Huge's Zander Eckhouse on Body Issues and His Surreal Encounter with a 40-Foot David Hasselhoff

Turns out that being the son of a 90210 star doesn't necessarily mean you believe acting is your calling -- just ask Zander Eckhouse (the son of Walsh paterfamilias James Eckhouse), who only recently discovered he loved the work. Ahead of his ABC Family series Huge's first season finale, Eckhouse talked to Movieline about his studly "fat camp" counselor George, working with Jeremy Piven on a new movie, and the incredible statue he helped David Hasselhoff put in his study.

Huge is a great show. How did your impression of the show change from the time you heard about it until you actually began shooting?

When I read the script -- well, before that -- I was very close to not acting anymore. I had a brief stint to begin with, but it wasn't an enormous career. I was going to do a thesis film in film school at NYU and focus on that as opposed to acting, then I read the script for Huge and I fell in love with it, and I liked it it because it was very character-based and all of the moments were small and local, you know what I mean? It wasn't an epic plot-driven drama. The moments were very subtle character moments, which intrigued me. I fell in love with those characters.

When I started shooting it, I didn't realize how groundbreaking the concept of showing people that wouldn't necessary be on television would be. It attracts a viewership that is getting something more than good television. It's getting this incredibly groundbreaking subject matter that is dealing with body issues and tempestuous inner stuff that you don't necessarily see on something like Gossip Girl. I didn't realize that it was going to take on raw personal intimate issues with such boldness. It's not the most fun show to watch because it's dealing with stuff that's close to home for all of us. Waking up in the morning and feeling like s**t -- that's not the most attractive thing to put on television, but they hit on it with acuity, style, and verve.

You work with David Hasselhoff's daughter Hayley on Huge. I'm obsessed with the notion of personal interactions with the Hoff. Has he ever given you advice or... anything Hoff-ian for that matter?

Yeah, "Hoff-ian," I like that! He's like a philosopher.

Right, or a playwright.

The last time I talked with David was last week at his house. I was hanging out with him and Hayley. He came home with a giant 40-foot statue of himself, like from the movie Spongebob Squarepants. We talked around his likeness. Yeah. He said some very Hoff-ian things to me at that point. I still have yet to pitch him my idea of a prog rock band we could be in called "HasselHouse" -- Hasselhoff, Eckhouse. He is awesome. So awesome. [Laughs.] He's like, oh God, I don't know how to describe David Hasselhoff. He has so much energy and verve, and he's just up for anything. I was actually at the [Comedy Central] roast, and I had my head under the table for most of it. Whitney [Cummings] and all those guys were ripping him apart. I was scared for him, but he took it with elan and balls. He's my hero.

David Hasselhoff brought home a 40-foot statue of himself. Are you aware that's the best answer I've been given, in any interview or interaction with another human being, ever?

Now, don't confuse that with [him being] narcissistic. [Laughs] Yeah, that is a pretty good answer. He's just got so much life in him. I mean, who wouldn't take a 40-foot statue of themselves home? He showed me -- it was like a rubber statue, and the hairs and the moles were down to a T. He showed me particular back hair that was magnified, amplified 12 to one. It really was incredible craftsmanship. The problem was he didn't know where to put it, so we put it in his study. I want one for myself.

I think the jump from ABC Family sitcom to Nickelodeon movie isn't that huge. It could happen for you.

Maybe one day! [Laughs.] I'll have the perfect replica of myself times 30. Very surreal.

Back to pressing Huge-related issues. Have you ever seen Heavyweights?

Oh, man. You got me. I have not seen Heavyweights. And why? I'm a bad person. There's no other explanation. It's one of those movies you really can't tell anyone you haven't seen. I don't know why I'm telling you. When you do, there's silence around the room. It's like a travesty. There's no one else to blame but myself. It's not just because I'm on Huge, it's just one of those movies you need to see before you die or else you don't go to heaven. There are a couple movies that St. Peter -- or whoever your guy of choice is -- asks you if you've seen, and if you haven't, then you get sent right back.

I didn't realize this was going to take a fatalistic turn, but I accept that it has. You're in a movie coming up called I Melt with You alongside Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, and Rob Lowe. It's like your fourth acting credit. How insane is that?

You just have to realize that people at the top -- well, they're intimidating and fun and awesome. I think that the only way to get better is to surround yourself with people who are better than you, and everybody working on this film fits that description. I definitely have more of a personal method on how to approach a scene and how to break an arc down now, which I didn't really have a year ago. Actors to me, when I was in film school, were another piece of equipment like a lighting package or a camera or something like that. No, I'm just kidding. But there's a tendency in film school to worry more about making your day than, say, dealing with performance. I've kind of realized how wrong that is.

What's I Melt with You about?

It's about these four guys who grew up together and they reconnect at this beach house in Big Sur and are very dark and fatalistic together. It's the most disturbing script I've read, and not because of any sensationalistic subject matter, but because the way it's written -- there's such a weight behind it. It really starts getting to you. It's a very effective script. It's about friendship, mid-life crises, and youth and music and sex and love and death. It pretty much runs the gamut. All the big issues.

So you're the "youth" portion of this film, I take it? Do these older guys aspire to be you?

I'm actually the old sage. The mentor. They dress me up as an 80-year-old man and I come in and teach them Hoffisms. No, I'm in the young crew, I suppose. They meet up with a bunch of young spirits ,so to speak, and it's kind of what happens when these two groups with this generation gap collide. You see the similarities and the schism between them. It's going to be a crazy movie.

You seem like a film school guy who still sort of considers acting a lark. Is that so?

Yeah. I've got my eyes and at least my heart on directing features. It's what I've always wanted to do and it's what I will do. For me, I feel like I'm learning one of the most important tools of directing, which is communicating with actors. I'm doing that very intimately right now. I grew up with that. My parents did that for 30 years, they're old pros. I've always respected that craft, but I've only recently understood the complications and the heartaches and the very difficult process of getting to an emotional truth and getting yourself available to be able to act. I mean, from being stuck on the 405 getting to an audition to being able to interpret what a director is telling you on a dime when you're keeping everyone from wrapping -- does that answer the question? Also, this is why I shouldn't be an actor, because I'm so inarticulate. At heart I'm a writer. It's like I have a gym membership to be around people who are so freaking talented. You learn way more in a week than you do in four years of film school because you're actually doing it.

Lastly: The internet apparently does not want me to know how old you are. Can you tell me so my search won't be in vain?

They're protective over me! Don't tell the internet I told you, but I'm 23.