// INTERVIEW
Tyler Hilton InterviewPop Singer and One Tree Hill heartthrob spills the beans.
January 06, 2005 - If you're a religious WB watcher then you are no doubt familiar with their hit show One Tree Hill. And if you are, then you are no doubt familiar with the snide, a$$hole named Chris, a character introduced toward the end of 2004. In case you aren't familiar with the actor who so vividly plays the part, it's a young lad by the name of Tyler Hilton, who is better known the world over as an up-and-coming singer/songwriter.
Hilton more or less eked out onto the scene via his eponymously titled 2000 debut. But it really wasn't until his major label signing to Madonna's Maverick label and the 2004 release of The Tracks of Tyler Hilton that the rest of the world took notice. And thanks to his regular interaction with rabid fans via postings on his website, his willingness to spend longs hours on the road doing the live show hustle-and-bustle, and his television and film work (he'll next be seen portraying a young Elvis in Walk The Line, the forthcoming Johnny Cash biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix) are quickly making him a star to watch.
We caught up with the busy Hilton during some down time between One Tree Hill and his musical wanderings.IGN Music: So, you've got an album out, you've been playing Elvis in the Johnny Cash flick Walk The Line, and you're in a hit WB show. Life sounds busy and pretty good for you at the moment.
Tyler Hilton: Yeah, I'm good.
IGN Music: What has your experience on One Tree Hill been like?
Tyler Hilton: I love North Carolina. It was cool to just kind of hang out there. But I was really nervous [on the first day of filming]. It went okay and I learned a lot, but I was so nervous I don't even know what happened. I got to the set and before I'd met very many people it was already time to go on the set and start going. And here were these hot girls, these actresses that have been on the show for awhile and all know each other and I was coming in like 'Oh geez?' I was so nervous, man. But it was fun, though.
IGN Music: Interesting. I mean for someone who is used to performing his music live in front of thousands of people on a regular basis it seems strange that you'd be nervous on the set of a television show.
Tyler Hilton: Well that's the thing. This is acting, reading a part and trying to make these girls feel stupid because my character in the show is kind of an a$$, so I don't know, it was just?whew!?crazy and I was really nervous. I mean these girls have pretty extensive theater backgrounds and here I was just coming in.
IGN Music: Now how does it compare to the Johnny Cash project you've been working on with Joaquin Phoenix?
Tyler Hilton: That was a little bit different because I had a goal and that was to be Elvis as much as I could. And I was playing someone who was at one point alive, so I could study a lot and really get it down. But this [my One Tree Hill character] I kind of had to create. So any critique on my character, anything that there was not to like was my fault. It wasn't like playing Elvis. This, it left myself open for so much [more criticism]. I was really worried. I didn't know if I would fit into the show, I didn't know if I'd be good enough. But I think it went really well and everyone was really nice. You know, we'd go out and have a good time [after shooting], so it was really fun.
IGN Music: I would think that playing Elvis would be more of a daunting undertaking. I mean he's a icon.
Tyler Hilton:It was daunting, but I just took it as a project and I did it and it was what it was. But One Tree Hill, I don't know why, but when I showed up on the set I was so nervous. I mean I almost thought about saying 'I don't know if I can do this. Maybe you should get somebody else.'
IGN Music: The inevitable question is: is music still your first love or do you see yourself making the switch into acting? Or is acting just a bonus as a result of your music career taking off?
Tyler Hilton: You know what? I really love both of them. I grew up doing both. I grew up doing theater and music and in fact I spent more time doing theater and I'd do music when I could. The reason I like doing these acting projects is because no matter how much acting I do, I'll always have music in my life. I love having both. But when I'm on the road I can't also be acting, you know what I'm saying? When I'm on the road it's hard to keep the acting in my life, but music is always there. So it's been nice to get back to the acting for awhile and kind of make up for lost time. I hadn't done anything in like two years and I really missed it. But music is still kind of my main focus, it's the thing I've been working the hardest one, the thing that took the most work, it's what I've been living for the past six years.
IGN Music: I can't help but compare you to Jamie Walters, who, like yourself, is a good looking guy with a guitar that ended up playing an a$$ on a hit drama, that being Beverly Hills 90210. Thing is after he played Ray Pruit it pretty much ruined his singing career because everybody associated him with the not-too-likeable character he played on TV. Are you at all worried about that happening to you?
Tyler Hilton: Hmmmm. I never heard of him. Wow. That's crazy. A lot of people say that this may be really good for my career and I thought about the bad things that it might do for me. But when it came down to it I really, really analyzed whether or not I should do Walk The Line, and I've really analyzed my other choices along the road, but when this came up—I'd never really wanted to do anything on the WB, I never watched the WB, in fact I'm never home to watch TV at all, and I just didn't really want to associate myself with that whole thing. There is a stigma there, you know? Although I had never really watched the show—I just kind of pinned it all up under Dawson's Creek, you know? But when I read the part and they told me that I'd be living out in North Carolina for two months, that was pretty much it. When I read the part, I thought it was really funny. I thought 'You know what, I'm just gonna close my eyes and do this because it sounds like it's gonna be so much fun. Whether or not it's good or bad for the career, whether or not none of these episodes air or if the show gets shut down and none of mine air, it doesn't matter.' However it ends up panning out, I'm ready for it. It's been like a party on a Sunday night. You know you're gonna have to deal with it on Monday, but you made that decision going into it.
IGN Music: Now I haven't been to one of your shows yet, but I was curious to know what your fans are like. I mean just from reading your online diary entries, it sounds like you have a pretty passionate following.
Tyler Hilton: You know, I think that we've got a really close group. Even though there's fans all over the country and I'm always hitting different cities and I don't know everybody that comes to the shows, I don't know them all by name or even by face, but because of the cool things we've got on my website and how often I tour, it kind of feels like it's a pretty close group. Everyone seems to be real cool. My favorite part of touring is when I see girls that I've been talking to on my site and then meeting them in person. I can't believe how well the fans get along together. Everyone just seems to be really cool. Everyone, every where I go. And it's a wide demographic, it's old people, it's old people, it's men, it's women. And it's funny , they all get along really well. And I get along with most of them really well, too. I mean I've got cool fans. I've got fans that I'm a fan of.
IGN Music: One of the things I picked up from your website journal entries is that you really seem to enjoy the whole playing live experience. Is that true?
Tyler Hilton: Yeah, I do. That's my favorite. If I could I would just play every night, play a show every night. I really love that.
IGN Music: What is it that you love so much about being up on stage?
Tyler Hilton: I don't know. It's fun. Every night it's not a set show. It's always based on my mood or based on the mood of the audience, so every night could be any one of a many number of different types of shows. I mean maybe it'll end up being a quiet set night where I end up playing a whole bunch of folk songs or maybe it'll end up being real rock and roll where everyone is into it or maybe I'll feel like telling a lot stories about my songs or maybe one night I'll feel like playing a lot of covers and messing around. It's just fun. And with all the decisions that I've made and all the things that have happened in the last two years, my fans have been really cool and really supportive. And it shows. It's just like they're just as much a part of the show, too. It's really like a 2-way thing in that I think it's as fun for me as it is for them and sometimes it feels almost as if I'm an audience member, you know? I'll just go on stage and I'll just kind of let the show go, you know? If it was the same thing every night it wouldn't be as great. There's a lot of freedom being a solo artist, you know?
