How did it happen? He told Movieline.
So Colin, I know you've been shooting Something Borrowed because I think every time you hug or kiss Kate Hudson in the movie, it gets a full page in Us Weekly.
[Laughs] Yeah, the paparazzi have pretty much been everywhere. It's pretty amazing how they end up showing up in the most random places and find out where we're at. It hasn't been a horrible thing -- obviously they got some really good pictures of us out in the Hamptons! Then again, I'm not Kate Hudson where they follow me around every time I go to the deli.
What can you tell me about your character in that film?
He's a guy who'd engaged to be married to Kate Hudson's character, but I fall in love with her best friend [played by Ginnifer Goodwin]. Each girl has something different about them that I'm attracted to, and that's what makes it more believable and difficult. Kate Hudson's character is very outgoing and the life of the party and she gets me out of my shell, and Ginny's character is someone who I feel like I have a deeper connection with, someone who's a good listener and a potential soulmate. It's that dilemma of, do you follow your heart and go after that person you connect with on a deeper level, or do you go with that person who fits the bill of you think you should be with?
That sounds like potentially the trickiest role in the movie, because how do you play your attraction to both girls without coming off as a jerk?
Exactly. That has been the fine line that we've been walking. It would be so easy for this guy to come off as an ass, because he's cheating on the woman that he's about to be married to with another girl, but when you see my backstory and you see the connection that I have with Ginny, it's like I wanted to be with Ginny but she never let me know she wanted to be with me, so I figured that it wasn't meant to be. Over time, I believe that if people are meant to be with each other, they will end up together. I don't know if destiny is what it is, but in the end, I think it's inevitable.
You booked this role back in March. Is that a silver lining from getting let go from Melrose Place?
Normally, TV shows film from July to about February, so this is the downtime where people who do TV are able to do film. Had Melrose Place been picked up for season two, and had I not been written off into the sunset on a motorcycle, I still would have been able to do the movie. [Laughs] What's great about having done Melrose Place is that it was an awesome experience and it kind of got me a little more recognition and definitely helped with getting this role.
It's interesting how one thing leads to another. You went from being pre-med to modeling to acting. How does that happen?
You know, growing up in the midwest, Hollywood was never anything that I thought would be a possible career choice -- I just didn't grow up in that environment where you're exposed to it from an early age. My dad's a doctor and my mom's a family therapist, so that's what I knew and felt comfortable with and that's what I felt like I should do. Still, growing up in a small town on the south side of Chicago, I always was curious and wanted to see the world, so I thought about doing Doctors Without Borders and getting to travel. I always put it out there that I wanted to do something different, and then it was a couple weeks before graduation and I heard about this model search. I went to it and it was kind of like American Idol, where they line you up in this cattle call, and decide if you'll go to this model convention. I just did it on a whim -- I heard that you could travel and make good money and work with supermodels, so I thought, "Why not? I'll just give it a shot."
Then what happened?
The next thing you know, it was a couple months later and I was on a beach in Florida, shooting Ralph Lauren and Versace with Bruce Weber and Naomi Campbell. A few months after that, I was in Milan walking down runways for Gianni Versace and Armani. It was this world of high fashion, and where I came from, high fashion at the time was Banana Republic. It was this amazing experience where I got to to go to parties at Donatella Versace's, meet celebrities, go to Tokyo and Paris and London...it was incredible.
At what point did you decide to give acting a shot?
I had been exposed to acting as a kid in summer theater camp, but it was never something I really took seriously. Once I got to New York City, I thought, "I might as well give it a shot." I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, because a thousand failed auditions later, I started booking stuff. What I've learned from my experiences in the acting industry is that [the job] doesn't always go to the best actor -- and I don't claim to be the best actor in the world -- but with each experience, I feel like I've learned something and I've taken it into the next job that I've done. A lot of it has to do with being in the right place at the right time and there's definitely a bit of luck involved, but when things line up and come together, it's pretty magical. That's why I keep doing what I do, even though there's a lot of disappointment involved in this industry.
Was it disconcerting to go from modeling -- where you were at the top of the game so quickly -- to acting, where you had to put in all that time and all those auditions that never went anywhere?
Well, I wouldn't say modeling came easy either. I mean, it's not that it's the hardest job in the world -- once you get the job, you're there in front of the camera smiling with all these beautiful people -- but you definitely have to watch what you eat and work out. Some people might say, "Boo-hoo," but you have to be pretty savvy in knowing who the players are in the industry and go to parties and meet as many people as you can. It wasn't just like I showed up and people said, "You're amazing! We want to take your picture!"
So what did you have to do to make it happen in acting?
Coming from the work ethic of the midwest, I never expected anything to happen easily, so when it came to acting, I just started doing research on how did all the people I look up to get where they're at? Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt...I searched out who the acting teachers were who coached them. Someone like Brad Pitt, you think, "Great-looking guy, talented, a natural," but having read articles about him, he would be one of the hardest-working students in Ivana Chubbuck's acting class. He would stay after class and want to rehearse even more. I knew it would be hard work, but I like working toward something that isn't easy to accomplish. I love having something challenging to shoot for and then overcoming all the obstacles to get where I want to go. Then, when it's all said and done, I feel like I've grown as a person and as an actor, and I can go to the beach afterwards and know that I've earned it.
Like you did with Something Borrowed.
When you land a gig like this, there's nothing better. The audition process for this lasted a month and I had to go in there four different times for them to narrow it down until finally it was between me and another guy. When my agent and manager called me up to tell me I had gotten this, it was a Friday morning at 9 o'clock, and I think everyone in my neighborhood heard me. I jumped up on my bed and started screaming. [Laughs] It's pretty exciting when things do come through.