Jul 4, 2008
Flaunt Magazine July 2008
It’s never been easy being bad, but Cam Gigandet does it so well.
Playing the role of the arrogant, underground fighter in the film Never Back Down, Gigandet channels the spirit of every prep-school pretty boy and trust-fund meathead you’ve ever met in this Karate Kid for the twenty-first century. With his Brad Pitt-styled physique (carved from a commitment to the gym and Krav Maga, a brutal martial art) and his mischievous grin, perhaps it’s easy to pigeonhole Gigandet. But the laid-back and confident 25-year-old says that he enjoys exploring roles on the darker side.
«I’ve done this bad-guy role a lot. I’m drawn to playing someone with an edge,» he says, «someone with something broken inside of him; whether he views the world in a different way, or there’s something askew within the guy. When you have that, there’s so much freedom to do things that aren’t straight down the line.»
For the upcoming high-school vampire flick, Twilight, adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s successful young-adult novel, Gigandet veers back into darker territory as a villainous vampire. But pop films are just the latest venture for the hardworking actor, who’s run the television circuit with recurring roles on The Young and the Restless and The O.C. His performances drew the attention of Oliver Stone, who cast him in Pinkville, a film about the My Lai Massacre that was derailed by the writers strike in late 2007.
Undeterred, Cam Gigandet keeps an eye to the future, and eagerly anticipates the release of his next film, The Unborn, which stars Gary Oldman. «I’ve surrounded myself with a bunch of young actors, but when I am around an actor like Gary Oldman, I realize how [much I have to learn]. But that’s good. I really feel like this is just the beginning.»
Cam Gigandet by Drew Tewksbury
PDF of the article (including a picture) on the original source.
