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'Desperate' Hunk Gets Cheeky for 'Tucker'
Jesse Metcalfe in 'John Tucker Must Die'
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LOS ANGELES --
After exposing his bottom on "Desperate Housewives," Jesse Metcalfe was ready to do the same for "John Tucker Must Die," but he didn't expect to do so while wearing a red, lace-trimmed thong with a rosette accent.
In the high school comedy directed by Betty Thomas, Metcalfe plays the titular Big Man on Campus who has all the guys wanting to be him and all the girls wanting to date him. When Beth, Carrie and Heather (Sophia Bush, Arielle Kebbel and Ashanti) discover that he's been three-timing them, they band together to humiliate him with the help of new girl Kate (Brittany Snow).
What better way to get back at a heartbreaker than to break his heart? But before John, aka J.T., ultimately falls for Kate, the girls want to put him through his paces -- which is where the panties come in. To prove his interest in Kate, he agrees to her request to wear the thong to a late-night rendezvous.
"That scene wasn't initially in the script, and Betty kind of sprung that one on me. She broached the idea very delicately," he explains. "I didn't have a problem with it. I thought it was going to be really funny, but it's definitely a risk. There's a fine line between being funny and just being stupid. And if it's not funny, then you just look like an a**. I think, seeing the finished product, it turned out pretty hilarious."
The thong-wearing incident becomes public, but instead of hiding his face in shame, J.T. turns it around and makes thongs the latest male fashion trend at school. With so many thongs peeking over boys' waistbands left and right, one can't help wonder if they're made differently than those intended for women.
"I can't speak about any other guys' thongs, but I can tell you that mine was customized," reveals Metcalfe. "Actually, the funny thing is that the fitting was probably more embarrassing than actually shooting the scene. They gave me a couple and I tried them on in the privacy of my trailer. One of them worked out pretty well.
"It was a fun, physical and very liberating scene to shoot, though I'm never wearing a thong again if I can help it. Those things are really uncomfortable."
Wearing women's underwear wasn't the only time he got a taste of the female experience. To further emasculate John, the girls decide to spike his protein formula with feminine hormone therapy. The overdose of estrogen hits him during a key basketball game when his chest suddenly feels tender, his emotions fragile and his appetite driven by a need for chocolate.
"That was a scene where I went, 'How am I gonna do this?'" recalls Metcalfe. "In the framework of a comedy, do you really cry? How do you put yourself there? I've never experienced that. But, my acting coach helped me out with it a little bit. She gave me the ins and outs of PMS, the symptoms and I just kind of took my cues from her and threw myself into it. It actually worked. I think that was the hardest thing to do [in the film]."
After experiencing something like the monthly curse and working with a woman director and predominantly female cast, Metcalfe doesn't claim to have any new insights into women.
"I don't know if I learned anything specifically," he admits. "I just think I kind of learned how to adapt and fit in with five strong female personalities. I was clearly outnumbered so I had to come in pretty docile and just kind of try to find my place and fit in. There would be a lot of late nights on set where the girls would be talking and I was sitting in my chair twiddling my thumbs."
In high school, Metcalfe wasn't anything like his character, but looked to popular 1980s comedies like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Can't Buy Me Love" to play cool, but likeable guys. For J.T.'s womanizing skills, a more personal source inspired the actor.
"Can't name names, [but] I took a couple of small cues from my personal John Tucker from my high school and then I threw some of myself in there," says Metcalfe. "I took ... the way he walked and should probably say too, the way he talked to girls, the way he spoke to girls, the smooth manner in which he buttered them up."
Perhaps it's this research or having worked on estrogen-heavy sets, but Metcalfe doesn't seem to have a problem saying just the right thing when it comes to women. When asked which of his pretty cast members would make his ideal girlfriend, he turns into the consummate flattering diplomat.
"I'd have to take a little bit from each of them," he says. "I'd say, from Brittany, she has an unassuming quality about her, a humility that makes her very charming. Ashanti is very sexy, very sultry. What guy doesn't want that in a girl? Sophia has great style, great taste in music and she's very intelligent and opinionated. I'd say Arielle, she just strikes me as the all-American girl [who's] really sweet and really fun."
