Cam Gigandet: From 'Twilight' to 'Burlesque' (original) (raw)

Published on November 19, 2010 05:00AM EST

It’s not easy to steal scenes when you’re acting opposite superstars like Cher and Christina Aguilera. But Cam Gigandet might just have beaten the odds with a scene in Burlesque (out Nov. 24) in which he bares almost all, his modesty preserved by a well-placed box of cookies. And under that box? ”I had a piece of string holding on to a little triangle of cloth,” says Gigandet (whose last name is pronounced Jih-GAHN-day). With the recent sleeper hit Easy A under his belt and three more films scheduled for release in 2011 (including the thrillers Priest and The Roommate), Gigandet is having a moment. Here the 28-year-old Auburn, Wash., native talks about five key projects.

The OC (2005-06)
His character, bad boy Volchok, famously — and fatally — drove Mischa Barton’s Marissa Cooper off the road. ”For several years after, that was my claim to fame,” he jokes. ”I will cherish it for the rest of my life.”

Twilight (2008)
Does he wish his villainous vamp James hadn’t been killed off? ”No,” says Gigandet. ”Obviously there are a million benefits to staying on. But for me, doing the same thing over and over — I get bored very quickly and end up restless.”

Easy A (2010)
The actor appeared as a high school student having an affair with Lisa Kudrow’s guidance counselor. ”I loved the characters and the script. Emma Stone is amazing.”

Burlesque (2010)
Gigandet plays Aguilera’s bartender love interest. While getting naked in front of her was scary — ”I am as insecure as anyone else” — his first interaction with Cher turned him into an even bigger wreck. ”I was so nervous to meet her. It’s Cher! Within five seconds, she had my guard down. Just the coolest girl I have ever met!”

Trespass (2011)
He costars as a kidnapper with Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage in this upcoming Joel Schumacher thriller about a married couple taken hostage. ”Nicolas is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met,” the actor says. ”We would be in the middle of a scene and he’d be trying something a little off-kilter, a little quirky, and I’d turn away from him and just laugh.”