Speakeasy: Justin, thanks for talking with us.

Justin Chatwin: When I heard this was for something called ‘Speakeasy,’ I thought we were going to talk about about liquor. I thought you guys just knew I like to drink.

We get that sometimes. And speaking of liquor, it plays a big role in “Shameless,” which is all about this gaggle of kids trying to get by, despite their only parent being a drunk dad. How did you get on this show?

Well, when I did the pilot for “Weeds” [he played Kevin Nealon’s character’s son], I had a lot of fun. So I kept asking my agents for anything on Showtime. Every actor and his mom is looking to get on there because they really are character-driven — all the characters are people who are f—-d up in some way.

Yours, we learn in the pilot, is f—-d up in a few ways. But to avoid spoiling anything, let’s just talk about one way: whereas most people wouldn’t want to step foot in the crazy Gallagher household, your character loves being there.

Any normal person from some sort of suburban upbringing would probably run — but my character is attracted to that chaos. It’s nasty, but it’s real. He’s an adrenaline junkie, and for him it’s part of this thrill-seeking. He’s also attracted to Fiona, who’s quite a mess herself.

Right. She’s a mess, but still your character’s dream girl — this is made much more believable by the fact that she’s played by the beautiful Emmy Rossum.

They had a really hard time finding the right Fiona. One day, Emmy, who I’ve known for a while, called me up and said, “I’m up for this ‘Shameless’ thing. What do you think of it?” And I said, “I think it’s awesome.” And she was like, “I do too!”

One of the great things about the series is the way it’s shot — there’s so much authentic detail of a lower-middle-class Chicago existence.

We shot the series in L.A., but every two-and-a-half months we’d go to Chicago and shoot all those little pieces, which was complicated. You sort of feel like insurgents busting into another country, trying to get what you need and get out.

What was it like working with William H. Macy, who plays the patriarch of this family?

He’s so impressive with this character that he’s created — especially because it’s so far from characters he normally plays. [The character] is a drunk who’s unlikable at times. He kind of goes back and forth between these vulnerable moments where you see a lot of Bill Macy and these moments where he’s this homeless-looking drunk ranting and throwing things around on the streets. He’s great.

Source: Speak Easy

Showtime’s “Shameless,” based on Paul Abbott’s British drama, centers on the Gallagher family in Chicago, whose father’s alcoholism puts a wrench in the children’s lives. On the outside looking in is impulsive criminal Steve, played by Justin Chatwin, a guy who finds himself entranced by the eldest child Fiona (“Dragonball” co-star Emmy Rossum).

“Shameless” marks Chatwin’s first television series as a regular, and after being “unsatisfied” with some of his past roles, he began seeking out niche fare like “Weeds,” a part he said went “through his fingers.” (He played Doug’s son in one episode.) But Chatwin wasn’t aware of the U.K. series while auditioning for the part and revealed that he was “indimidated” with the idea of watching James McAvoy’s, with whom he shares an agent, imagining of Steve. Instead, it was his genuine fascination with thieves, like Roddy Dean Pippin and the “Barefoot Bandit,” that served as appropriate guides. “I’m sure that’s where my character’s going to essentially go. He’ll be on the run from the cops,” he said.

Chatwin spoke with The Hollywood Reporter on a day off from filming where we touched on several topics, including Steve’s journey, his relationship with Fiona, filming nude scenes and what’s coming up next. (Note: There are some spoilers.)

THR: Steve has one of the best introductions. It’s embarrassing and he’s trying to impress a girl. Is it indicative of this guy’s personality: fun, easygoing and will do everything he can to get what he wants?

Justin Chatwin: Yeah, everyone on the show is definitely running from something and has some sort of fucked up childhood pain. Steve’s addiction is living like this hunter — “carpe diem,” “seize the day” — and living impulsively without thinking about the consequences. It ends up getting him in trouble every single episode, and also is one of the more romantic, noble things about him. His intentions are good and sometimes the outcome isn’t so.

THR: He’s trying so hard to woo Fiona. Is she representative of what he can’t get?

Chatwin: Fiona is a pretty messed-up character and I think it says something about him. We’re essentially attracted to someone that’s like ourselves or something that we’re missing. Steve’s someone who you find out comes from a wealthy family, more educated and elite, that is a complete opposite from the Gallaghers, and he comes from a family that might deal with conflict by crying and not talking about it. It’s beautiful how raw and honest the Gallaghers are. Steve loves the mess because he’s used to order and a structured life and having everything together and everything being pretty.

THR: In the first episode, Steve had a line about how Fiona made him want to “enjoy his life again.”

Chatwin: Everyone on this show lives a pretty shameless lifestyle and Steve’s gone into a life of crime that gives him thrills; that’s his drug of choice. Seeing her has inspired him to start living his life again and get his life on track. He’s lived this lone wolf lifestyle that seeing her raising this family, that makes him go, “That is meaning for me, that is purpose.” He has all these things that give him fulfillment I think that’s running out and feels soulless to him.

