Austin Nichols talks 'One Tree Hill', movies, and architecture!

by Meriam Bouarrouj - One Tree Hill Examiner

2009 has been quite a year for Austin Nichols. He became a series regular on the popular long-time drama 'One Tree Hill', began work on a new film, and even developed some additional career aspirations for himself outside of the entertainment industry. He discussed that and much more with me including what he would like to see happen with his role of Julian on 'One Tree Hill'.

Q-How has filming been for you lately?

A-Fun, it's been busy. I'm shooting a movie as well right now so I've been in between LA and Wilmington a lot. The movie is called 'Beautiful Boy', it's with Michael Sheen. It's just an incredible piece of writing about a husband and wife who find out their son was involved in a campus shooting. I play a writer who writes about the tragedy. I'm really  happy about it.

Q-This is your first full season on 'One Tree Hill', how has that been like for you?

A-It's great. It's exciting. It's different from being a guest. You feel more responsible for the show as a whole, for the final in product, as a regular. But it's been fun. As far as I can tell, this season there has been really great material and better than any season before it so it's been really cool.

Q-Had you ever seen the show before joining it?

A-No I hadn't. I really didn't watch that much television and I think the show had a certain audience, younger. But I think the audience is actually growing now. The show is kind of older and more mature and not just limited to a young audience anymore. My parents and all my friends now are watching the show and they are in love with it, and telling all their friends to watch it. So that's been cool. It's been cool to see that sort of a reaction to a show that's been on for that long. And to see that kind of an audience grow and branch out. And people love to see stuff they can relate to. There's heart in it. It's real stuff.

Q-Why do you think the Julian and Brooke relationship and storyline has stood out so much?

A-For some reason there's this it factor. When Brooke and Julian, and Sophia and I get together there's just a great chemistry that happens. There's just this really great energy there when we work together.

Q-In the most recent episode, Julian said he's not sure if he will ever be ready for kids, what do you think about that? Would you like to see Julian as a dad?

A-Yeah I absolutely would. I think it would be fun to explore as an actor and go through sort of what that's like. I think any guy at Julian's age is grappling with the same thing because when you get out of college having a few years of what you're going to with your life and ....then all of a sudden you get to a certain age and you're like, wow, I can't party like I used to, and I need to exercise and I need to get my professional life going or wow, she's a great woman, maybe I should marry her. You know all these questions start coming up at that age. It's been really cool to explore that. But yeah I think Julian wants to have children, I think he's just scared because as a man you want to be ready for those things. You want to have enough money, and you want to have a place for them to grow up healthy and you want to be able to support them and put them through college and so you don't want to dive into having kids being unprepared.

Q-Julian has been working with more of the other cast members lately. How was it to shoot the camping scene with the James, Antwon and Lee?

A-It was great. I remember having a talk with the writers and Mark Schwahn, and saying look I mean Julian isn't really interacting with anybody but Brooke and now he's a big part of the One Tree Hill world and let's get him out there and involved with everybody. And so it was nice. I got a lot of emails and text messages from family and friends saying it was so cool to see you working with other people. It was like a new view point.

Q-Julian can be funny guy but he can also be very serious at times, how do you prepare for those more serious and emotional scenes? Do you have a special technique? A-I don't know, it's weird. Working on 'One Tree Hill' has been very different from anything else I've ever worked on. I feel like in the past I was used to building up a character from scratch who's nothing like me, where now for the first time in my life I feel like I'm playing someone who's a lot like me. It's fun and interesting and when serious stuff comes up, I just sort of stick to personal things and there's somethings I have, little triggers, you know every actor has their triggers and I'll go use those things.

Q-Where would you like to see Julian and Brooke end up when 'One Tree Hill' is over?

A-You know it's interesting because on a TV show you don't know what's happening next, as opposed to a film. When Mark asked me to come back as a series regular I told him I only would if we could make a really powerful love story for Brooke and Julian. I wanted him to give them the greatest love story. I mentioned 'The Notebook' to him. I wanted him to give them that kind of love and story, a fountainhead love. And in 'The Notebook' even when they fight, it's how it is now for Brooke and Julian, it's fun to watch them fight. It's sexy. It's inspiring. That's what I told him I wanted. And he agreed. Even when they're apart, it's still interesting. So definitely in the end I want them to have the greatest happy ending ever.

