Getting to know
Jesse McCartney

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes an interview with actor/singer Jesse McCartney.
Jesse was born April 9, 1987, in Manhattan, New York. He has a younger sister, Lea, who will turn 16 this month, and a brother, Timothy, who is 10. After he graduated from Ardsley High School in Westchester County, N.Y., Jesse moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting and singing career.
He has been accepted by several colleges but is busy with his performing career. At some point, he hopes to go to college to study history with a minor in film. Jesse explained that his interest in history would actually help in acting and filmmaking, because "there are a lot of holes that have not been filled as far as what an audience sees on films specializing in history. There are certain things that have happened that I think could be captured."
Jesse’s first professional break in entertainment was at the age of 9.
"It was a national Broadway tour called The King and I with Haley Mills, where I played her son when I was in fifth grade," he said. "I left school for about six months. I would say my big break as far as an actor was my three-and-a-half-year stint on All My Children as J.R., when I was about twelve."
Jesse was influenced to go onto the arts by various legends.
"As far as music goes, some of the legends like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, James Brown, Carol King and Elvis," he said. "I grew up in a very musical household, and that is what I grew up listening to. I think listening to Stevie play and his lyrics and melodies, I think that is why I wanted to sing and start writing music.
"As far as actors go, I would say Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep," he continued. "I just love the notion of making people happy. I was on stage at the age of seven doing just small community theater roles, and when the audience would applaud, that did it for me. I was sold."
Jesse said if had to make a choice between singing and acting, it would be hard because he really doesn’t have a preference. He enjoys them very much the same. However, he said, "We’ll see what happens. The thing about the music industry is that it is very fickle. You’re hot, then you’re not, then you’re hot again. You never know what is going to happen.
"I think as far as longevity goes, a film career may be a little more promising and less harsh," he added. "For right now, I don’t think that way. I just think that I have a lot to look forward to. Things are looking up right now. I am working on my third album, and things are great."
Jesse noted that his third album should come out in early 2008. Jesse also told me he has a couple of film projects in the works for this summer.
He mentioned if he could pick one singer and one actor to work with, he would narrow it down between Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder or Prince.
"Those are three of the most amazing people in my opinion in creative music," he said.
As far as acting, he would like to be next to Robert DeNiro or Leonardo DiCaprio.
"I look forward to this and don’t doubt that it will happen very soon," he said. "I am very confident about that. It would be great to be in a movie with them."
I was wondering what it was like working with actress Lori Loughlin. Jesse responded quickly, "Lori is the greatest. She is the sweetest lady on the planet. I have never heard anything negative coming out of her mouth. She is super positive and her whole family is great. We are really tight."
What led to his first band, Dream Street, breaking up?
"It was one of those things where things started getting really sloppy," he said. "It was all of our first time in the industry. We were naïve and very green as far as how to deal with certain situations. We sort of got caught in a sticky spot with a couple of these producers that we were with.
"At the end of the road," he went on, "it was clear to us all that it was never going to go much further than where it went and that was the end of that. It pretty much came down to business and it was sad. It was a really cool group and we had a really big following at the time. However, it was an amazing learning experience and I am happy that it ended when it did. It was time for me to move on, have a normal high school career, get my diploma, finish school out and learn from it."
What was Jesse’s inspiration for his songs Beautiful Soul, Don’t You and Why Don’t You Kiss Her? Jesse answered, "I don’t know, man. It was one of those things where after Dream Street, I was in school and I was working hard, but I missed being in the studio working and writing and recording. I basically took fifty-thousand dollars of my own money and put it into making this record by myself with a couple of people. Just let the passion and see what would happen. I came to Los Angeles with it and flew back to New York with a record deal. It kind of just fell into my lap, something that I really wanted to do. It was a cool solid first album for the demographic that we were aiming for. It was definitely a real blessing."
Jesse has been involved with many charities. He just did a charity benefit concert in Malibu for a group called Mending Kids. It is a great organization that raises money for kids and their families all over the world who can’t afford treatment for life-threatening illnesses that they have. They raise money to fly them into the United States to get the best treatment from the best doctors. He is also involved with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
"I really love kids," said the star.
Jesse informed me that within five years he would love to have another big album, several big singles on the radio and maybe traveling the world again with a big tour. He hopes he will have had a few films come out, along with possibly producing a TV series or film.
"I will just keep my nose to the grind and keep working hard," he said.
As for advice for kids, Jesse’s main point to kids is that getting your education is very important. A lot of times kid performers can be pulled away from their education, but he fought to make sure that he completed his high school studies.
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Answer to last week’s cryptogram:
SUMMER DAYS ARE ALMOST HERE AGAIN
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com