Callum and Chris: Princess Picks

Actors Chris Pine and Callum Blue couldn't be more different in look or background. Chris is an all-American cutie with glasses and Callum, a tall Brit with lanky good looks but both young actors had a blast shooting The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in which they enact rivals for the hand of soon-to-be-queen Mia, played again by the gorgeous Anne Hathaway.

When we chatted with the guys in L.A.'s Century City, we noted a 180 degree  difference from the "look" of their characters. In the film, Chris looks very polished and regal with poofy hair that probably wouldn't move in the wind and, in person, sporting spike hair, simple white tee, silver bracelet and thick-rimmed glasses, he seemed much more like the guy sitting next to you (you wish) in the school cafeteria.

Callum, who co-stars in the spooky Showtime TV series "Dead Like Me", was also much more casual than the upper-crust royal he plays in the film. Wearing a dark tee with a silk screen of a Japanese lady on it and a dark stripe jacket, he was far more accessible than the sweet but stodgy fellow he plays in "Princess".

Just two casual, hot-looking family type guys (Both took their moms and sisters to the "Princess" premiere). Chris likes Disneyland, Callum is big on Magic Mountain roller coasters. What else do they share and what do they disagree on? Check out our often funny interview...

TeenHollywood: Somebody said they saw you guys at the huge San Diego comics convention Comicon. Is that right?

Callum: Yes we were, Yeah so much fun. I didn't walk around much because they all mobbed me. It was so crazy. There were people dressed up as elves that would come up and say (something in elvish). I saw Gollum crawling around on the floor and a guy with no pants on came up after our "Dead Like Me" panel. I have no idea what he was supposed to be!!

TeenHollywood: Chris, you have the Clark Kent thing going on (referring to his thick rimmed black glasses). Are you going for the Superman role?

Chris: I wish I was going for the role, I'm just blind, I really got into the big thick frame thing, I used to do really light frames but I'm doing the James Dean thing.

TeenHollywood: We hear that you had problems with that (seeing on the set).

Chris: Yeah I did, I did.  Seeing the mark was difficult, seeing the other actors was difficult, there was a big joke because Garry (Marshall, the director) had just done the movie Raising Helen with John Corbett and he was blind as a bat also and it was like who is "Blinder". I think I might have won. I took down video village, craft services hated me.

Callum: He tried to kiss me thinking that I was Anne once.

TeenHollywood: So you are not into the laser surgery?

Chris: I just saw the newlywed show with Jessica and somebody and they got lasik surgery and it FREAKED me out. They folded back the eyelid and did the thing and it was horrible. I will be at the Comic-Con eventually as the blind dwarf.

TeenHollywood: Both of you are totally different from your characters.

Callum: We once said that we should have swapped characters around. He is kind of like the nice guy and I am kind of like the rebel...I am the common one.

TeenHollywood: Callum, did you base your character on anyone? Did you look at Prince William for example?

Callum: Yes, I actually did. I am so far removed from the English Aristocratic..., I can't even say the bloody word, that's how far removed I am. (laughter) Artistocracy , I had to do that. I found this video somehow, I don't know how this exists, it's called "How To be a Prince" Seriously, it just follows around Prince William waving, walking and talking. It's the most boring thing that I have ever seen. I have the physicality and the costumes helped. Kind of the stiff collar and all that stuff. It was really a good experience for me because it is so far removed from myself and that is what being an actor is all about.

TeenHollywood: Chris, did you base your character Nicolas on anyone?

Chris: When I read it , it kind of reminded me a lot of those old Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, (films) that kind of stuff. So I watched a lot of Cary Grant and then I read Errol Flynn's autobiography to get that kind of swashbuckling thing going on. George Clooney in Out of Sight, that was a big one.

TeenHollywood: How was it working with Julie Andrews?

Callum: Oh It was great! I think nowadays these actresses , it's really not their fault, it's the magazines fault because they get caught picking their nose or they've got acne all over their face. I think we've lost a bit of the glamour and the glitz. We've lost that kind of enigma that movie stars should have and I think she's one of the last people that have it and I also think Anne's got it as well.

Chris: Yeah. It's interesting. In film they play the granddaughter and grandmother but, in real life they also both share that movie star quality. The great thing about Anne is that she has that fantastic ability to be "movie star" and glamorous but also to have that real girl kind of thing where you might have known her in high school. You can't teach that kind of thing.

TeenHollywood: (I notice Chris's heavy silver chain bracelet). Does that bracelet have a story?

Chris: Yeah. When I graduated from high school my sister gave this to me with my initials on it and finally, when I made some money doing something, for Christmas I got her a matching one and on the back we have the date and a four leaf clover.

Callum: We are both taking our moms and our sisters to the premiere.  I was raised by a whole houseful of women; my grandmother, my sister. I have all sisters. I was really worried about bringing them because I thought 'Chris is going to come with a Hollywood starlet, a movie star and I'll be with my mom and sister' but he's doing the same thing.

TeenHollywood: How was working with very funny director Garry Marshall?

Callum: I wouldn't bother learning my lines because there's no need to. You have the basic idea of the script and go in and he's so open to suggestion. You felt comfortable enough to add little bits on and be spontaneous and I think it really reflects in the movie.