Q-Was he leaning towards something else for them initially?

A-If he was, he didn't tell me. He just asked me what I thought and then he just agreed with everything I said about them. He was very happy to write to them that kind of a love story. I think because it worked in season six, he knew it could continue. When something works, it's great. It's been fun.

Q-Some of your co-stars have gone in the direction of directing? Is that something you would like to do someday or are you just content in front of the camera?

A-I absolutely do. Lately I've been shadowing directors and going to production meetings. I've done everything as a shadow in that area. I wanted to let them know that I wanted to direct. I was just sneaky about it. I just don't want to leave North Carolina and not have it happen. So hopefully it will happen soon.

Q-If you weren't acting what do you think you'd be doing?

A-Oh that would change every week for me. Sometimes I get into different things. At one point in my life I wanted to be a golfer. I used to golf when I was young. Also I wanted to be a professional water skier. Then I wanted to be a sports announcer.

Also I've really been interested in architecture lately. I really want to buy a house and fix it up. There's this incredible artist out there that inspires me, Donald Judd. All of his work is in Marfa, TX. It's a really small town that has kept his work and the buildings that he owned all around it. The town now is really influenced by his style and it's great. I was there to check out recently with some friends and it was amazing.

Q-If you could go back in time and spend a day in the life of one person who would it be?

A-It would be Donald Judd I have to say. Just to see what his head was like, by his ideas and uncompromising. When I saw his old space in Marfa, everything was left perfectly the same. Nothing was moved and I can imagine it would have been difficult to live with him. I just would like to see what that was like.

Q-Are there any updates concerning your work with Southern Gothic Productions?

A-Yeah absolutely. There's an incredible script called The Pedestrian. We're trying to make it into a movie. It's one of the best scripts I've ever read so I'm definitely gonna do everything I can to make it happen.

Examiner  / Article: source


 

Austin signed a two-year deal as a Tree Hill series regular; and he’s starring in Southern Gothic Productions' first indie film, Pedestrian. 

Next season of One Tree Hill begins in eight weeks.

source: WBNX blog - CW


Austin Nichols has been promoted to regular on the CW's veteran drama "One Tree Hill,"

Nichols plays hotshot movie producer Julian Baker on "Hill.

Nichols ("The Informers") is repped by UTA and Joan Green Management.

The Hollywood Reporter
 

Friday, April 3, 2009

HARVEY THE BUNNY

everyone needs a friend
even if they're eight feet tall and furry
everyone needs a listener
even if they drink til everything goes blurry

harvey was a bunny
he could be funny
no one could hear him
but one tall man who was slim

the whole world thought him crazy
Elwood P. Dowd
an inconsequential drunk
just a face in the crowd

a lunatic
a no-name
a has-been
a never-was

or...

a prophet
a priest
an angel
a dreamer...

your faithful servant,

austin nichols 

SGP
 

Thursday, March 26, 2009

THE MAN IN BLACK

We got married in a fever
Hotter than a pepper sprout
We've been talkin' about Jackson
Ever since the fire went out

I'm goin' to Jackson
I'm gonna mess around
Look out Jackson Town

-Rodgers, Wheeler

I feel some connection to the man in black. Johnny Cash.
J.C. Jesus Christo. I usually wear black myself.
Every car I ever owned was black. I like fast cars and
faster women.

Guitars slung around the back.

And women named after months.

Mr. Cash has become incredibly inspirational to
me for Lincoln Booth.

I don't know why.

It doesn't really make sense. And it doesn't have to.
People often ask me why I feel a certain way.

Why? Why? Why? And nowadays, my answer is...

"IT DOESN'T MATTER. I JUST DO!!"

"How do you know?" That's my other favorite
question these days. My answer...

"I JUST KNOW!!!!"

