SUIT BY 3.

1 PHILLIP LIM;
SHIRT BY DIOR HOMME LUCAS TILL
OPPOSITE PAGE
SUIT AND SHIRT BY
IN ADD MINUS; TIE BY
EMPORIO ARMANI

BLONDE Duct! Hollywood’s newest blue-eyed boy, Lucas Till,

AMBITION
is blasting his way to the top as Havok in X-Men: First Class
PHOTOGRAPHS BY Mitchell Nguyen McCormack WORDS BY KC Yap INTERVIEWED BY Oliver Singer

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Melvin Chan STYLED BY Ashley Phan-Weston

158 AUGUST MAN MARCH 2011 MARCH 2011 AUGUST MAN 159
 LUCAS TILL

“Most people are content to

sit back and say, “Okay,
I made it,” but you just can’t
do that; you have to keep
on working hard”
Most child actors would
kill to have a starring role
in any Disney production.
But Lucas Till never
quite shared the same
enthusiasm. And don’t be
deceived by that whole
Disney package that he
possesses—clean look,
clear complexion, blonde
hair, blue eyes, very visible
abdominal muscles, youth,
etc. It took his agent four
attempts of persuasion
before the Texas-born
but Georgia-raised star
finally agreed to audition
for Hannah Montana:
The Movie (a hesitance
which I’m sure many self-
respecting men out there
understand). Till could
not escape fate and the
inevitable success that SHIRT BY DIOR HOMME;
PANTS BY 3.1 PHILLIP LIM;
BELT BY BEN SHERMAN
Disney brings to all of its OPPOSITE PAGE

young stars. SUIT AND SHIRT BY

BEN SHERMAN; TIE BY
YVES SAINT LAURENT

160 AUGUST MAN MARCH 2011 MARCH 2011 AUGUST MAN 161

HIS ROLE AS
Miley s h
horse-riding childhood friend and love interest
offered him
h a one-way ticket to stardom. Since then, the
star has appeared alongside major entertainment comets
such as Taylor Swift (in the music video You Belong with
Mee) and Jackie Chan (Spy Next Door). Prior to that, the
child actor was cast
ca as Johnny Cash s older brother (in their
younger days) in Walk the Line, starring alongside Academy
Award-winner Reese Witherspoon and Golden Globe-winner
Joaquin Phoenix. Despite being a top search on Google, the
star remained down-to-earth; he decided to stay back in
Atlanta to experience public high school and complete his
education before moving to LA to pursue his acting career.
Today, two mega blockbusters are affixed to Till s
increasingly impressive portfolio. This spring, Till will be
a playing Corporal Grayson in Battle: Los Angeles, starring
Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez̶an alien-invasion-
style film that depicts the destruction of the world save
Los Angeles (of course, it s America), where it becomes
the last stand for mankind in a battle against unknown
forces . In summer, we will see Till emitting energy blasts
as Havok, Cyclops brother, in the prequel of the X-Men
movie series, X-Men: First Class. The movie chronicles the
friends-turned-enemies events between Professor Xavier
(James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender),
involving the X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants (in their
early days, hence a whole different cast), and the main
antagonists, the Hellfire Club, featuring leader Sebastian
Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who possesses the power to harness
any energy force directed at him into Hulk-strength, and
telepath Emma Frost (January Jones).
In the following exclusive with August Man Malaysia,
Till shares his movie moments, his dream of becoming an
action figure and his new business venture at the age of 20.
Lucas Till (fourth from
right) as Havok in
X-Men: First Class
162 AUGUST MAN MARCH 2011
SUIT AND POCKET SQUARE
BY EMPORIO ARMANI;
SHIRT BY GIORGIO
LUCAS TILL
ARMANI; TIE BY YVES
SAINT LAURENT
I was always picked on
when I was younger
It was reported that you had the natural ability to imitate
voices and characters when you were younger. Who/
what were you mimicking then?
I was always imitating The Mask, or any Jim Cary movie,
and I would think “Man,
at least the ones that my parents would let me watch. I
also used to be able to recite the entirety of the Beauty
if only I could shoot stuff
and the Beast when I was like two years old. My aunt
out of my hands!”
actually just told me that a few weeks ago.
Despite being a star at an early age, you continued your
education in a public high school. Did kids and teachers
treat you differently?
You d be surprised how easy it was actually. Being an actor
can be one of two things: it can be really cool or it can be
the thing people call you a loser, especially where I grew
up. But luckily at my school, I only had one teacher that got
mad at me. There was one time I had to leave early to catch
a school bus home (for a shoot) and she was just awful.
But, you know, who knows where she is these days. I had
a principle who allowed me to go shoot Hannah Montana
during the last semester of my senior year, and then just
come back and graduate. I got lucky with that.
Was that the time you felt you had made it? Have you
had one of those moments yet?
Not really. People keep telling me that I m having these
kinds of moments every time something happens, at each
movie, each opportunity. But I m always like no, it s not ,
and I remember, around when I shot Hannah Montana,
everyone was like this is going to be it, this is going to do
everything for you . I remember I also did a Taylor Swift
music video, but then all of a sudden I didn t have any
offer from anyone. Most people are content to sit back
and say, Okay, I made it, but you just can t do that; you
have to keep on working hard.
Not even after Battle: Los Angeles and X-Men: First Class?
Tell us about your new movies.
Yeah, Battle: Los Angeles is about an alien invasion, and
it focuses around one Marine Platoon, twelve of us, our
stories before the invasion happens, and then the actions.
I m just one of those guys. I play Corporal Grayson, and I
get to blow shit up. I also get to blow shit up in X-Men, so
it s a good year.
Who do you play in X-Men? Have you ever read the
comics prior to this?
Oh, absolutely. If I had known I was going to play Havok
when I was 5?! I definitely remember wanting to be
Wolverine, but Havok is a great consolation prize. I
can shoot energy beams out of my entire body, and I m
the brother of Cyclops. Havok has always historically
been the brother with more potential, but because he
has less control over his powers, he has always been
secluded and separated.
MARCH 2011 AUGUST MAN 163
 LUCAS TILL
“I never thought I’d say
this but I really find
producing from start to
finish more fulfilling than
acting. From the script
up until seeing the final
product—it’s like watching
a child growing up”

