Actor, model, dancer, singer and total heartthrob (a term he’s still pretty unsure about) Ryan Guzman is by all accounts the perfect guy – something that makes his most recent performance in Boy Next Door all the more astounding. Cast in the role of 19-year-old Noah (even though he’s actually 27), the Texan dreamboat plays a handsome and charming next door neighbour to a nearly divorced mother of one called Claire, who’s played by none other than Jenifer “I’m still Jenny from the block” Lopez.
After one night of weakness (aren’t you supposed to love your neighbor?) Claire ends up sleeping with Noah but tries to distance herself from him the next day. Incensed by this rejection Noah slips into full on Fatal Attraction stalker mode. It’s a huge departure from Ryan’s roles in the Step Up movies and the hit TV series Pretty Little Liars, which is something Ryan is actually quite thrilled about. Aside from Boy Next Door, Ryan has just wrapped up filiming That’s What I’m Talking About, Richard Linklater’s long awaited follow up to cult classic Dazed and Confused, and he’s also finished live action movie Jem and the Holograms, the film he learnt to sing in the back of an alley for. Remember his face and memorize his name, because Ryan Guzman is about to hit the big time.
You started your career as a model, how did you make that transition into acting?
I think my career really began when I started doing commercials. That’s what actually gave me the acting bug.
What was it about acting that you found so attractive?
It was just a different venue through which I could express myself. With modelling it was never something for me, it was just taking pictures. But with acting you have to work on a skill and master your emotions, all the while portraying characters that an audience will be fascinated to see. It gives me the opportunity to feel things I probably would never feel in my normal, regular life.
In the Boy Next Door, the character you play is pretty creepy, what was that like film?
It was pretty crazy, actually. We played the character two different ways: one that everybody was attracted to and was so nice and considerate – the perfect guy – and the other way was this love-obsessed, young kid who thought he had the answers to everything and who really, really wants to introduce Claire back into his life.
How did you get involved with the film?
Well my manager called me up and said that Jennifer Lopez wanted me to come and do a table read for her. I thought it was a joke, so I turned it down a couple of times, until the last time I just said, “ok if this is real, I’ll do it.” And my manager called up and was like, “no, Ryan, this is real. She wants you to come out.” So I went down and did a table read with a bunch of other actors and they called me back. My final audition was on my birthday and I flew back especially.
You share a pretty raunchy scene with Jennifer Lopez, what was that like to film?
I was extremely nervous, not because it had to happen but because you’re doing it in front of everyone. It takes the intimacy out of it, it’s so choreographed that it became awkward. Jennifer was awesome with the whole thing, though, she was like, “let’s just have fun with it.” And we did have fun.
Was playing a villain liberating for you? Or do you prefer playing the heartthrob?
Haha, I don’t know if I could ever accept the title heartthrob. Villains are definitely very fun to play. It’s a mindset you wouldn’t normally be in. There would be times on set when we’d stop filming and I’d be like, “oh my God, did I just do that? I’m so sorry.” But then I thought, ‘I’m an actor, I shouldn’t be apologizing.’ It was kind of funny to get into that character, do the scene and then step back and be, “whoa, we actually just went there.”
Your character plays a lot of mind games which requires a lot of work mentally, while your role in Step Up was obviously very physically demanding, how do the two compare?
With the Step Up movies I knew what I was getting myself into, they’re very, very physical. You get your entertainment through the physical aspect of the dancing and I put a lot of work into that, but the reason why I loved Boy Next Door was because it’s all about manipulation, it’s all about mind games, twisting and turning people’s minds to think certain things. I loved that I got to show off a different skill-set, and a lot more of my acting through this role.
You’re also working on Richard Linklater’s That’s What I’m Talking About, which sounds so exciting. How’s that going?
I just finished that a month and a half ago. We just got back from Texas. Everything is all done and set and I’m extremely excited for everyone to see that. It’s a comedy based on what Richard went through as a young man, but a lot of it is obviously fictional and embellished. But Richard Linklater- he’s a genius, which is why Boyhood is getting all the nominations and awards it’s been getting. It was so great to work with him and learn from him, and to just step back and realize that filmmaking should be fun. It was an eye-opening experience.
What else are you working on at the moment?
I have a new film coming out this year called Jem and the Holograms. It was the first time I actually had to sing in a film, which was the most awkward and nerve-racking thing I’ve ever done in my life, because I’ve never sung before.
Can you even sing? Surely they wouldn’t have cast you if you couldn’t though?
They actually cast me without me singing. I got the role and they were going to cast someone else to do the singing part. A week before I read the track, as I was supposed to memorize it to lip-sync it, and I didn’t think the guy sounded like me so I went to the director and asked him if there was any chance I could get some training so that I could use my own voice. I got a 15-minute training lesson in the back of an alleyway and the next minute I was in the sound booth laying down the track.
You modeled as a young guy, learnt to dance for Step Up, play mind games for Boy Next Door, and sing for Jem and the Holograms, is there anything you can’t do?
Haha. I like to surprise. I’m definitely a believer that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Anything hard is worth doing and in the end you learn something from it. I like learning more about myself and learning more about this industry.
Credits
Text Tish Weinstock
Photography Marc Cartwright