Chris: Well, you get work and you're having a good time. I would self-consciously try to make it harder for myself because I was like 'this has to be hard work'. But Garry was hysterical. There's a scene where I meet Anne for the first time on the dance floor and I'm supposed to bow and do something regal and I think I tried to shake her hand in one take and Garry's like (yelling) 'You're not in a mall! She's the princess!' And everybody lost it. We laughed a whole bunch.

TeenHollywood: What kind of music do you two listen to?

Callum: My heroine of all time, just recently died, Nina Simone. I love Blues, that kind of thing, all the kind of old stuff. I've got Nora Jones albums and she sounds like those people but nobody could ever beat those people ever. There's that soul and heart that Nina Simone had because of her upbringing, her persecution.

Chris: I'm all over the place. I'm going through a major Bob Dylan, Van Morrison thing but I listen to a lot of jazz. Stan Getz and Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans.

Callum: And Madonna. He had Madonna coming out of this trailer. (Sings) 'Like a Virgin...'. He was trying to be cool.

Chris: Oh shut up. I like Radiohead, Postal Service. I like hip hop.

TeenHollywood: Did you get followed around on set by little girls with crushes?

Chris: They all had crushes on Anne. With Anne around you might as well not exist.

Callum: At that age, it's not really about the men but the role models and this is certainly a great role model, Princess Mia and Anne as well. She's just like her character. It's teaching that you don't have to have the diamonds and sparkly stuff to be a princess. It's all about strength inside and I think little girls really pick up on that and they were following her around everywhere. She had a line of them. Baby ducklings.

TeenHollywood: Next big projects?

Chris: I'm looking for something darker maybe. I just did an independent movie that was a 180 from this, "Confession'. I'm just looking for roles that help me learn about myself. It's cathartic and a constant self-exploration. But, I'd do TV. Callum's show is fantastic. There's a lot of good stuff on television.

Callum: My show I wrapped a few days ago. I've been pretty non-stop for a while now. After shooting "Princess Diaries" I had to go straight to Vancouver (where "Dead Like Me" shoots) I had two days off. The season has just started. I've been offered a play in London, "Hecuba" but with this coming out along with "Dead Like Me", it's probably silly to go back to London. I should be auditioning.

TeenHollywood: When you're driving down the road and see the big "Dead Like Me" billboard with you dead center, how does it feel?

Callum: It's crazy! Three years ago I did a TV. movie called "In Love and War" for Hallmark Hall of Fame and I'd just come out of drama school and I was driving along the road and looked up and said 'oh, there's me'. Twenty minutes later I was like 'ahhhhhhh, wow! That was me and I'm 40 feet tall. Oh my God!' I think you have to remove yourself from all of that stuff. I've no idea why my face is on a billboard. It's so alien for me. My mom is coming out from London. I can't wait till she sees them. She's going to freak out!

TeenHollywood: Does your co-star Mandy Patinkin sing around your set? He has so much singing on his resume.

Callum: He does. The first season he invited me into his trailer and put a video in.  I'm a really big fan of Patti Lapone ("Evita" on Broadway) and he and Patti are singing. He got up and started dancing and singing in front of me and the whole trailer is rocking around and then we both walk out and there's a crowd of people watching, wondering what was going on! We're talking about a musical episode of "Dead Like Me" for the new season.

TeenHollywood: Chris, haven't you done some stand-up comedy?

Chris: I took a class. I remember going up to do stand up. Talk about being naked in front of people. If it's not funny, then it's not funny. That's the charge. That's what's great about live performances. Film is such a director's craft. You are a component in it. Like this. It's Garry's film.

TeenHollywood: This is a very romantic film. What do you two guys look for in romance?

Callum: I look for all the wrong things to be honest. I look for excitement, rebellion, these girls who've just got a crazy streak in them. I fall for them every single time and I shouldn't. I should marry someone who is like my mother but I always fall for the girls who can get me into trouble. It's more exciting.

Chris: I like competent women but not arrogant women. I tend to go for older women because they seem to be a lot more confident and comfortable with themselves. Humor is big. You can't deny looks but what's attractive to me a lot of guys don't find attractive. I mean screw Twiggy because I don't know where this no butt thing came from! I'm all about... uh, I'm very European I guess in my physical taste but intelligence and education is also big.

TeenHollywood: What's your favorite movie this summer?

Chris: I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I love that kind of artsy stuff, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead with Clive Owen. I'm a huge Clive Owen fan. I loved The Bourne Supremacy because I love that kind of thriller. I'd love to travel the world, act and shoot guns. It's a boyhood dream.

Callum: I also loved Eternal, Spotless Sunshine.... Or whatever it was. I sat through it twice. It really affected me. My brain was exploding with all the images. Kate Winslet was brilliant in it. I would love to say Fahrenheit 9-11 but I'm not supposed to be political. It was an important movie to make but I'm English so I don't have any political views either way.

TeenHollywood: Who is your favorite, 'I can't wait to work with' lady?

Chris: Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren. There are so many talented people.

Callum: Nicole Kidman is one of my favorites. I think she's really got it. Natalie Portman has an old movie star quality and lights up the screen every time I see her. Renee Zellweger, I love. I think she'd be fun to work with.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.