Surf’s up, so is the future for ‘Summerland’s‘ McCartney
Jesse McCartney‘s career is riding a wave in more ways than one.
As an actor, the 17-year-old plays surfer Bradin Westerly in “Summerland,” which begins its second season tonight at 9 on The WB (KSKN-22 in Spokane).
As a singer, he has the hit single “Beautiful Soul,” the title track of his new album, which also is featured on the soundtrack of “A Cinderella Story.”
As a teen idol, he incites gawking and giggling, as evidenced by the cluster of young girls that strained to catch a glimpse of him at a recent news conference.
“Getting a taste of this fame thing throws me off a bit,” McCartney says later in the more secure environment of a Hollywood soundstage.
Typically, he was filming a scene where Westerly learns yet another life lesson.
Or maybe not.
Westerly is the oldest of three orphans transplanted from Kansas to live with their fashion-designer aunt (Lori Loughlin) in her California beach house.
McCartney describes Westerly as “a troubled teen” who’s always taking “a step forward and then two steps back” when it comes to making the right choices.
In the series’ first season, he had problems with drugs and alcohol and was drawn to the wrong crowd, but the love and concern of his aunt and many friends “help save him from himself.”
Westerly’s troubles are supposed to be even more intense this second season, yet McCartney finds him fun to play because, “It’s dramatic. Drama! Drama!”
Like the character he plays, McCartney moved from small-town life to a flashier, faster-paced environment.
He grew up in Irvington, N.Y., “a very, very small community where everybody knows each other.” Now he spends most of his time in Hollywood, where the paparazzi “go crazy” if they see him leave a restaurant.
“I’m good, I’m good,” he says. “I’m just staying busy. It keeps me out of trouble. There’s a lot of traveling going on with the music career going as well as the acting. I don’t have much time for much else.”
McCartney says his busy schedule is all worth it, because “singing was always a passion” and recognition for that is “something I wanted forever.”
“The acting up to now has always been a little bit further ahead than the singing as far as people knowing what I could do … but the singing’s awesome,” he says.
At age 9, he played Louis, the governess’ son in the national tour of “The King and I,” starring Hayley Mills. He went on to earn a couple of daytime Emmy nominations for playing Adam “J.R.” Chandler from 1998 to 2001 on the soap opera “All My Children.”
Musically, he was a member of the boy band Dream Street and dueted with Anne Hathaway on the soundtrack of the movie “Ella Enchanted.”
Although most of the interior scenes for “Summerland” are shot on landlocked soundstages, the exterior shots are filmed at seaside locations up and down the Southern California coast.
Says McCartney: “How many people can say they go to work and show up at the beach? It’s great, awesome.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Charles Durning is 82. Actor Gavin MacLeod (“The Love Boat”) is 74. Actress Kelly Bishop (“Gilmore Girls”) is 61. Actress Stephanie Beacham (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) is 58. Actress Bernadette Peters is 57. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 50. Actor John Turturro is 48. Singer Cindy Wilson (The B-52’s) is 48. Actor Robert Sean Leonard is 36. Singer Pat Monahan (Train) is 36. Actor Bobb’e J. Thompson (“The Tracy Morgan Show”) is 9.