactory off the ground at the same time?
The whole process was a long process. I was actually living in New York in the time, focusing on the band, and I'd given up acting. Well, not "given up" acting, but I wasn't going on any auditions that whole year. I basically told my manager, "Listen, if you find a job that you really think is special that I'm right for, let me know." And this came up, and it was the only thing I felt good about and that I could relate to. Also, I could sing in the movie, and I think the band and the label liked that.
I would think that the whole audition process for this role might sort of recall joining a band like VFactory, where you're looking for chemistry but putting together all these performers who've not necessarily met before.
You know, the whole band thing came together the same way too: I wasn't doing anything at the time. I was actually going down to Cabo during my first semester of college -- I was studying to be a businessman, I thought that's what I wanted to do - and the band came to me. I was still studying with a vocal coach in LA, and Warner Brothers was looking all around the country to replace the lead singer in this band. And that's how they found me, through the vocal couch, and they contacted me and sent me this music.
Did the idea of being in this band appeal to you right away?
At first, I was a little apprehensive. I was like, "A boy band? Do I necessarily want to be in that?" But the more I met the people involved and some of the guys, I felt so much better about it. So I went into the studio and did a couple of demos and it was pretty easy from there. I think it was kind of a meant-to-be thing.
Now how did you get from growing up as a performer to suddenly wanting to go to business school? Were you looking for stability?
You know, when I was acting as a little kid, I kind of wasn't thinking that far ahead. I was basically just following my gut, and I never felt like any of my decisions were forced. I had never dreamed that I wanted to be on Broadway or that I'd be an actor or singer, Even how I got in the business is kind of crazy: I was six years old, and my neighbor came over one day and said there was an open call for Chip in Beauty and the Beast. I thought it might be kind of cool, but the only reason I wanted to go was because my sister was doing ballet at the Kennedy Center [nearby]. I showed up in jean shorts, missing a few teeth, this total cattle call kid, and somehow walked away booking it. For the next three years of my life, I was on that tour. We were just riding the ride, and the fact that I kept getting responses and kept getting new jobs, that's what kept me in the business.
So did you ever have a normal junior high or high school experience?
Actually, here's something cool: I actually went to the original Fame school in New York for my middle school years. When I moved to LA, I got to go to a normal high school for freshman and senior year. It was fun, I got to play football, basketball, I was on student leadership...I really got to do all the stuff any kid would do in school. I loved high school, and I think that's what I wanted. I told my mom that I was trying to audition at the time, but I wasn't really putting my full 100% into it. For me, school was a safe place for me to have fun during those years and just enjoy being a kid.
When they greenlit this movie, they were tossing around comparisons to American Idol, and since that we've had Glee...
I love Glee! Actually, one of my boys, Kevin [McHale] is in it. He's the guy in the wheelchair.
Oh, no kidding?
Yeah, he's one of my good friends. Yeah, I love that show. It's right down that alley of people liking music and dance and all that stuff right now. You know, when I was young, there was West Side Story and all these classics, but I feel like there was definitely a period of time where people kind of missed out on musicals. I think people want to relate a real story to go along with that, and I think what Fame really emphasizes is what artists actually go through. There's a work ethic, a passion, and the ups and downs of being in this industry. Our movie has all those elements. It's not just a happy-go-lucky kid walking down a hall and singing.
If this were an interview with a teen magazine to promote VFactory, what kind of different stuff would you have said?
"You can definitely tell the readers that I'm single!" [Laughs] I'm always talking about relationships, what I see in a girl, what I like in a girl...I realized early on that [teen magazine questions] are always about a girl. It's funny to me.
Have you had to write out your "ideal date" eight thousand times?
They try to ask it a little different every time, but yeah. "What do you like to wear on a first date?"
Are you ever tempted to just go crazy with your answer? "My ideal girl would wear chain mail, and I would take her to Medieval Times."
[Laughs] I think I should do that sometime. Then again, I'll probably look at the magazine after and think, "Why did I say that?" ♦