You have a stick, and to you it's a huge sword and you're King Arthur. 
From humble beginnings as part of NSYNC Justin Timberlake has become one of the hottest superstars on the planet thanks to a successful solo singing career and his high-profile love life. But he's now turned to acting and follows acclaimed performances in Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan with a vocal part in Shrek The Third. He tells 成人快手 Movies why he'll be continuing to focus on acting for a little while, and why providing the voice of new character Artie in Shrek took him back to his childhood...
Your character, Artie, is a bit of a loner in Shrek The Third. Were you a bit of a loner at school?
I grew up in Tennessee where you either play football or you don't do anything at all. So I guess you could say I was a bit of loner, being interested in music.
But Artie gets the better of his bullies in the movie - is that something you can relate to?
What are you trying to insinuate? I was so cool [at school]. No, it was the equivalent to right now. Like I said before, in Tennessee it was "football or die!" I was on a television show when I was in middle school, and I'd work for six months out of the year, then I'd come back. I was just a bit of an outcast but I wasn't bullied too much, thank God.
What was it like acting in a booth with some headphones?
The only thing I can really equate this to is when you're seven or eight-years-old, and you're standing alone in your back yard, and you have a stick, and to you it's a huge sword and you're King Arthur. Obviously, I worked a lot with Chris [Miller, director] because we all worked separately to do the voices.
Was it easy to imagine Artie?
Well, when I was first offered the part, I got to see what Artie looked like. And I also had the first two movies to work off. But it's a fantastical experience because anything can happen in the Shrek world. So you sort of imagine it happening and just go for it.
You've had good reviews for other movies - do you think one day you may have to choose between music and film?
It's been expensive buying those reviews, so I don't know how much longer I can hold that up! [Laughs] Thank God for music! I would love to do a lot more film, and next year I'm going to focus a lot more on it. I'll be touring until the end of this year, and taking the circus as far as I can.
Where do you find time for writing music?
There are planes and tour buses... Actually, I don't know. I'll have to work that one out.
Shrek The Third opens in UK cinemas on Friday 29th June 2007.