THR: At first glance, Fiona’s not necessarily the type of person anyone would want to be with.

Chatwin: There is an ounce of masochism. She’s a very violent girl and Steve’s very passive, but he’s also entranced by the violence and the passion. Their relationship is like Bonnie and Clyde. It’s wild, it’s youthful, it’s impulsive, but essentially, for it to last, he has to learn the workings of this girl, who is a wild cat.

THR: What brought you on to this project?

Chatwin: I didn’t go to acting school. I read a lot of books and fumbled my way through the industry, working on different opportunities but I never really did a TV show. I felt like I skipped a step and I think it’s a great platform for trying things out and learning and growing and creating a family. When I got the script, it gave me a rush when I read it. I’ve never been more excited to try to get a part, so I pursued it. Everyone who got their parts in this show really had to fight for it.

THR: Did you receive any background info that was helpful?

Chatwin: My character was based off a guy named Brandon, who was completely in love with his sister, and his sister would have sex with club promoters and bouncers and drug dealers and anyone she could. And no matter what, he still kept coming back.

THR: Steve is fascinating because he reveals just enough to keep us intrigued. Will we learn more about him?

Chatwin: I hope so. I hope that I learn more about him in upcoming episodes. I’m being honest with you. [Laughs] They share them with you episode by episode. I make choices for myself but every time I get an episode, the scripts will go around the set to hair and makeup and all the actors go in and steal the scripts and read them as fast as they can because we all want to know what happens next or we want to know more information on our characters. There are some really pivotal flip-you-on-your-face moments with my character that have blown my mind. I’ve gone, “What?! You can’t tell me this right now!”

THR: Will we be meeting his parents?

Chatwin: Yeah, you do this season. It gets messy, It gets really messy. It’s literally the opposite of the Gallaghers. That has their crutches too, but they just deal with things in a different way.

THR: Will it make viewers hate him or love him more?

Chatwin: There is a good balance of Steve as a hero and Steve as an asshole. It’s the same with Fiona: It’s Fiona as this noble, beautiful caretaker and Fiona as a bitch. Painting the characters as having positive traits and negative traits is what this show is about.

THR: In the second episode, Steve kidnaps Frank (William H. Macy). It puts him in hot water with Fiona. Was that the first moment he realized things aren’t black and white with the Gallaghers?

Chatwin: Oh yeah. [Laughs] I don’t think Steve comes from a family. I don’t think Steve has huge abandonment issues. That’s the first time he realizes he can’t fully bounce off his impulses. He does the same thing as hitting the bouncer in the head [in the pilot]. He kidnaps Frank and does something out of trying to do the family a favor, but what he doesn’t realize is the biggest wound in the family was when the mom abandoned them, and he is now responsible for the father abandoning them. He sees the degree to which he’s affected this family and starts to think about himself and how he can be a part of this family without stepping on toes or disempowering Fiona or any of the other family members. It’s a learning process and there’s a lot of tripping and falling for my character.

THR: There’s a lot of nudity on the show. Was that nerve-wracking?

Chatwin: A lot. I really wanted to push my own boundaries. I never felt comfortable doing nudity and a lot of times, an actor takes on a part or role because it scares them and this definitely scared me when I read it. That first scene in the kitchen in the pilot, [Emmy and I] were both pretty terrified.

THR: Does it make it worse in situations like this that you and Emmy worked together before?

Chatwin: It was pretty weird. I don’t recall we were that sober doing that scene because we were pretty nervous, but later found out it’s a lot easier to do nudity scenes sober. It was like jumping off a cliff at first. First time you jump off, it’s terrifying, and then once you know that nothing’s going to hurt when you jump, it’s fine. It’s the closest I’ll come to doing soft-core pornography.

THR: Do you have a favorite scene of an episode that you’ve seen thus far?

Chatwin: All the stuff with Aunt Ginger was really, really funny. I just know that our writers are beautifully damaged people. It really is offensive, a lot of the stuff, and it takes me a lot to say, “That’s really wrong,” but having a 90-year-old snorting cocaine off a plate, keeling over and dying … You could look at the show and go, “This is wrong. This shouldn’t be shown. It’s setting a bad example,” but it’s not because it’s going to make you think and it’ll make people talk.

THR: What can we expect as the season progresses?

Chatwin: I could tell you that eventually [the Gallaghers'] mom comes back and that really flips everyone on their ass, and there are more kidnappings. Kidnappings are a big part of our show, apparently. There’s gay sex, straight sex, racism. My biggest question is, if they go to a Season 2, where do they have to go next season? It’s pretty out there. I don’t see how you can top it.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Justin Chatwin HAS NO OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE. If he had we would be the first to promote it.

We are aware that there is a fake facebook profile (even more than one ran by the same person) that pretends to be Justin Chatwin. Please don’t be fooled.

The social network profiles that we support on this website ARE TO PROMOTE THIS WEBSITE – and we have no official affiliation with Justin Chatwin or his management.

