Justin Timberlake Opens Up About Why He Bailed on *NSYNC
Justin Timberlake is one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood, but once upon a time, you really couldn't talk about him without also mentioning *NSYNC (or Britney Spears). The "Can't Stop the Feeling" singer looks incredibly handsome on the cover of this week's Hollywood Reporter, proving that he's come a loooong way from his boy band days (and that Ramen-inspired hair). Justin, who shares 1-year-old son Silas with wife Jessica Biel, opens up to the magazine about everything from fatherhood to his next album to why he decided to walk away from *NSYNC. See his best quotes below.
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On why he decided to quit *NSYNC: "We were on a stadium tour, and I just felt like the whole thing was too big. It started as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche. And, also, I was growing out of it. I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group. And I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart."
On if he's still friends with his former Mickey Mouse Club costar, Ryan Gosling: "We aren't the closest of friends, for whatever reason."
On fatherhood: "You go through your life with your own traumas, big and small, and think, 'It's not that bad, I have a lot to be thankful for, my parents did the best they could.' But then you have a child of your own, and suddenly it opens all the floodgates, and you're like, 'No, no, no! That childhood trauma really did f*ck me up!'"
On his next album: "It sounds more like where I've come from than any other music I've ever made. It's Memphis. It's Southern American music. But I want to make it sound modern — at least that's the idea right now."
On being passionate about both music and acting: "I want to do both things. I really do idolize the golden era of Hollywood, when actors were required to sing and move. But I'm just following my gut in the decisions that I make about what I'm going to do next. I'm mostly just glad this is all working out because I really can't do anything else. I'm not gifted at anything else."
On going on tour: "Going on tour is a circus. You set up the tents, you play the show, you tear the tents down and go on to the next place. It's like Groundhog Day. After the 125th show, you feel debilitated."
On whether or not he wants son Silas to go into show business: "Would I want my child to follow my path? You know, I haven't been able to answer that question in my mind. If he wanted it bad enough, I suppose I could teach him a lot about what not to do."
Jimmy Fallon on his friendship with Justin: "I was hosting [Saturday Night Live] by myself for the first time, and Justin was performing by himself for the first time, so we really bonded that night. Our dressing rooms were connected, and we were both pacing, trying to calm each other down. 'You're going to be great,' 'No, you're going to be great.' And we've just been pals ever since."
On the first time he got chased by a mob of girls: "I was about 15 or 16 years old. We'd just given a concert in Germany at a festival on this huge field. And we were in the tour bus afterward, driving on a dirt road, and I looked out the window and saw all these young, impressionable females running after the bus. I think we can all agree that I did not have a normal childhood."
On if he can remember a time when he wasn't famous: "I have some faint images from my childhood. But no, I can't really remember not being famous."