Max's crystal blue eyes are to die for! Credit: Wenn

During the Great Depression of the 1930's in the U.S. entire families became homeless when the dads lost their jobs. Just like in our current economy, many homes were being foreclosed upon by banks, throwing the owners out in the streets. In Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, cute Max Thieriot (of Nancy Drew, The Pacificer, Astronaut Farmer and Jumper) plays Will Shepard, a homeless teen living in hobo camps called "jungles" doing odd jobs to survive. Will meets Kit's family when he asks them for work and he's later unjustly implicated in some local robberies.

We wanted to know if Max had to study the era to play his part and what his favorite scene was. We chatted briefly at a hotel in Beverly Hills last week. Picture the actor in black tee, gray jeans and with a slight beard; scruffy/cute. We also noticed that he has a tattoo on his upper left arm. It is a scale of justice surrounded by large wings. We had to know....

TeenHollywood: Is that tattoo real? We know actors often get fake ones for movies.

Max: Yes, it's real. [It's for my mom]. My mom had cancer three times but she's fine now.That's why the name area is blank. She's still with us.

TeenHollywood: Very glad to hear that. For this movie, did you research what it was like to be homeless during the Great Depression?