Alex Pettyfer Talks About ‘I Am Number Four,’ Being Shirtless and Fame

If you ask someone if they know Alex Pettyfer, chances are, they will have no idea who you’re talking about. However, after the release of I Am Number Four on Friday Feb. 18, they may be singing a different tune.

Pettyfer has already made a significant impact on those who have their pulse on Hollywood UK imports. He’s been featured on the pages GQ, he has taken his shirt off on the Ellen Degeneres Show and you may have seen his tattooed and pierced face alongside Vanessa Hudgens on one sheets for Beastly. In San Francisco alone you can see banners for his movie on countless Muni busses and let’s not forget his recent appearance at Tanforan in San Bruno with his maybe-maybe-not real-life girlfriend Dianne Agron.

That said, he is following in the footsteps of Jude Law, James McAvoy, and Andrew Garfield to become a household name that has an irresistible British accent — an accent you can’t detect in I Am Number Four.

In the movie that could possibly launch him into the Us Weekly stratosphere, he plays an endangered alien who is part of a special nonet of aliens that are getting killed off in numerical order by a group of gill-breathing grotesque bad guys. One is dead. Two has been offed. Three is gone. Do the math and you will figure out that he is next.

I had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Pettyfer and upon meeting him, I immediately thought, “If Ryan Phillippe and Robert Pattinson had a child, he Alex Pettyfer would be the result.”

Nonetheless, here’s what he had to say about Number Four, his impending fame and his shirtless Ellen moment.

This is your first U.S. press tour, how has it been?

Overwhelming — I mean, I love America. I am all moved out here now and I love the people here. It’s very nerve-racking, but at the same time, very enjoyable. You get to meet new people and promote the thing that you love. You kind of think of promotion as a daunting experience, but so far it’s been really enjoyable.

Well it seems like audiences have been really enjoying your first appearance on Ellen Degeneres’s show.

I am very, very embarrassed. Ellen made take off my T shirt. When you see that and you see how completely out of shape I am, please don’t laugh.

You star in I Am Number Four and the two upcoming movies Beastly and Now. All of them are in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. Was this a coincidence or do you have an affinity for the fantasy/sci-fi world?

I don’t really categorize movies. I have always looked for great stories. I Am Number Four, Beastly and Now are compelling stories — very different. Beastly is a modern-day Beauty and the Beast told through the Beast’s perspective. Now is this futuristic, but very old-school sci-fi movie. I Am Number Four — even though it has elements of sci-fi to it, it’s set in this very small setting — and it’s really a love story. It’s about a guy fighting for what he believes in — about who he is, who he wants to become and what he does become.

Can you tell us a little bit more about Now?

I play the bad guy — a gang leader, Fortis. He’s a really great character. When I get nervous — I’m glad I didn’t do it on Ellen — I get this tick and my head kind of goes like this (does a creepy flinchy/ticky motion with his head). So my character has this tick and he’s a cross between Charles Manson and Gary Oldman in (The Professional) — and he’s crazy and he’s so much fun to play!

Since getting the role in I Am Number Four and becoming a breakthrough actor in the U.S. have you indulged in anything?

I got a nice, cute house. Actually, I didn’t buy it, I rented it. It’s kind of quaint. Everyone needs a (homebase) — but it’s not like I’ll ever be in it because I’ll be promoting this movie for the next 20 years — trying to help Dreamworks get residuals. I am a slave to I Am Number Four (laughs) — I am totally joking.

Based on the ending of the movie I Am Number Four looks like it’s going to be franchised out. And with more movies on the horizon, it seems like you are going to become a prominent actor in Hollywood. What do expect to change in your life and what do you expect to stay the same?

People say your life is going to change and this and that, but to be honest — I’ve been through this experience before. People bring upon themselves and they change their lives. I think am a very normal guy. I hope I’m a normal guy — I can’t be the judge of that but I think I’m normal. (laughs) I have a very quiet life and I am very happy with that.

He should probably enjoy that quiet while it lasts.

I Am Number Four opens in theaters on Friday, February 18.