AGE: 23
HOMETOWN: Plano, Texas
LATEST GIG: A breakout turn as a vengeful youth in the coming-of-age thriller
Hanging out with high schoolers on the set of Mean Creek—a dark indie drama about boys who set out to exact revenge on a bully—brought out Scott Mechlowicz's own inner child. Promoting the film at the Sundance Film Festival, he and costar Rory Culkin, 15, got carried away one day at a hotel gym. "There was this lady on the treadmill, and I dared Rory to just go and start walking on it behind her," Mechlowicz recalls. "I videotaped the whole thing!"
When it comes down to business, though, the actor, who first hit the big screen in February's teen farce Eurotrip, wises up beyond his years. His intense performance in Mean Creek has earned him critical raves and comparisons to Brad Pitt and the young Burt Reynolds. He has other assets too. "Obviously, he's a really beautiful person physically," says writer-director Jacob Estes. "And then he just blew us away with his audition. He's incredibly sharp."
A 2003 honors grad of UCLA's prestigious acting conservatory Mechlowicz—who got his start as a Munchkin in a community production of The Wizard of Oz at age 6—next plans to work on his culinary technique. "Probably 80 percent of what I watch on TV is on the Food Network," says the single actor, who has been perfecting his reduction sauces in his Los Angeles apartment. "The Iron Chef, Alton Brown, Rachael Ray...I learn so much from them."
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