"Dateable" Adam Campbell

Who is that cute English guy in Date Movie who looks like Orlando with blonde hair? Adam Campbell is a grad of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and came over to the states where he landed lead parts in a couple of short-lived TV series (the WB's "Commando Nanny" among them) then, by his own admission, lucked out when he was cast as Alyson Hannigan's love interest in the comedy spoof film.

Although Adam has acted in such Shakespeare tragedies as "Hamlet", he says he prefers comedies, both to watch and act in. He's quite funny himself in person. His fave hangout in L.A. is Ralph's supermarket. Hey, he's still impressed with the good food in America. Although his character dresses rather upper crusty in Date Movie, Adam wears tees and jeans. We sat down with this hottie in Beverly Hills and found him to be friendly and not afraid to say anything, including the fact that he got a kick out of wearing Julia Robert's actual "hooker" costume from Pretty Woman in the film! Check it out....

TeenHollywood: You got to play this role in an English accent. Was that easy?

Adam: That was one of my greatest stresses, actually. Going to drama school in London, where we learn to do not only an English accent but a proper English accent... that was a genuine worry, that I'd have a proper English accent rather than the modern version.

TeenHollywood: Date Movie is your first feature film. When did you arrive here?

Adam: I left drama school about a year and a half ago. Since leaving I did a couple of jobs for TV and auditioned for this. There was a six week wait and I just assumed nothing was happening and then I got a call out of the blue saying I'd got it and I just was totally shocked. I thought they'd made a mistake.

TeenHollywood: Did you watch a lot of old, romantic movies?

Adam: Funnily enough, a lot of the movies that they spoof in this, I'd seen maybe a handful of them and the rest of them I had no idea. So, there were all these references to movies like Say Anything and even When Harry Met Sally and I hadn't seen those movies. I thought when I got the job I ought to sit through this stuff so I watched the bulk of them.

TeenHollywood: What was your favorite spoof scene?

Adam: The one I enjoyed the most was the Mr. and Mrs. Smith scene. It was the same set that they used. I was sitting in the same flippin' seat as Angelina Jolie! Thought I'd give it a little sniff.. not really. That was the most fun one. I'm happiest with that one.

TeenHollywood: What scene most cracked you up?

Adam: The scene that makes me laugh the most is probably when Fred Willard and Eddie Griffin are playing basketball and Eddie swallows some of Fred's chest hair. I thought that was just the funniest shot. I was watching that from off-camera and laughing my head off.

TeenHollywood: Was there a scene that you were in when you had to keep a straight face and had a hard time?

Adam: All the time. I think doing anything with Alyson. She has an ability to keep an absolutely straight face regardless of what sort of nonsense is coming out of her mouth. Actually, that was one of the most difficult things about the film was saying those lines and yet trying to say them with some meaning; give legitimacy to them while just talking nonsense. That was one of the most difficult things. There is a glint in Alyson's eye that just makes me crack up.

TeenHollywood: Were you able to improv and wing it at all?

Adam: There was a bit of room for it. There was a little moment when I'm in the elevator and they just played some music and said 'just do what you want in there' so that was fun. I got to dance and stuff like that.

TeenHollywood: How was working with Alyson? Had you seen any of her movies?

Adam: This was my first film and I was kind of intimidated by working with someone who's done so much. I was a bit scared about meeting her but the first day I saw her, she was in half of her fat suit. She had a very slim, beautiful face and an enormous body and I remember, that was the best way to meet because she was feeling terrible about herself and I was just being normal, or I wasn't in a fat suit. We just got on immediately. I was pleasantly surprised by how humble she is and down to earth she is.

TeenHollywood: Okay, tell us the real story. Did you actually wear Julia Robert's costume from Pretty Woman?

Adam: Yeah, the actual costume that I wore was the same one that Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman and it fitted like a glove. [we laugh] My butt has never looked so good but what was nice, I saw it and it was hanging up and I was saying 'I can't believe this is what she wore'. It was a little bit grubby as well so I'm thinking maybe it hadn't been washed so I just slipped into it. [laughs].

TeenHollywood: Just for a laugh, did you go anywhere in the Julia Roberts get-up?

Adam: I didn't need to. They basically dropped me off at the top of Rodeo Drive. I'm assuming they are going to shut the road down but no, they just dropped me off. There were just people walking down the street. The camera crew is like 200 yards at the other end. I'm literally a man in a ladies' outfit with flippin' high heel boots walking down the road. Meanwhile cars are driving past stopping, honking. I didn't need to go anywhere, I was right in the public eye. Secretly, I loved it.

TeenHollywood: How many times did you have to shoot that scene?

Adam: Oh, about fifteen, twenty. I'd never worn high heels before and I've never felt pain like that in the front of my legs. I have respect for men who do that.

TeenHollywood: What was the best part of the whole film experience for you?

Adam: I've never eaten so well. I think that's a big thing. I'm not normally a big eater but doing this film, every day was like a three course meal. Incredible food. If I wasn't filming I would just be consuming all this wonderful stuff. But, I think just being around the actors in this thing; Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge particularly. The stuff that they've done with Christopher Guest, I've just been such a big fan. I just felt it was a privilege to just sit with Fred and talk to him and hear what the guy is like normally and Jennifer as well. They're just comedians and it was great to just muck about with them.

