Bryan Greenberg

A lot of words that have been used to describe Bryan Greenberg: “young actor,” “up-and-comer,” and perhaps his most-dreaded descriptor of all, “heartthrob.” 

Indeed most, if not all the words bear some semblance to reality. Meeting Greenberg for the first time in a ramshackle Hollywood coffee shop, he’s all puppy-dog eyes and scruffy hair with just a hint of a five o’clock shadow. When he talks, he reveals traces of a Midwestern drawl; his sentences peppered with a hearty chuckle. In his oversized T-shirt and baggy jeans, he’s like that guy in college who never stood out from the crowd, yet always ended up on top.

But someone else comes across when Greenberg starts talking – an intelligent young actor who is dedicated to his craft and a studied professional focused on ever improving and ever searching for the next big role.

“I used to do ballet,” says Greenberg, barely two minutes into the interview. “I was 9 years old and my mom dropped me off with my sister for her audition for ‘The Nutcracker.’ They asked me if I wanted to audition and I said no, but they pushed me in there anyway ‘cause they needed guys and I ended up getting the lead role. 

Greenberg laughs and shakes his head. “I mean, it wasn’t theater or TV but that was my first introduction to being on a stage and in front of people y’know?”

Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Hollywood was just a pipe dream for Greenberg back then. Though he says his ballet debut inspired him to become a performer, there weren’t many outlets for aspiring actors in the Midwest. When he was 12, the family moved to St. Louis and Greenberg says the acting bug bit him again. By the time he left home for the prestigious Tisch School at NYU, acting had become his passion in life.

Greenberg completed the four-year drama program in three and a half years. When he wasn’t working toward his BFA, Greenberg was working as a caterer and bartender to help pay tuition and rent. Even the little off-time he had was put to use volunteering with a local theater company, where he got another chance to hone his skills. Greenberg says the intense environment of New York forced him to take his acting seriously and helped him develop a work ethic he still carries today. 

Greenberg moved to L.A. in 2001 and eventually scored his first lead movie role, in the college drama, The Perfect Score. Soon, producers took notice and he was cast in the hit CW show, One Tree Hill, followed by a starring role alongside Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep in Prime. “I always thought I wanted to be a character actor,” Greenberg says, citing summers spent studying experimental theater and method acting. “But you do one leading man (role) and then you get that again.” 

“I don’t worry though,” he says, “because in the back of my mind I know I can do other things. And I know I will get that chance eventually. I’m just trying to work and get my name out there and build my chops. The only thing I worry about is being complacent.”

For someone who’s known for playing jocks and pretty-boys, Greenberg is surprisingly articulate in person. Perhaps it’s because he’s approaching acting from a different perspective. Rather than seeking quick fame or a hit series, Greenberg says he’s in it for the long haul, determined to carve out a career based on talent over looks or charm. 

“Whenever I’m on set and we’re in between takes, I don’t ask the director if I looked good,” Greenberg says earnestly. “I always ask, ‘Did you believe it’?”

The star insists his life is not the glamorous existence he had first imagined, as the unwilling ballet dancer from Nebraska. He’s logging 13-hour days on the set of his television series, October Road. In between that, he’s developing projects with a group of actor-friends and working on his other passion – music. He released his debut CD, “Waiting for Now” last year and has had some of the songs featured on his TV show. Meanwhile, after starring with Thurman and Streep, his impressive resume now lists names like Alan Rickman and Danny DeVito. But ask Greenberg about it and he’s refreshingly nonchalant. 

“I don’t think I’m that interesting,” Greenberg says with a shrug. “I hang out with my friends, I play basketball, get drunk in dive bars, go to movies… I’m not living this crazy life in the fast lane.”

“I’m not driven by wanting to be a celebrity,” he continues. “You know what drives me? The fear of never working.”

It’s not the answer you’d expect from Greenberg and perhaps that’s exactly the point. His studied training and enthusiasm has taken him this far. But it’s his determination and drive that will make his career one to watch. He’s smart enough to know this too. Greenberg’s girlfriend has texted him to ask where he is. He texts her back to let her know he’s on his way. It’s only 6 p.m. but Greenberg’s decided it’ll just be dinner and a movie tonight. “I gotta get home early after that and memorize a bunch of scripts,” he admits. “It’s gonna be an early day on set tomorrow and I want to be prepared.”