But something about that song JACKSON,
when John and June sang it, there is something in
there that knocks me out. It's like a bolt of lightning
struck my skull and penetrated straight to my heart.

Did a song ever do that to you?

What is it?

Name it.

It makes me want to cry and scream and laugh
and love a woman real real hard. All at once.

It makes me want to scream from the rooftops.
I hope everybody's been doin' some of that lately.

Get to it.

But more and more, people ask me questions and
I have learned to not answer them. Cause I can't
really speak the answer. But I feel it. And I do know it.

When something inspires you, it just does.
You don't have to describe it. In fact, I say, DON'T!!!!!

your faithful servant,

austin nichols

SGP


 

SGP

Screencaps


Transcript:

[text reads: “Q & A”]

Hilarie Burton: [from behind camera] Austin, what is your favorite part about Lincoln Booth?

Austin Nichols: Well, I really… I always get really excited when I read about a character who is just passionate. People always ask me what kind of characters do you want to play, and I think they’re looking for a more concrete answer like a fighter, or a boxer, or I don’t know, a gladiator, or a writer, or something like that. But I just… I want to play people who are just incredibly… intensely passionate about what they want or what they love to do. And I feel like Lincoln is that way about his work… about photos… [starts laughing and shakes his head]

HB: He gets a lot of girls! That will be fun, right?

AN: Yeah, that’s why I wanted the part. Because he’s a ladies man and he gets models and… No, that’s awful!

[fade to later]

HB: Austin, what is your power animal?

AN: A seagull.

HB: Why?

AN: Because it’s bones are hollow…. Like me. [laughs]

HB: [gasps] That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard!

[cut to Austin running on the beach, chasing seagulls]

AN: [approaching camera] Those are my power animals.

[text reads: “Austin Nichols = Lincoln Booth]

Source


 

SGP

Screencaps

Transcript:

[Text reads: “Austin’s SoGoprah’s Book Club Pick!”]

Austin Nichols: [holds up book] This is “The Fountainhead.” This is not Southern Gothic but I don’t care. It’s incredible and I believe it’s a must for any artist. It’s about idealism, and the price of compromise. It’s incredible. So I’m going to read a passage that I find hilarious. This is actually when, um… [looks at camera] Okay, stop. [fades to later] This is when Howard Roark, our idealist, the young architect, goes to meet and ask for a job from his sort of, hero, Henry Cameron, who is now sort of a disenfranchised architect who doesn’t… He was a big name, and he was brilliant, and had the world at his fingertips and became difficult, and doesn’t get any jobs anymore, and Roark goes to ask him for a job. So, this is a great passage. Starting with Henry Cameron to Howard Roark, [reading from “The Fountainhead”]

“ ‘When did you decide to become and architect?’

‘When I was 10 years old’

‘Then you don’ know what they want so early in life. You’re lying.’

‘Am I?’

‘Don’t stare at me like that. Can’t you look at something else? Why did you decide to become an architect?’

‘I didn’t know it then but it was because I didn’t believe in God.’

‘C’mon. Talk sense’

‘Because I love this earth. That’s all I love. I love the shape of things on this Earth. I want to change them.’

‘For whom?’

‘For myself.’

‘How old are you?’

‘Twenty-Two.’

‘Where did you hear all that?’

‘I didn’t.’

‘Men don’t talk like that at 22. You’re abnormal.’

‘Probably.’

‘I didn’t mean it as a compliment.’

‘I didn’t either.’

‘Got any family?’

‘No.’

‘Work through school?’

‘Yes.’

‘In what?’

‘In the building trades.’

‘How much money have you got left?’

‘Seventeen dollars and thirty cents.’

‘When did you come to New York?’

‘Yesterday.’

Cameron looked at the white pile under his fist. ‘God damn you,’ Cameron said softly, ‘God damn you, Roark!’ Cameron, suddenly leaning forward, ‘I didn’t ask you to come here. I didn’t need any draftsmen. There’s nothing here to draft. I don’t have enough work to keep myself and my men out of the Bowery Mission. I don’t want any full visionaries starving around here. I don’t want the responsibility. I didn’t ask for it. I never thought I’d see it again. I’m through with it.’

