We Like to Watch: Jamie Campbell Bower of ‘New Moon’

When Jamie Campbell Bower stepped onto the set of New Moon, it felt like the first day of school. “I was terrified,” says the lithe, pale Brit. “I was like, Oh my God, what am I doing? Am I saying the right things? Am I being cool? I don’t know if I’m cool! These cats better like me!”

Generally speaking, however, Bower doesn’t scare easily. The 20 year old, who curses frequently, has all the swagger of a blue blood who fronts his own mod rock band, the Darling Buds, and starred with Johnny Depp in the macabre musical Sweeney Todd. It’s an attitude he’ll bring to New Moon, in which he plays Caius, a pouty, gothic albino with a chip on his shoulder. “A lot of people thought I was too young for the part,” he says, before dismissing the complaint with typical nonchalance. “Whatever.”

Next year, Bower will trade in his fangs for a wand, appearing in the final two installments of that other saga about oversexed teens battling the forces of darkness, Harry Potter. It’s a part he prepped for by spending months in Africa with Sir Ian McKellen while shooting the AMC miniseries The Prisoner, an update of the British sci-fi classic. And, Johnny be damned, he admits McKellen taught him more about acting than anyone else: “The guy is a fucking hero. It’s kind of embarrassing to speak about Ian, because I blush at the very thought of him.”

Coat, pants and shoes by Burberry

Photography by Can Evgin. Styling by Kim Howells.
Grooming: Ruth Warrior @ One Makeup. Photographer’s Assistant: Richard Turner. Location: Sir Tom Baker Fine Tailoring, London.

Top picture: Shirt and jacket by Alexander Mcqueen.