As he picks up his jacket and dashes out the door, one can’t help but wonder if there might be a better way to describe Bryan Greenberg; a more appropriate title to bestow upon his shoulders. He is and always will be perhaps, a remarkable work in progress, but more importantly it seems, he’s a gifted and dedicated actor who will always be on the move.

Penn Badgley

It’s when Penn Badgley gets deep that he’s the most interesting. Throughout the Corduroy photoshoot, the 20-year-old actor has been a little subdued, due in large part no doubt to a filming schedule that had him in fittings all morning while battling a growling stomach and perhaps, a little insomnia from the night before. Though he’s certainly affable, Badgley comes across reserved and guarded during the hour and a half shoot.

But some time later, toward the end of the interview, the handsome young man tucked away in the tiny Upper West Side café suddenly opens up. It comes after he’s talked about his early beginnings in Washington State and his move to L.A. at 13 to pursue acting. It comes after he’s talked about his numerous failed auditions before he won the part of Dan Humphrey on the hit CW show, Gossip Girl. And it comes after he’s laughed off rumors about diva-like behavior on the set and secret romances off.

Twirling his fingers around his half-empty glass of water, the young actor pauses when asked about how work has affected his family. Then he offers this: “My mom and I left my dad behind when we went to L.A.,” he says, voice drawing into a whisper. “We were a broken family. But through this I actually became closer to my dad.”

As he begins to tell his story, a different side of Penn Badgley emerges. He’s no longer the witty outsider he plays on TV or even the laidback scenester he appears to be in person. Instead, Badgley comes across as someone who’s thought about the sacrifice it takes to become an actor and someone who appreciates the journey that helped him get to where he is today…

(To read the rest of this story, pick up the latest issue of Corduroy, in stores now)

Elliott Gould

When Elliot Gould sat down for lunch with Alfred Hitchcock shortly before the great director’s death, he told him that “the American is that which has evolved from everyone else as in the infant through the rest of the world.” The Master of Suspense responded: “I accept.” Not everyone would be able to decipher Gould’s cryptic doctrine on what defines an American, but Hitchcock seemed to have no problem. Or maybe he was pretending.

Speaking to Elliot Gould is akin to taking an esoteric swim down a slipstream of consciousness. Amidst extended reminiscences on his film career and musings on the importance of family, the gabby star will drop bizarre maxims like, “The infant is the genius of the species” and “being is abstract, being is living.” When asked about his role as Jack Geller (father to Ross and Monica) on Friends, he ventures off on a seemingly unrelated tangent about ecology. Despite the sometimes-alienating nature of his thoughts, Gould’s rambling, free-associative reflections are sprinkled with true insight into his own career and the world around him. Most of the time, Gould appears hyper-aware of his surroundings and he is able to find real pleasure in the minutiae of life. He tells me about the crows perched outside his apartment and how much they amuse him, or about an Albert Einstein quote that strikes him as beautiful and true. I interview him over the phone from a friend’s apartment in Montreal and I ask about a recent trip that Gould took to the city to film an adaptation of the Mordecai Richler novel “St. Urbain’s Horsemen.” And it wasn’t the city’s French-speaking population or its famous architecture that struck him -- it was their fruit.  “I had some amazing Spartan apples in Montreal,” Gould tells me. “There’s nothing like a really good apple. A good apple can be miraculous.”

(To read the rest of this story, pick up the latest issue of Corduroy, in stores now)

Ravens and Chimes

With backgrounds ranging from jazz pianist to computer programmer, the members of New York-based band, “Ravens and Chimes” have re-set the template for starting a group. With their lush melodies and experimental sounds, the band has also upped the ante for what it means to rock.

The band started in college, after lead singer Asher Lack recruited his friends and classmates to play a couple of shows with him in the city. But one gig led to another and soon the five-some decided to pursue something together full-time.

This Fall, the band released its debut album, “Reichenbach Falls” – a disc of meticulously-crafted songs that deal with themes of isolation, love and the fickleness of youth. Sounding like a less pretentious Arcade Fire, the band meshes traditional rock harmonies with the unique sounds of xylophone, flute and harmonium. Led by Lack’s pleading vocals, the group soars through the disc with an earnestness that says they believe in what they’re singing and a freshness that says there’s plenty more to come.