Justin Timberlake’s Timely New Film

By: Lynn Barker

Multi-talented Justin Timberlake’s new sci-fi thriller is… well…timely. With the middle and lower classes in the U.S. out to fry Wall Street and make the rich pay their fair share, the futuristic story of In Time is right on point!

Justin, who gets to show off his “action man” chops for the first time, plays Will Salas, a 28-year-old who has worked hard to “buy” three years to add to his life. In Will’s world, no one ages past 25 but they have to buy time by the minute to keep alive and lookin’ hot.  Hard-workin’ Will is given free time by a fellow who has lived over 100 years!

Will, a good guy, decides to steal some time and give it to those in need. He takes rich gal Amanda Seyfried as hostage on his quest in a world where the rich can live forever because they can afford it and the poor die young. 

Kidzworld: Justin, one of the themes in the film is doing a lot with your life in a short time and you’ve done that. What would you do if you only had one day left?

• Justin: It sounds cliché but I would spend it with people that I love, people in my family. If I had 24 hours, I’d come to a press day and talk to you [he’s so kidding]. I’d probably squeeze in a three hour round if I played golf by myself. That leaves 21 hours and I’d probably spend that with the people I love.

Kidzworld: Anything you haven’t done yet that you’d like to do?

• Justin: I’d like to “occupy” Pasadena [hey, protestors are occupying Wall Street]. I think that the things you look on that you were most proud of are the things you were so desperate to do that you had that much conviction. I relate that to this film. I’m really proud of this film. It [ties in] with the social stance that is happening now, “Occupy Wall Street” and “Occupy L.A.”

• I saw this movie as a very beautiful story. In the midst of an otherworldly concept I saw the movie as having some really simple themes to this guy. I saw Will as an everyday man who gets pushed too far and decides he’s not gonna take it anymore. I was excited to work with this cast and director.  I think your final piece of work should be one you are really, really proud of.

Kidzworld: How much fun was it to be the action guy?

• Justin: On top of this being a great story, I got to live out a lot of boyhood fantasies; shooting guns and getting to stunt drive. When you’re a little kid, you see those types of scenes in movies and you never picture yourself as the guy who loses at poker. So, all of that stuff, you read it and think “This is gonna be a lot of fun” on top of being a really smart, intellectual thriller. The script read like it plays. It was intense. I couldn’t stop thinking about the themes but also the fact that it was relentless in its pace.

Kidzworld: What age would you want to get stuck at and why?

• Justin: I can honestly say I wouldn’t want to revisit a lot of my younger years. I went to the Environmental Media Awards and it’s “recycle, recycle” and one of the things that popped up in my mind that I wouldn’t recycle (or want back) are a couple of the outfits I wore in ’99 so I’m perfectly fine with aging.

Kidzworld: If you could always buy more time, wouldn’t you get lazy or not want to create anything? There’s no pressure to do it before it’s too late.

• Justin: It was the idea of [losing] aspiration [wanting to achieve something]. So much of the tech generation has to do with aspiring to create that type of thing. I remember having that conversation. If you had all the time in the world, if you got used to that life, it would sort of be the death of creativity. [No new art or science, etc.]

Kidzworld: You are a big environmental activist yet you balance that with your singing and acting. Is that hard?

• Justin: I grew up in a generation where I watched the birth of the internet and I feel like I look around at the generation younger than me and [those people have] a very opportunistic way of thinking. I made a film about the raging of social media (The Social Network) and all the characters in that film saw themselves in any way they wanted to. Not just one way.

• Helping the environment seems so obvious to me. I don’t relate [my career] to that. Saving the environment is obvious to me as something we should all be doing. So, if I have a platform however big or small it may be, if it would inspire one person, that would be [great]. To have the opportunity to inspire other people is the way I look at it.

Kidzworld: What else are you passionate about devoting your time to?

• Justin: I do a PGA tournament for the Shriners Hospital for Children and that is for free health care for people under the age of 18 but that’s another hot topic; health care. My family bought a golf course and turned it into an eco-friendly wildlife sanctuary.

Kidzworld: So cool! Are you sure you don’t have an environmental superhero costume in your closet? Is it green?

• Justin: [laughs] Yeah. It’s got a green cape. The spandex is made out of recyclable, compostable material.