INTERVIEWS

Wild Wild West 
Big Hit Magazine September 2002 Issue #42

Shane West had never been to Australia until he headed Down Under to promote his film A Walk To Remember with his co-star Mandy Moore. big hit's Carolyn Stewart took him on a cruise around Sydney Harbour and found out what he thought about Heath Ledger, Vegemite and the word "grouse" ...

Have you settled in to Australia yet?
There's really no way we could be settled in. We've been here since Monday but we went to Melbourne first and we got here yesterday or the day before. So we've only been in each city for a couple of days. I leave tomorrow morning early, so we've never really been able to settle in. I've really loved Sydney though and I love this hotel. This spot is really nice.

Is this your first time here? Had your co-star Mandy Moore told you what to expect?
It's my first time, yeah. We went on different flights as well. She was at the MTV Awards and I wante dto come here a day early, just so I could try and get used to the time change and relax a bit. Consequently she didn't tell me much. I was just kinda here on my own.

Had you worked with any Australians before?
Hmm. I'd have to think about that. I don't think so, no. I know of a few Emilie de Ravin [Tess from Roswell] and the younger actors. I've met Hearth [Ledger] a couple of times, but I think that's about it. Emilie talked to me about it, but typical, it was at a bar .. and everyone was talking loud!

What would you say had been the most surprising thing about Australia? Have you got to go to the zoo or any of those kinds of places ...
That's the thing. During the day we've been doing this [interviews]. And at night we haven't been able to do much because we have to wake up so early. And it's also been in the middle of the week when no-one is going out anyway. No, I haven't really been able to see many of the sights. But I did get to walk down to the Opera House and take some pictures. That's something.

Would you like to come back to Australia some time and maybe work here?
I would love to. I would love to work here, I'd love to come back for a vacation. This is always a place I wanted to go.

Do fans in Australia recognise you from Once and Again?
Not as much. It's kind of nice to be anonymous out here. My publicity and I actually hung out with three teens that we asked what to do around here one night. We told them we were from LA and all that stuff and they started talking about movies and, "Are there movie stars walking around all over the place?" They had no clue who I was and it was kinda cool, you know. And they were totally cool kids, helped us out. When we've gone to the premieres, yeah. But otheriwse, no. I haven't been recognised.

Have you picked up any Australian saying while you've been here?
Oh, grouse. I like that one! I used to think they were saying, "grass" so I started saying grass and they're like, "No-no .. it's grouse!' I like that. What else? That's the only one that comes to mind now. I wanna learn more though. Teach me!

Finally, um ... do you have a girlfriend?
No.

"I hate Vegemite"
While Shane was in Australia, he couldn't help but try a gew of our native foods. Of course, we gave him some good ol' Aussie Vegemite but, as you can see, he didn't even cope well with yummy Musk LifeSavers. Who woulda thunk it?!

I can't believe you've never had Musk LifeSavers. What do you think of them?
Musk LifeSavers - hmmm - look, it's awful. It's really awful. It tastes like soap! It's the consistency that's all wrong. Ugh! And I haven't had Vegemite yet but I'm going to. Everyone says not to try it, but I have to. I got some for free so ...

(big hit hands over some Vegemite to Shane) What's this? Oh, it's Vegemite!
Oh no ... you see, I've heard some bad things. (has a taste) Oh! No! That's not right. Wow, that's bad. Bad!! Do you eat it out of the jar like this? As a spread? Well, OK, I can see how it might go as a spread. I guess when you grow up with it, it would be different, but I've never had anything like that. That ain't right. I might ... but man, no.