ABOVE: T-shirt, American Apparel ($20). 2121 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park; americanapparel.com. Trousers, D&G ($430). 147 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood; dolcegabbana.com. Belt, Prada ($300). 343 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills; prada.com. Vintage Oxford shoes ($350). Chuck’s Vintage, 7515 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; chucksvintage.com. BELOW: Vintage henley ($300). Chuck’s Vintage, 7515 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; chucksvintage.com. Barracuda jeans, Prps (price on request). Barneys New York, 9570 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; prpsgoods.com. Jules Audemars Chronograph watch, Audemars Piguet ($31,500). Westime, 254 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills; audemarspiguet.com. Boots, AllSaints ($240). 100 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles; us.allsaints.com
Chace Crawford is that aburdly rare combination of so ridiculously handsome girls love him, so cool guys don’t hate him and so down-to-earth he seems like the approachable boy next door. Perhaps that’s why we haven’t taken our eyes off him since he first hit the small screen in the CW’s muchloved, much-hyped, Upper East Side drama Gossip Girl. But these days it seems Crawford is shedding his privileged prepschool skin and revealing Chace Crawford 2.0—the sexier, more adult version. Take Twelve, his new movie out July 30, also starring Kiefer Sutherland and 50 Cent, in which he plays a well-connected uptown kid (oh wait, that’s not that different) who sells drugs and watches his life unravel after the death of his cousin (now we’re talking).
We sat down with Crawford while he was in LA on a break from the New York City-based Gossip Girl to find out what he loves about the City of Angels, what working with 50 Cent is really like and if Serena and Nate will go the distance (although we think we know the answer to that one).
LOS ANGELES CONFIDENTIAL: You lived here when you went to Pepperdine University. Now you’re based in New York for Gossip Girl; do you like coming back to LA?
CHACE CRAWFORD: I love being in LA. New York and LA are polar opposites. I’m a Dallas boy, so for the weather, LA is where it’s at. I think the New York winters may end up driving me back out to the West Coast. What makes Hollywood Hollywood is the weather. The sun kind of hits you different out here, so every time I come here it’s rejuvenating.
LAC: In your film Twelve, out this July, you play a young drug dealer. Why was this a role you wanted to take on?
CC: It’s a complete departure for me. The character grew up with the privilege and the money, but his father is running the family’s bankrupt business, and his mom was stricken with cancer and battled that and died. So he’s almost forced to sell marijuana, and he doesn’t even know what he’s doing. He’s in over his head. It’s good for me because it’s a heroic figure, but it’s a pretty tragic, dark, melodramatic movie. There are a lot of really comedic parts in it, and it almost goes over the top to make fun of the Gossip Girl crowd. [The film] is so campy and funny, it’s silly, and then when it’s contrasted with the dark reality of one of the girl characters spiraling emotionally into this tailspin, it’s very tragic. It was a lot of fun—very liberating. It’s kind of a Less Than Zero for our generation.