‘I was through with that many years ago. I am perfectly happy with the drooling adults I have here who have never had anything, and never will. It makes no difference what becomes of them. That’s all I want.’

‘Why did you have to come here? You’re setting out to ruin yourself, you know that, don’t you? And I’ll help you do it. I don’t want to see you. I don’t like you. I don’t like your face. You look like an insufferable egotist. You’re impertinent. You’re too full of yourself. Twenty years ago I would have punched you in the face with the greatest of pleasure. You’re coming to work here tomorrow at nine o’clock sharp.’

‘Yes,’ Roark said, rising.

‘Fifteen dollars a week, that’s all I can pay you.’

‘Yes.’

‘You’re a damn fool. You should have gone to someone else. I’ll kill you if you go to anyone else! What’s your name?’

‘Howard Roark.’

‘If you’re late, I’ll fire you.’

‘Yes.’ Roark extended his hand for the drawings.

‘Leave these here!’ Cameron bellowed, ‘Now, get out!’”

 [Austin looks at camera] That’s the fountainhead.

[Text reads: “Austin Nichols really wants you to go get ‘The Fountainhead’!”]

Source

 

From Hilarie Burton:

Monday, March 16, 2009

Lincoln Booth Returns to the South!

At last, our dear teammate Austin is back!!!
I haven't been able to post in a while because I've been in a tornado of travel and work lately. Last weekend I had to trek out to LA for meetings, and I was there all the way through Wednesday. Worked all day Thursday back here in Wilmington, and slept till 4pm on Friday. It's been a helluva week, folks.
I flew out to LA and stayed with my gorgeous and generous friend, Elisabeth Harnois. She has always been so supportive of the SoGo movement, so it was fun catching up about all the progress we've been making on Pedestrian.
Hilarie - "We cast Austin Nichols."
Elisabeth - "I don't think I've met him."
Hilarie - "Oh, you'll love him. Really humble, talented man."
Elisabeth - "Yeah, he was great in 'John From Cincinnati'."
Hilarie - "Lets see what he's doing tomorrow."

Austin rode 45 minutes on a scooter, all the way across the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles to eat eggs and split a crazy big 47 grain (exaggeration) pancake with Lis and me. He knew more than a couple people in the restaurant. He's been taking meetings out west with agents and managers, doing really solid work to get this project rolling. He's going to make this movie great.
But he's not a slick LA man. This is a southern creature we are talking about. He belongs in our sleepy little town, rocking on front porches and sipping on sweet tea.

So after all the mayhem of freeways and too many coffee meetings in one day and drinks that are too expensive, it was so good to return to Wilmington and have our leading man back out here.
He raced right up to the ocean's edge, to get as far East as possible.
We spent some time shooting fun stuff this weekend. Here's just a taste of what is to come.
Help me in saying, "Welcome Home Cowboy."
Now let's get down to work.
xoxo
hilarie

ps - I didn't know how to refer to myself in the credits of this little vid. Welcoming Committee? Cheerleader? Creep who should have unrolled her jeans? So I did the ever so safe "...".
I'll let you guys label me. I trust you. Ha.

Southern Gothic Productions
 

Monday, March 9, 2009

RESPONSE TO NICK GRAY

I am an actor.
I am Lincoln Booth.
I am Austin Nichols.

Today I have three auditions in Los Angeles.
I have three different sets of clothes and shoes
in my car.

I got my hair jelly. PO made. Not Fop.

I'm a Dapper Dan Man. Three different hair
styles and three costume changes in one day.
Three appointments in three completely scattered
locations. One hour spaced between them.
In LA traffic, this amount of time is not ample.

Yell at agent later.

Throw an apple in the car. A tangerine.
A Clif Bar. Cashews. Anything in the pantry
to munch on while en route.

Wardrobe quick change, like in the theatre, except
I'm also piloting a car on the 405 freeway, nearing
77 miles-per-hour. Fast enough to not be late,
slow enough to avoid law enforcement. Change shoes
at a stop light. Throw the jeans in the back seat.
Grab the black slacks.