We are going to create a «Fake Alert» page where we place links to profiles created by someone that pretends to be Justin, so that everyone knows how many posers are out there.

If you have any usefull information please email us at: info@justinchatwinfan.com

Thank you so much.

Justin Chatwin is stoked about life these days, and not just because he’s lucky enough to be calling the Georgia Straight from his adopted, sun-soaked home of Venice Beach, California.

The Nanaimo-born star of the new Canadian ensemble flick Funkytown reports that things are great on multiple fronts. The good news starts with the fact that he’s just received word that Shameless, the Showtime television series he’s part of with William H. Macy, has been renewed for a second season.

He’s also happy to reveal that he’s managed to find a sense of balance in the rat race that is Los Angeles, often escaping to nearby Mount Baldy to ski or heading north of the city for world-class fly-fishing. Chatwin is so in touch with his inner nature lover that later in the evening, he’ll be diving off the California coast with a buddy to catch Dungeness crabs.

Given all this, tying the 28-year-old’s rosy outlook on life back to the decidedly darkFunkytown seems about as unlikely as finding someone with something good to say about the 83rd Academy Awards. The film—which is like a Montreal-based mashup ofBoogie Nights and Saturday Night Fever—explores the druggy, oversexed underbelly of the ’70s disco scene. Looking back on the experience, Chatwin realizes that he liberated a part of himself while playing Tino, a young Italian-Canadian dancer who’s too much of a macho man to admit that he’s gay.

“It was a party,” he says of making Funkytown. “For me, I wanted to do the movie because it was an interesting time in my life. I felt like I wanted to find my own Funkytown, and take myself down to Funkytown.”

Elaborating, Chatwin reveals that he had come out of a long-term relationship and was ready to live it up in Montreal.

“Being in a long relationship at such a young age, it was a great time for me to go, ‘Wow—I have no responsibilities right now, so I just want to have fun and to let loose.’ What I’m looking for when I find a part is something that kind of aligns with my life. I felt like this was a good part to kind of let loose and take a descent into a darker world.”

Chatwin, who in another lifetime studied commerce at UBC after moving to Vancouver from Nanaimo, has no problem pinpointing what initially interested him about the role.

“A lot of young actors will get a part,” he says, “where they are playing a homosexual and go, ‘I don’t want to do that; I don’t want to kiss a guy.’ For me it was like, ‘That will probably make me feel uncomfortable, which is a perfect reason why I should do it.’ ”

Funnily, just as the character he plays in Funkytown—which opens on Friday (March 4)—isn’t all that he appears, the same goes for Chatwin. Based on the killer dance-floor moves he busts out in the film, one might logically conclude that the actor graduated magna cum laude from the Tony Manero Dance Academy. That’s anything but the case.

“I guess for me, I felt like it would be bold to take on the role because I haven’t danced a day in my life,” he cheerfully admits. “I’m the guy who sits in the corner at the club and doesn’t move.”

 

Source: Vancouver’s Online Source

But follow his official twitter at: TWITTER.COM/JUSTINGCHATWIN

Showtime January premiere dates are in! SHAMELESS (Jan 9th @10pm) EPISODES (Jan 10th@10:30pm); CALIFORNICATION (Jan10th @10pm)

Twitter: Sho_Liz

Emmy Rossum is set as the lead opposite William H. Macy in “Shameless,” John Wells’ drama pilot for Showtime.

Additionally, Allison Janney has signed on for a key recurring role, reuniting with her “West Wing” executive producer Wells. And Justin Chatwin has been cast in the pilot from Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods.

Based on the long-running British series by top U.K. TV writer Paul Abbott, “Shameless” revolves around the Gallaghers, a working-class Chicago clan dealing with the recession. The mother is AWOL, and the alcoholic patriarch (Macy) usually ends up passed out on the living room floor, so their smart but unpredictable 18-year-old daughter Fiona (Rossum) is tasked with keeping her five younger brothers and sisters on the straight and narrow.

Janney plays a pivotal character that will become a love interest for Macy.

Chatwin will play Steve, a car thief who falls in love with Fiona.

Source: Hollywood Reporter and IMDB

Co-star of Marvel’s Thor, Jaimie Alexander debunks the rumor that Justin Chatwin will play Balder in the film.
There was an article here on CBM posted by a user, who’ll remain nameless, that “Dragonball” star, Justin Chatwin will portray Balder in Marvel’s “Thor.” We should have known better, because there wasn’t a source attached. Well now one of the co-stars of the film, Jaimie Alexander, has posted a tweet shooting the rumor down.

“Justin Chatwin isn’t going to be in THOR. Just clearing up another rumor. Sleep well out there xoxoxox”

Source: ComicBookMovie

People lets make #HappyBirthdayJustinChatwin a trend topic on twitter!!!

Make sure you follow Team Chatwin and don’t believe in posers!

If Justin ever creates a Twitter account you will be the first to know!