"John Tucker Must Die" opens nationwide on Friday, July 28.
In the high school comedy directed by Betty Thomas, Metcalfe plays the titular Big Man on Campus who has all the guys wanting to be him and all the girls wanting to date him. When Beth, Carrie and Heather (Sophia Bush, Arielle Kebbel and Ashanti) discover that he's been three-timing them, they band together to humiliate him with the help of new girl Kate (Brittany Snow).
What better way to get back at a heartbreaker than to break his heart? But before John, aka J.T., ultimately falls for Kate, the girls want to put him through his paces -- which is where the panties come in. To prove his interest in Kate, he agrees to her request to wear the thong to a late-night rendezvous.
"That scene wasn't initially in the script, and Betty kind of sprung that one on me. She broached the idea very delicately," he explains. "I didn't have a problem with it. I thought it was going to be really funny, but it's definitely a risk. There's a fine line between being funny and just being stupid. And if it's not funny, then you just look like an a**. I think, seeing the finished product, it turned out pretty hilarious."
The thong-wearing incident becomes public, but instead of hiding his face in shame, J.T. turns it around and makes thongs the latest male fashion trend at school. With so many thongs peeking over boys' waistbands left and right, one can't help wonder if they're made differently than those intended for women.
"I can't speak about any other guys' thongs, but I can tell you that mine was customized," reveals Metcalfe. "Actually, the funny thing is that the fitting was probably more embarrassing than actually shooting the scene. They gave me a couple and I tried them on in the privacy of my trailer. One of them worked out pretty well.
"It was a fun, physical and very liberating scene to shoot, though I'm never wearing a thong again if I can help it. Those things are really uncomfortable."
Wearing women's underwear wasn't the only time he got a taste of the female experience. To further emasculate John, the girls decide to spike his protein formula with feminine hormone therapy. The overdose of estrogen hits him during a key basketball game when his chest suddenly feels tender, his emotions fragile and his appetite driven by a need for chocolate.
"That was a scene where I went, 'How am I gonna do this?'" recalls Metcalfe. "In the framework of a comedy, do you really cry? How do you put yourself there? I've never experienced that. But, my acting coach helped me out with it a little bit. She gave me the ins and outs of PMS, the symptoms and I just kind of took my cues from her and threw myself into it. It actually worked. I think that was the hardest thing to do [in the film]."
After experiencing something like the monthly curse and working with a woman director and predominantly female cast, Metcalfe doesn't claim to have any new insights into women.
"I don't know if I learned anything specifically," he admits. "I just think I kind of learned how to adapt and fit in with five strong female personalities. I was clearly outnumbered so I had to come in pretty docile and just kind of try to find my place and fit in. There would be a lot of late nights on set where the girls would be talking and I was sitting in my chair twiddling my thumbs."
In high school, Metcalfe wasn't anything like his character, but looked to popular 1980s comedies like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Can't Buy Me Love" to play cool, but likeable guys. For J.T.'s womanizing skills, a more personal source inspired the actor.
"Can't name names, [but] I took a couple of small cues from my personal John Tucker from my high school and then I threw some of myself in there," says Metcalfe. "I took ... the way he walked and should probably say too, the way he talked to girls, the way he spoke to girls, the smooth manner in which he buttered them up."
Perhaps it's this research or having worked on estrogen-heavy sets, but Metcalfe doesn't seem to have a problem saying just the right thing when it comes to women. When asked which of his pretty cast members would make his ideal girlfriend, he turns into the consummate flattering diplomat.
"I'd have to take a little bit from each of them," he says. "I'd say, from Brittany, she has an unassuming quality about her, a humility that makes her very charming. Ashanti is very sexy, very sultry. What guy doesn't want that in a girl? Sophia has great style, great taste in music and she's very intelligent and opinionated. I'd say Arielle, she just strikes me as the all-American girl [who's] really sweet and really fun."
"John Tucker Must Die" opens nationwide on Friday, July 28.
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