Oh shit, I'm not wearing underwear.

I wonder if anyone can see me.
I look to my right. Two girls in a Prius.
Both in stitches. Chuckling like hyenas.
Hybrid Hyenas. Good band name.

They can see everything God gave me.

I turn bright red. No. That's a lie. I smile.
I loved it. Nudist. Exhibitionist. I hit the gas.
They gave me a farewell honk. I wish I could meet them.
They were cute. Shit, focus. Character. Auditions.
Emotion. Starving. Eat a hard-boiled egg.
Egg shells fly out the window, land in the Blvd..

Thank you, Joan Didion.

Wait, I am Lincoln Booth. Not Cory, the jock.
Not Sam, the tortured guy. Not Brad, the boy next-door.
Wait, I am all of those. But I don't want to be right now.

I am Lincoln Booth. But I can't be.
I need to be Crosby, the record producer.
For just an hour, stay with Crosby, then you can go back to Lincoln.

I drift back to unexpected driving nudity.
What would have happened if I was driving through
West Hollywood when I had to switch trousers?

Brilliant!

Arrive at destination. No place to park. Shit, I'm late.
Drive around until someone leaves. Pull in.
Don't pay meter yet. Will pay in a second.
Quick rehearsal.

Pedestrian POV

A small Korean woman walks by my car.
Inside the car, she sees a tall, naked man,
crying and yelling intenesely into the rearview
mirror. She books it!!!

A white parking enforcement hybrid pulls in
front of my car. Angry black woman. Oh shit.
I didn't pay the meter yet. I jump out of the car
to plead my case. Shit. I'm still naked.
In the act of throwing on slacks.

No shirt or shoes. I say...

Crosby
I'm so sorry....
No...

Lincoln
I was just about to pay...
No...

Austin
(smiles wide)
Good mornin, sugar. I am so sorry. I was
just about to throw a couple quarters in your meter.
I apologize for my semi-nudity. I've had a crazy
morning. You know how it is.

Meter Maid
If you think you're gettin out of this, you are sorely
mistak... Wait a minute... Were you in The Day After Tomorrow?

I'M GONNA LET YOU OFF WITH A WARNING!!

your faithful servant,

austin nichols


Souther Gothic Productions

Read Nicholas Gray's post "A Pedestrian Journey" here

 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

FROM THE ROOFTOPS

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"
-paddy chayefsky -- NETWORK

"Look out music city, cause here I am and I ain't never leavin!"
-carol heikkinen -- THE THING CALLED LOVE

I am pretty in love with shouting from the rooftops.

Whether it be about revolution, career, dreams, or love,
I think people should spend more time shouting from
the rooftops.

Directors Sidney Lumet and Peter Bogdanovich nailed
it in their movies.

I have yelled from apartment windows in Manhattan,
screamed from the tops of tall buildings in Austin.

Lately, I howl like a werewolf in Los Angeles.

Usually from a balcony or deck overlooking all the twinkling
lights of Hollywood at night. My newest desire is
to shout from a tall building in every city I set foot in.

And I am urging all of you to do the same.

One time I was walking down a dark, quiet street in
Manhattan, and out of the sky, I heard...

MAN
I'M GONNA DO IT! I'M REALLY
GONNA DO IT!!

Quit his soul-sucking job and pursue his dream?
Ask a girl to be his bride?

There was so much hope behind those words, that he inspired me.
A man I never saw or spoke to.

Maybe he just finally decided to get new drapes.

Go to the window now. Or the roof. Or climb a tree.
It doesn't matter.
Just get as high as you can and shout as loud as you can.
Whatever it is that you dream about.
Or whoever you love.
Yell it from the rooftops for all to hear.

And do it often.

And for Godsakes, do it at night.

Romance, people. Romance!!!

Somewhere in our film, Lincoln or Mona, or both,
must shout from the rooftops. I am going to shout from
the rooftops, baby!!!

And I am Lincoln Booth!!!

your faithful steed,
austin nichols

post script: what are all the other films with
great rooftop shouting scenes?

Southern Gothic Productions