"From Laguna Beach surfer to undersea superhero? It might be a short walk distancewise, but for former MTV reality show star Talan Torriero it feels like a nearly insurmountable chasm. Still, hes not giving up.
Talan gave me a call recently to discuss his latest movie Driftwood, a horror film about a camp for wayward youths, and wound up dishing dirt on his former co-stars, his love of musical theater, his intense and crazy acting method, and why his dream role involves talking to fish."
MTV News: Right off the bat, Im curious what the heck a guy from Laguna Beach is doing in a horror movie.
Talan Torriero: I wanted to do something that was different. I felt like this movie would show people a different side to me, and show that I really am very serious about acting.
MTV News: Yeah, but even on Laguna youre playing a character, right? Just a character who happens to be you.
Torriero: Its a reflection of me, exactly. On the show I was myself, and theres no nerves in that, but going to do my first movie I was really nervous. I think too much, thats my problem. I think so much about everything that I do in my life.
MTV News: And thats changed now?
Torriero: Its definitely changed. At first I was always very nervous; now its like Im very confident, very grateful to be doing what Im doing. I love playing characters. But playing another character, it can be either be a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of fingers are being pointed at me. Maybe thats all in my mind, but Im always worried. Im that kid from that show. Will people embrace me as someone else? Its a hard one to overcome. Doing the show opened up a lot of doors but at the same time it closed a lot of them too.
MTV News: Cmon, youre one of the beautiful people!
Torriero: I admit that I was fortunate in life. But this business is like a totem pole. I have to start 30 auditions deep. A lot of people think that I start at the final callback just because I was on some show, but its the opposite: I start at square one with the major cattle call. Not anymore because Ive worked to a point where now I get in on a higher level, but at first I had to beat out some big names for some roles that Ive gotten. I had to work my way up.
MTV News: Did that change the type of roles you went for?
Torriero: Well, I kind of try and go for movies where my name isnt really a power, because I dont feel like I have a powerful name and I dont want people banking on my name.
MTV News: So, OK, dream role what would it be?
Torriero: I have to say that my dream role would be doing something like Into the Wild. I love Method acting, so any way that I am able to become a character, physically, mentally, definitely is something I would love to do. For instance, I did this short film thats going to be unbelievable. Its like Transformers. Basically I had to act with nothing there, but I remember this scene where Im running away from this robot, this transforming robot, and Im freaking out. All of a sudden I was so genuinely scared that there was a robot following me that I had an anxiety attack. I felt like I couldnt breathe and my palms got sweaty. I couldnt even remember my lines I was literally scared that there was something following me. See, Im crazy. If I had to do Into the Wild Id literally go live in the wild and eat you name it. Like instead of giving me a trailer Id go live in my little hut in the woods.
MTV News: Thats serious commitment.
Torriero: Yeah, like for this movie I did a lot of things of that nature, I actually had to gain 10 pounds of muscle and shave my head. I went to the gym. I really wanted to go to a couple military academies. I even volunteered to stay in one of the cells at night and videotape the whole thing but they didnt want to do that for safety reasons.
MTV News: More like they dont want it to wind up on the Internet. That thing would be online in five seconds.
Torriero: Its funny because a [paparazzo] photographer will be like, Hey Ill take your picture, and Ill almost laugh because, like, theyre not going to make any money off of it. Thats never an issue for me.
MTV News: Unlike some of your old co-stars, who I think are contractually obligated to be at every red carpet ever.
Torriero: Yeah, I mean more power to them. Kristen [Cavallari] is working, Stephen [Colletti] is on One Tree Hill. Theyre all great guys and theyre obviously doing a great job, but I dont want to be known as like a Paris Hilton. Im private. Whenever I do a movie, I always make the producers sign contracts with me to do X amount of red carpets because I wont do them. Im very insecure about taking pictures.
MTV News: By the way, your dream role surprised me. Most people pick a superhero.
Torriero: You know what I really am pushing for? I really want to be Aquaman in Justice League. Its a superhero movie, so its probably hard to even get in there, but I really want it badly. I really want to be Aquaman so badly.
MTV News: Wait, what? Nobody wants to be Aquaman. Hes ridiculous. Dont be silly.
Torriero: Well Im a pretty realistic person. People say, If you could be anyone you want right now, who would you be? I could sit here and say, Oh, Johnny Depp or Jack Nicholson, but is it realistic for me to say that right now? No. But I could be Ryan Reynolds or Paul Walker right now. I love Ryan Reynolds career, I really look up to him a lot.
MTV News: Word on the street is that you want to be Zac Efron as well.
Torriero: I auditioned for Link in Hairspray [on Broadway], yeah.
MTV News: What about Hairspray excited you?
