Steven Strait plays Luke, a struggling musician whose career gets an unexpected boost when a couple of friends decide to help him out in “Undiscovered,” a romantic drama from first time feature film director Meiert Avis.
Pell James co-stars as Brier, a New York model who decides to move to Los Angeles and give acting a try. Enrolled in a prestigious acting class, Brier meets and befriends would-be actress Clea (Ashlee Simpson). Together, Brier and Clea hatch a plan to get singer/songwriter Luke a record deal. Their plan works a bit too well as Luke’s newfound fame adds a lot of extra pressure and puts a strain on the budding romantic relationship between Luke and Brier.
INTERVIEW WITH STEVEN STRAIT AND PELL JAMES:
Steven, how close is your personal style of music to your character’s?
Steven Strait: “My music’s primarily rock and roll and it really depends on the song and what the song’s trying to convey - the type of rock it is. Whether it’s slower and closer to blues or harder and closer to metal, it doesn’t really matter. It really just depends on what the song is trying to convey and what music is most appropriate for that.”
After making your film debut in “Sky High,” what made you choose “Undiscovered” next?
Steven Strait: “I think the story’s something that we certainly all want to believe - that love can prevail over even the harshest boundaries that rock and roll can really throw into something. But I think it gave me the unique opportunity to do two things that I love to do in one project and it’s so rare for that to happen. I really wasn’t even planning to do music out here, so, it was a great experience.”
What was it like working with this cast?
Pell James: “It was really fun. It was cool. We all come… Well, Steven and I actually like have more of a similar background. We actually lived like a block and a half away from each other in New York. It was just so weird we didn’t know each other for like five and a half years, but we kind of have a similar [background]. We studied theater and then have a couple things under our belt.
And then Kip [Pardue’s] worked a lot and he’s really good. Ashlee [Simpson’s] like this teen sensation, which is really weird to be a part of…so that was really bizarre. And it was really cool working with Carrie Fisher because [she’s] Princess Leia. That’s awesome, so it was really fun. You talk…”
Steven Strait: “I think it was such a good thing to have a group of people who were so down to earth and really there to work. There were no egos on set and it made things so much better and so much easier and so much more comfortable to be in the scene with people like that.”
Pell James: [Laughing] “Should we tell them what we really think? The real crap that went down?”
Steven Strait: “And, you know, working with Pell who is a phenomenal actress.”
Pell James: “Who?”
Steven Strait: “Pell James. And Carrie Fisher and Peter Weller and Kip Pardue and Shannyn Sossamon who have all done great work in the past.”
What about working with Ashlee Simpson? Was it what you expected?
Steven Strait: “Ashlee? Ashlee... I didn’t really know what to expect, to be honest. I wasn’t all that familiar with the stuff that she had done.”
Pell James: “Don’t let him bs you. He’s like every day, ‘Will you sign my football? Will you sign this?’ [Laughing] We had to move their trailers apart. But she was so nice. He’s really like politically correct and I’m like, ‘I didn’t have any expectations.’ I was nervous because like what do you expect from someone who is… How old is Ashlee? Like 19 and this multi-million dollar super star? I was really nervous. I was like, ‘Oh God, what’s it gonna be like?’
She’s so nice, and she knew all her lines. She came in, she did it, and she knew my lines - which helped a lot. Like seriously, she’s like this little machine at work. And then after work she would go and record albums and then fly away for the weekend and go do concerts, or like wave at a parade one time. Seriously, she has this crazy 24-7 work life. So it’s really impressive and she’s nice.”
How do you think she copes with all that?
Pell James: “I asked her that, too. I was like, ‘How do you do all this?’ And she said she just she doesn’t know any different. She’s like, ‘This is my life.’ She enjoys it so it’s not like an issue for her. It’s how she lives. She can handle it, but it’s so tiring just even listening to it. It’s like, ‘Good Lord!’”
Page 2: The Skateboarding Bulldog, Singing vs Acting, and Upcoming Projects
