By Nick Haramis

Lou Taylor Pucci first started acting at the age of ten, when his aunt promised to give him ten dollars to audition for Oliver. Immediately, he was all, �������Please sir, I want some more.������� After landing plum roles in Thumbsucker, Personal Velocity, and The Chumscrubber, Pucci broke out the brass knuckles to compete for roles against Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Bell, and Anton Yelchin. His latest projects��������The Go-Getter, a road trip movie with Zooey Deschanel, the film adaptation of David Foster Wallace��������s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and the much-discussed Southland Tales��������have him poised as the next big thing. And still, somehow, all he wants to do is chase skirts.

BlackBook: From Thumbsucker and Empire Falls to Fast Food Nation and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, you seem to veer towards film adaptations of literary works. Lou Taylor Pucci: The truth is, scripts written from books are usually written better. That's just an opinion.

BB: Are you an avid reader? What are you reading? LTP: Yah, I guess, because this question has me stumped. There are so many options: On the Road, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Einstein's Universe, and anything by Joseph Campbell. BB: What��������s a hideous man like? LTP: He��������s just a man, I guess. I think that if he weren't at all hideous, he would cease to be a man. All men have something hideous about them, whether it��������s hideous to others or just themselves.

BB: How awful is filming in Winnipeg? LTP: I actually had one of the best times in Winnipeg. We had parties, went ice-skating, even in -30 degree weather. I love the outdoors. I recently bought an RV and fixed it up. I'm writing you from inside it right now.

BB: If you could have any superpower, what would it be? LTP: I always thought about stopping time so I could look up girls' skirts. That probably just makes me a hideous man.

BB: You went from being a student at Christian Brothers Academy to Green Day's �������Jesus of Suburbia.������� Are you very religious? LTP: One hell of a question��������first off, sorry CBA, but I'm not only Christian. I'm a religious mutt, really. I believe all religions hold some truth. I remember asking my teacher once, "If a person believes a little bit from every religion, how might the theological world define him?" His answer was "Irrational." At that point, I knew it wasn��������t for me. I like my free thought.

BB: But free thought often gets people into trouble. LTP: Do the wrong thing! Learn from it. I know I'm a slight hypocrite because I seldom do many "bad" things��������but I'm learning.

BB: Speaking of your school, how does it feel to be one of the first notable alumni not known for his athletic prowess? LTP: I was misplaced��������either that or original. I went to CBA on scholarship. At this point, you have to be fairly wealthy to even attend CBA without one. So, I always felt a little bit out of place. Not that people were snobby, it wasn��������t like that. But, I grew up in a house where money was constantly the source of problems. BB: Despite the initial, perfunctory auditioning process, you seem to have sidestepped the part where you begin by working on really shitty movies. LTP: I��������ve been incredibly lucky so far with parts. That��������s not to say that it was all luck, but if the luck ain't there, all that talent goes right down the toilet.

BB: I've heard Southland Tales described as a "strange hybrid" between the sensibilities of Andy Warhol and Philip K Dick. How would you sum it up? LTP: I was able to try something I might never have had the chance to try. Richard Kelly [director of the film] somehow believed, from seeing Thumbsucker, that I could play a rich kid from Beverly Hills who drives a Hummer, sells pot, and thinks he's black. Awesome.

BB: Which actors do you aspire to be like? LTP: My favorite actors are Vincent D'Onofrio, Gary Oldman, Steve Buscemi, and Johnny Depp. I want to be able to play anyone. BB: Finally, how big is your crush on Zooey Deschanel? LTP: Obese, morbidly obese.

Photo courtesy of Patrick McMullan Company