Tattooed Timberlake Dirties Up for 'Alpha Dog'

Jan. 12, 2006 — -- Justin Timberlake showed up at the "Alpha Dog" premiere last week without longtime girlfriend Cameron Diaz, Hollywood gossips are buzzing with details of their breakup, and still, the 25-year-old pop star has been all smiles.

With encouraging early reviews for his performance as a buff, heavily tattooed kidnapper, Timberlake is taking a big step in his bid to parlay pop stardom into a film career.

"Making this film, I think we all walked away feeling like we got our hands extremely dirty, you know? To make this film, it was extremely challenging," Timberlake said at a mid-December press event to promote the film, just before rumors of his break-up with Diaz were heating up.

"I got the script first before I really got the story. When I read the script, I said, 'Wow, this is a humongous statement, this script,'" he said.

"Alpha Dog," opening today, is based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to be on the FBI's most wanted list.

Hollywood is now in prison, awaiting trial on charges stemming from the slaying of a California teenager six years ago over a drug debt. Four of Hollywood's alleged cohort have already been convicted.

Timberlake plays, Frankie, one of the kidnappers, and to research his part he traveled with director Nick Cassavetes to the California prison to meet the man on whom his character is based.

Between the swastika tattoos and hard-bitten experiences, Timberlake may have caught a little too much realism.

'The Film Isn't About Racism'

"I walked away from the meeting deciding that I could not, in any way shape or form, get through this film by literally basing my character off of him because it just felt wrong," he says.

"And it was really challenging to do. So I think that after really literally meeting him, I decided -- and I told him to his face -- that this will not be a portrayal of you, this will be a character that's based off of what happened," he said.

The "SexyBack" singer owes his new, harder-edged sound to several black musicians and producers. But Timberlake doesn't think it's ironic that the young kidnappers in the film are such racists, yet listen to hip-hop.

"This film isn't a statement on racism," Timberlake says. "I think that these kids are young people, they don't have perspective. And when you're young, you tend to say things without regard."

But asked if Hollywood and his alleged cohort might listen to his music, he wasn't sure.

"I doubt it. I don't know, maybe..." he says. "I'd rather not think about it."

Few Clues on Cameron

Timberlake may have beefed up for the part, and festooned his body with tattoos, but he declined to take an acting coach to get into his part, rather he leaned on Cassavetes for direction, especially in the most turbulent moments of the story.

"Nick always urged me to find those moments to say you have to keep everyone invested and let [the audience] know that this isn't a big deal because that's what it was to these kids," Timberlake says.

For those looking for clues to the state of Cameron and Justin's relationship in early December, Timberlake offered very little. In the only question he fielded about his love life, a reporter asked, "Is your single, 'My Love,' about Cameron?"

Timberlake simply said, "What type of question is that?" and moved on.

After years in show business, Timberlake might rightfully be called the Teflon star.

At 11, he appeared on "Star Search," and though he didn't win, he bounced back shortly after on "The All New Mickey Mouse Club," where his costars included Christina Aguilera, future girlfriend Britney Spears and future *NSYNC bandmate J.C. Chasez.

While other grown-up boy-band stars have had trouble launching their adult careers, Timberlake has thrived. He was Janet Jackson's Super Bowl dance partner, but somehow escaped the sort of public condemnation she received, while popularizing the phrase "wardrobe malfunction." And, well, we all know what has become of Britney.

Given his enduring success as a pop star, Timberlake said it might have been easier to inject some sympathy into a despicable character.

"People do like me, they really like me! Some people really don't like me, and they have no problem telling me," he says.

"We, as people, we judge because we're human," he says. "That's what we do. And we're always told not to, but that's just what we do."