jim sturgess x nylon guys march issue

A Beatles-era Brit (named Jude, no less), a MIT student scamming casinos, and an Asian man living in the distant future—yes, Jim Sturgess has played it all. But his latest character, in the dystopian romance Upside Down alongside Kirsten Dunst, thrusts the Englishman into a whole new role: leading man. Sarah Horne Grose wandered the streets of Camden, London with NYLON Guys’ March cover star to find out if he’s ready for it.

On American vs. British TV: “When I watch American TV, it always shocks me how pretty and unreal everyone looks. Those vampire shows, where all the guys look exactly the same—they’re just too f*cking good looking.”

On landing roles in Hollywood: “I always lose against Channing Tatum. He’s got a body I can’t contend with.”

On the part of acting he likes least: “The read-through is my biggest nightmare. Everybody promises, ‘No one is judging you—we’re just reading the script.’ But you know that everyone is judging you. Often, if you’re doing a different voice for the character, you haven’t fully crafted it yet, so it’s all a bit of a sketchpad. I always leave set thinking, ‘I can’t do this job. I’m going to get fired. What am I doing here? I should have never taken on this part.’”

On finally joining Twitter: “Someone else was Twittering as me, and had something like 20,000 followers. It was clearly a 15-year-old-girl, talking as though the words were coming out of my mouth. There was a point when she said—or where ‘I’ said—‘I can’t imagine if I’m team Edward or team Jacob?’ I thought, ‘I’ve got to put a stop to this now.’”