Ed Westwick

March 27th, 2011

Sweatshirt Iro, Jeans Dior Homme

Rocker at heart, Ed Westwick is driven by classics, those outside the sharp suiting and pocket squares he’s famous for. We’re talking good times great oldies. Donning stripes and slacks inspired by Vincent Gallo’s criminally minded Buffalo ‘66, the young star opens up to Sarah Jenks-Daly about his love for classic rock, an upcoming movie project with Eastwood and DiCaprio, and a recent flirtation with a certain all-boy rock group.

The Block: Tell me a little bit about Chalet Girl. What kind of film is it and why did it appeal to you?

Ed: Well for me, it’s kind of a commercial film. It’s funny and charming and the audience will know what they’re going to get from it. It’s got a lot of British humor to it, which was nice for me because I’ve been doing Gossip Girl for four years. It was great to do something else with different material and a different slant on things. But at the same time, we’ve got some American cast members in it, so it kind of crosses over.

Trench Robert Geller, T-shirt Alexander Wang, Jewelry Ed's own

The Block: Where did you do the majority of the shooting?

Ed: We shot it all in Austria and Germany … We were at this absolutely gorgeous resort in Austria called St. Anton. There were thousands of drunk Europeans everywhere, like 24/7! There was a bar a bit up the mountain and a bar at the bottom of the mountain, and we’d be shooting the film and everyone would start drinking at the bar up top, and when the sun went down and it was pitch black, and they were as drunk as hell, they’d run down this mountain like they’d lost their minds.

The Block: At least they weren’t skiing down the mountain…

Ed: Well, some of them were, actually. You couldn’t even see hardly anything in front of you. But the resort was great. It’s a beautiful place. We got to go out two or three days and go skiing. I’d love to go back there.

The Block: So in addition to that film, I read that you signed on to do Clint Eastwood’s upcoming J. Edgar Hoover movie…

Ed: Yeah, I’m very excited about that. Leonardo DiCaprio, and I don’t know who they’ve cast in the female lead yet, I think they were talking about Naomi Watts [ed note: Naomi Watts has signed on], but to work with people like that, like Clint Eastwood, is just fantastic.

Coat 3.1 Philip Lim, Hooded Sweater T Alexander Wang

The Block: Your role in the film is Agent Smith, who was commissioned to write Hoover’s story, right?

Ed: Yes, he’s the guy who is writing Hoover’s memoirs. He gets on well with J. Edgar Hoover and then he starts to kind of question him a little bit too harshly, so Hoover loses his faith in him and starts to despise him, and finds someone else [to write the book] later down the line.

The Block: But for now, you’re in town filming Gossip Girl, which has become a huge success. What were your expectations at the beginning both for your character and for the show? Did you have any idea of what it might become?

Ed: I don’t know, I don’t think I really expected anything. I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no idea how American television worked. I just went with the flow, enjoying the material and having fun with the character. I was like: “Wow, this is great! I’ve got a little bit of money in my pocket. I’m getting invited to nice events and people are sending me free clothes and it’s great!” Now it’s four years later, and it’s four years later, you know? It’s still cool and I love the people we work with, but it’s time to do something else. It feels like high school now. It’s been four years and everyone has kind of grown up, dated each other, broken up, dated each other again, broken up again …

T-shirt Won Hundred

The Block: Do you think Gossip Girl exposed you to a side of New York that you might not have found out about otherwise?

Ed: The show has been a huge part of what I have been exposed to, and what my experience has been here. And when the show is over, I think I’ll go and move to L.A. because I’ve never lived there, and I’d like to see what that’s all about. But I’d like to come back here later down the line, and experience this city in a different way. I’ve only experienced New York as being this teenager turned 20-something who is on this TV show … I’ve never experienced the city as a normal guy … well, I’m not abnormal. But it’s a different experience to grow up in a city and walk down the street and have every third person know who you are. It’s been cool and it’s fun, but that aspect is fucking weird, you know?

The Block: With your Gossip Girl schedule as busy as it is, do you have time to pursue music? You were part of a band; is that still something you are involved in?

Ed: No, unfortunately that died a little while ago. It just seemed like a helluva lot of work with how chaotic a shooting schedule can be. I play on my own and mess around and stuff. But I can’t do what Taylor [Momsen] is doing right now. It’s just nuts.

T-shirt Won Hundred

The Block: So music is still a big part of your life?

Ed: Oh, yes, hugely. Last night I actually went to see The Decemberists. It was very cool. I definitely go and see as many bands as I can. I had a flirtation with the Kings of Leon last year, so that was fun … but that’s over now. I’m still totally driven by the classics, like The Rolling Stones and The Doors and that kind of stuff. That’s where my heart is.

Writer Sarah Jenks-Daly Photographer Steven Pan Fashion Editor James Worthington DeMolet

A longer version of this story appears in Issue 24 of The Block, available on newsstands, via subscription, or from Zinio.

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