Torriero: I love the musical, I watched all the movies and[listened to] the soundtrack, and it just really captured me. But Broadway, its a dream. Who doesnt want to be under the bright lights on Broadway? And sing. I gave it my best.
lagunahookup.blogspot.com
Talan gave me a call recently to discuss his latest movie Driftwood, a horror film about a camp for wayward youths, and wound up dishing dirt on his former co-stars, his love of musical theater, his intense and crazy acting method, and why his dream role involves talking to fish."
MTV News: Right off the bat, Im curious what the heck a guy from Laguna Beach is doing in a horror movie.
Talan Torriero: I wanted to do something that was different. I felt like this movie would show people a different side to me, and show that I really am very serious about acting.
MTV News: Yeah, but even on Laguna youre playing a character, right? Just a character who happens to be you.
Torriero: Its a reflection of me, exactly. On the show I was myself, and theres no nerves in that, but going to do my first movie I was really nervous. I think too much, thats my problem. I think so much about everything that I do in my life.
MTV News: And thats changed now?
Torriero: Its definitely changed. At first I was always very nervous; now its like Im very confident, very grateful to be doing what Im doing. I love playing characters. But playing another character, it can be either be a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of fingers are being pointed at me. Maybe thats all in my mind, but Im always worried. Im that kid from that show. Will people embrace me as someone else? Its a hard one to overcome. Doing the show opened up a lot of doors but at the same time it closed a lot of them too.
MTV News: Cmon, youre one of the beautiful people!
Torriero: I admit that I was fortunate in life. But this business is like a totem pole. I have to start 30 auditions deep. A lot of people think that I start at the final callback just because I was on some show, but its the opposite: I start at square one with the major cattle call. Not anymore because Ive worked to a point where now I get in on a higher level, but at first I had to beat out some big names for some roles that Ive gotten. I had to work my way up.
MTV News: Did that change the type of roles you went for?
Torriero: Well, I kind of try and go for movies where my name isnt really a power, because I dont feel like I have a powerful name and I dont want people banking on my name.
MTV News: So, OK, dream role what would it be?
Torriero: I have to say that my dream role would be doing something like Into the Wild. I love Method acting, so any way that I am able to become a character, physically, mentally, definitely is something I would love to do. For instance, I did this short film thats going to be unbelievable. Its like Transformers. Basically I had to act with nothing there, but I remember this scene where Im running away from this robot, this transforming robot, and Im freaking out. All of a sudden I was so genuinely scared that there was a robot following me that I had an anxiety attack. I felt like I couldnt breathe and my palms got sweaty. I couldnt even remember my lines I was literally scared that there was something following me. See, Im crazy. If I had to do Into the Wild Id literally go live in the wild and eat you name it. Like instead of giving me a trailer Id go live in my little hut in the woods.
MTV News: Thats serious commitment.
Torriero: Yeah, like for this movie I did a lot of things of that nature, I actually had to gain 10 pounds of muscle and shave my head. I went to the gym. I really wanted to go to a couple military academies. I even volunteered to stay in one of the cells at night and videotape the whole thing but they didnt want to do that for safety reasons.
MTV News: More like they dont want it to wind up on the Internet. That thing would be online in five seconds.
Torriero: Its funny because a [paparazzo] photographer will be like, Hey Ill take your picture, and Ill almost laugh because, like, theyre not going to make any money off of it. Thats never an issue for me.
MTV News: Unlike some of your old co-stars, who I think are contractually obligated to be at every red carpet ever.
Torriero: Yeah, I mean more power to them. Kristen [Cavallari] is working, Stephen [Colletti] is on One Tree Hill. Theyre all great guys and theyre obviously doing a great job, but I dont want to be known as like a Paris Hilton. Im private. Whenever I do a movie, I always make the producers sign contracts with me to do X amount of red carpets because I wont do them. Im very insecure about taking pictures.
MTV News: By the way, your dream role surprised me. Most people pick a superhero.
Torriero: You know what I really am pushing for? I really want to be Aquaman in Justice League. Its a superhero movie, so its probably hard to even get in there, but I really want it badly. I really want to be Aquaman so badly.
MTV News: Wait, what? Nobody wants to be Aquaman. Hes ridiculous. Dont be silly.
Torriero: Well Im a pretty realistic person. People say, If you could be anyone you want right now, who would you be? I could sit here and say, Oh, Johnny Depp or Jack Nicholson, but is it realistic for me to say that right now? No. But I could be Ryan Reynolds or Paul Walker right now. I love Ryan Reynolds career, I really look up to him a lot.
MTV News: Word on the street is that you want to be Zac Efron as well.
Torriero: I auditioned for Link in Hairspray [on Broadway], yeah.
MTV News: What about Hairspray excited you?
Torriero: I love the musical, I watched all the movies and[listened to] the soundtrack, and it just really captured me. But Broadway, its a dream. Who doesnt want to be under the bright lights on Broadway? And sing. I gave it my best.
lagunahookup.blogspot.com
