Justin Ready to Roll on His Second Movie

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/01/2004 at 08:25 AM EDT

Justin Timberlake is ready to make his second movie, teaming with Emile Hirsch and Sharon Stone to star in The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes'Alpha Dog.

In the film, which is scheduled to start shooting Oct. 25, Timberlake, 23, will play the best friend of Hirsch's character, the Hollywood Reporter says. Hirsch, who starred in 2002's The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, plays the real-life Jesse James Hollywood, a drug dealer who became one of the youngest men ever to make the FBI's most-wanted list.

Besides Alpha Dog, Timberlake's filmography includes the upcoming Edison, with Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Piper Perabo, about a journalist who uncovers corrupt cops.

In preparing for that role earlier this year, the former 'N Sync-er trailed one of the Associated Press's reporters, Bob Porterfield, to get a first-hand taste of journalism.

Not that the research was easy, given that any place Timberlake goes, he is bound to cause a stir. True to form, he created a commotion at the downtown Los Angeles county courthouse for the 45 minutes he accompanied the real journalist.

"I thought he was sharp," said Porterfield, justifying Justin's efforts. "He seemed attentive and interested in learning this stuff. He has a real interest in developing his part. He took quite a few notes."