TeenHollywood: Have you shot anything since? This looks like it was shot pretty recently with the King Kong stuff in it.

Adam: Yeah. Do you know that Peter Jackson did all these video diaries? We just spoofed some of those. I played Peter Jackson, like two weeks ago, doing those video diaries. It was at the filming of the Carmen Electra stuff.

TeenHollywood: So was that for the DVD then?

Adam: I think it is. And some Fox movie channel. It's been going on since the summer. Then between the summer and now, I've gone on to another independent film called You are Here which was a character totally different to my Grant character [in Date Movie]. It was sort of an Alfie character. Again, it was British but sort of a womanizing club owner in Los Angeles.

TeenHollywood: Your character is sort of a Hugh Grant send-up in itself. Have you met Hugh Grant?

Adam: Funnily enough, on the same lot where we were filming Date Movie was a movie that Hugh Grant was filming so his trailer, which was seven times bigger than mine, was about a hundred yards away from mine. I was very tempted to just go up to him and at least apologize but thought I'd better not. It sounds a bit weird. I think he knew that we were doing it and maybe his driver had told him I was doing a character similar to the sort of thing he was doing but we never spoke. I may still write a letter of apology to him. I think the guy is brilliant. I think he's a wonderful actor, very funny.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a favorite date movie or romantic comedy?

Adam: Well, if we're talking about a successful date, the best film I've taken a girl to was Lethal Weapon 2. Because I got some action with that. [laughs]. But my favorite date movie, I don't really have a favorite; Three Weddings and a Funeral I guess.

TeenHollywood: Who are you really anxious to work with out here?

Adam: I think Christopher Guest. I know he's making a film at the moment. I just love his stuff. That's the sort of thing I find funny. I do really like comedy. I also think Jim Carrey. I think he's such a versatile actor. He's in my favorite film Dumb and Dumber and I just think he's excellent.

TeenHollywood: Do you prefer comedies?

Adam: I never really did any comedy at drama school so this is a new thing for me. I came out and did a sitcom originally and I just felt a bit more comfortable going that. But I trained in classical Shakespeare and it was more like Romeo and Hamlet and stuff like that. But I would prefer to go and watch a comedy movie rather than a drama I think.

TeenHollywood: What kinds of music do you listen to?

Adam: James Taylor I'm obsessed with. I love James Taylor. Who else do I have in my car at the moment? I've got James Blunt, a British talent and I've got an iPod with thousands and thousands of bands. I don't know half the stuff that's on it. A real mix.

TeenHollywood: Do you live in London or out here now?

Adam: I'm back and forth but I'm renting a place here and I'm not renting one in London at the moment so I can say I live in L.A. at the moment.

TeenHollywood: Would you make it permanent over here?

Adam: I'd love to. I love it over here. Not just the weather but the lifestyle of Los Angeles because there are so many other people in the industry. Being in London, being an actor there is a certain amount of guilt the fact that you can get up at ten o'clock and go out to lunch with your friends and spend the afternoon just sort of doing nothing but, over here, everyone just does that so I feel a lot more comfortable about it. I'd love to remain in L.A.

TeenHollywood: Have you seen Date Movie yet? If so, what did you think of your first big screen appearance?

Adam: I saw a rough version of it. That's weird going into a cinema and seeing your head on a big screen. It was horrible. I was looking at myself behind my fingers because you are that big on a screen. 'Do I really look like that? Do I really talk like that? Do I look like that in a dress?'

TeenHollywood: Have your old friends and family members seen it?

Adam: They haven't yet seen it, no. They're all in England and I think it comes out a week later there. They're all going to go and watch it. Even my grandmother is going to go and see it. So, I'm looking forward to her seeing the [fake] orgasm scene. I think she'll particularly enjoy that. I told her about it. I've said 'grandma, you know, this is your grandson but it's not really your grandson. Take it with a pinch of salt'.

TeenHollywood: Are you worrying a bit about losing your accent to do non-British roles?

Adam: I'm not going to give you an American accent because it's not mid-day yet and there is no talent before mid-day. [laughs] I've done other accents. I did a pilot last year in Irish. American, it's an accent that I'm working on and I'd love to get a role in American. It's difficult because I haven't been brought up in an American atmosphere but it's important to work on it, just as a challenge as an actor. It's a skill to learn.

TeenHollywood: Where do you like to hang out here in L.A.?

Adam: I probably spend more time in Ralph's [supermarket] than anywhere else. It's so cheap over here. I am a member of Ralph's as well. [they give you a little card] I thought it was an exclusive thing. What privileges do I get? Two for one and that's about it. But, I get out quite a lot with friends. I'm not huge on the L.A. party scene so I wouldn't really know the first thing about it. There is a British pub called 'The Cat and Fiddle'. There's nothing British about it. It's a Spanish villa basically. They just nailed a British flag to the wall.

TeenHollywood: Have you found anything fun to do in your off time?

Adam: To experience new things over here I thought I wanted to do something sort of quintessentially American so, in the first couple of weeks when I came over I went to a shooting range. I thought this was something I wouldn't be able to do in England and I've always wanted to do it so I let off a few rounds and I flippin' loved it. I can't tell you, what a great thing it was.

TeenHollywood: Uh oh.. a new freeway shooter here? Maybe you can be in a action film?

Adam: That's what I want. I'm not quite Bruce Willis but maybe one day.

***

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