MY WIFE & SON ARE ALL THAT MATTER TO ME
The Super Bowl singer on working with Kate Winslet and squeezing into tight, tight shorts
The 12-year-old boy who joined the Mickey Mouse Club in 1993 most likely didn’t dare dream of performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, let alone doing it three times over. But five years on from making good on his promise to have Janet Jackson naked by the end of this song and launching Nipplegate into the world, musical superstar Justin Timberlake is back with new album Man Of The Woods, and another Super Bowl performance, watched by over 100million viewers. Admittedly, his turn this year had a mixed reception, with the highlight of the show generally agreed to be a boy in the crowd taking a selfie with the 37-year-old singer. But that’s all by the by, because JT is actually here to talk about his current movie project, the new Woody Allen film, Wonder Wheel.
In the visually stunning melodrama, Justin plays Mickey, a hunky Coney Island lifeguard in the ’50s, who catches the attention of Kate Winslet’s Ginny, stuck in a frustrating marriage to Jim Belushi’s Humpty (yes, really). After Kate Winslet received criticism for defending Allen – accused of sexually assaulting his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992, something the director denies – while many of her acting peers had expressed regret about working with the renowned director, she stepped back from press for the film
and Justin is tight-lipped on that subject.
So, instead, the boyband graduate-turned-solo artistturned award-winning actor talks about his teeny tiny shorts, his amazingly talented wife Jessica Biel, and whether their two-year-old son Silas should follow in Daddy’s dance steps…
Kate Winslet said she was reluctant to do this movie, because she felt she wasn’t up to the job. Did you feel the same?
Er, yes! If Kate was thinking that, what do you think was happening in my mind? [Laughs.] Every day, I was convinced I was single-handedly going to f**k up a Woody Allen movie. I think I was f**king terrified throughout this entire shoot.
Was it difficult not to show it?
I may not have seemed it on the outside, I’ve learned to suppress it, when in reality, I was shitting my pants.
So, you get the call, “Woody Allen wants to work with you”…
I never thought I would ever hear, “Woody Allen wants to meet you to talk about a role.” Who thinks that is a possibility?
What was the meeting like?
Very quick. I’d heard it was a quick process, because Woody’s very succinct in his plans, but this was lightning. I was given the address where to meet him in New York – all I had was this short monologue from the movie’s opener. I got to step aside and study that for two minutes and then come back and read for him. And that was that. He was very funny and uniquely charming and I left the meeting wondering, “What the hell happened?”
He obviously liked your work, yet you were still terrified of messing it up?
When he’d sense doubt on my behalf, he’d always say, “I hired you for the job, because I know you’ve got this.”
Was it fun filming with that legendary Coney Island backdrop?
Coney Island in that era was all about the beautiful hues and romance. It was very surreal, going back in time. I mean, we were literally time travelling. It was a first for me as an actor, filling that space from another period, which you weren’t even around for.
Did you enjoy it?
This is my era. I sometimes think the universe got it wrong, I was meant to be in this world where it was the whole Rat Pack – Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin and Sinatra – they were my idols. They still are and always will be.
How did you like the costumes?
It was so cool, getting to sit in one of those lifeguard stands, wearing these criminally small… what can I call them? Booty shorts, which left very little to the imagination.
Were they a little too short for your liking?
It all helped, it all assisted with the characterisation. They didn’t leave a lot of room, if you know what I mean. But yeah, those lifeguards, they dared to live provocatively!
What was it like working with the great Kate Winslet?
Unbelievable. She’s this mesmeric talent. I’m not afraid to say, quite easily one of my all-time favourite scene partners. She laid the gauntlet and I had to do my best effort. But every minute, every
‘My shorts in Wonder Wheel didn’t leave me a lot of room’
second together, I was learning an invaluable lesson. I can say I’ve improved my range, and Kate has been instrumental to that.
You’re not primarily known as an actor, but you have already worked with some huge names: David Fincher, the Coen Brothers and now Woody Allen…
Acting is still a relatively new experience for me, and I want to get better and better with each job. And to have already had the honour of working with David Fincher, The Coens, now Woody… I’m ruined. [Laughs.] Working with the masters.
Do you ever feel that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew? Is that a feeling you chase?
Well, no, because I resolutely fear complacency – that is like creative death. I always want to be inspired and inspired by the people I work with. But I can honestly say, I’m not afraid of failure. You can’t be afraid to fail, you’ll never achieve greatness. And I think my entire career is based on that. I try to set the bar higher each time I approach anything. Also, failure and success have altered meanings for me. It’s not about the sales, or the box office, or critical acclaim. It’s about knowing I took that risk and gambled and got whatever I needed to get out of it. A lot of the time, it’s like, “I didn’t know I could do that, I was pretty convinced I couldn’t, but I did it”.
Is that how you define success?
Yes, but it’s changed for me over the last few years. My family is success to me. That amazing little person in my life and my amazing wife. That’s success. Nothing else matters.
Speaking of which, Jessica is incredible in
The Sinner… Didn’t she slay in that? Literally. I know I’m biased, but I was blown away by her performance, like nothing I’ve ever seen her do before. I was like white knuckling the whole way through.
Will you work together on screen?
Yeah, some day maybe. We’re not actively seeking it out, but if the right
thing came along.
You do music and acting and Jessica is an actress. If your son wanted to follow in your footsteps, which business would you prefer he joined – music or acting?
I’ve been asked this before and I haven’t known what to say, because I guess I haven’t really thought about it. I don’t know.
You grew up in the music industry…
Having gone through it, I have an insight into the good and the not so good, and it’s good and not so good to have that perspective. But, you know, if he were determined and wanting it, I’m equipped to give him some advice.
Jessica has said she wouldn’t like to see him be a musician, because it’s such a tough job…
She’s absolutely, 100 per cent right – it is a rough road.
Rougher than acting?
The entertainment industry is tough, but his career path’s not something either of us are losing any sleep over yet. We’re just getting over actually losing sleep, so you pick your battles. Wonder Wheel is in cinemas on 9 March