SUIT AND POCKET SQUARE

BY EMPORIO ARMANI;
SHIRT BY GIORGIO
ARMANI; TIE BY YVES
SAINT LAURENT; SHOES
BY BEN SHERMAN

OPPOSITE PAGE
(LEFT) SUIT AND SHIRT
BY BEN SHERMAN; PANTS
AND BELT BY EMPORIO
ARMANI; SHOES BY
GIORGIO ARMANI

(RIGHT) SUIT BY HUGO

BOSS; SHIRT, BELT AND
SHOES BY BEN SHERMAN

164 AUGUST MAN MARCH 2011 MARCH 2011 AUGUST MAN 165
SUIT BY 3.1 PHILLIP LIM;
SHIRT BY DIOR HOMME
Hannah Montana: (Left)
Lucas Till, Miley Cyrus and
Peter Chelsom; (Right) Caleb
Landry Jones, Michael
Fassbender, Jennifer
Lawrence, Rose Byrne,
STILL LIFE PICTURES: MURRAY CLOSE/TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
Nicholas Hoult, James
McAvoy and Lucas Till in
X-Men: First Class
166 AUGUST MAN MARCH 2011
“I’ve had two goals in life: one was to someday
be an action figure, and the other one was
to be in a video game, and two of those were
half completed with Hannah Montana”
If you can have one superhero power, what would it be?
Really, honestly, my role in X-Men as Havok would be
my second choice of powers because I was always picked
on when I was younger and I would think Man, if only I
could shoot stuff out of my hands! But my first choice?
Definitely to be able to fly.
Did you have fun wearing all that spandex on set?
Hah! They actually had an incredible team designing the
suits, which are pretty bad ass. There s a healthy balance
between what s realistic and playing to the fans of the
comic series who will be like I understand why they made
that choice , which will make them feel good as fans.
What do you think of the new X-Men cast?
I don t remember who said this to me but they were talking
about the movie and they said, This movie has been cast
within an inch of its life , because it wasn t about throwing
a bunch of people to fill in the blanks; everyone s very
talented, and great for the roles they re playing.
Since you love video games, how do you feel about the
prospect of being in your own video game with the
release of the film?
Bad. Ass. I ve had two goals in life: one was to someday
be an action figure, and the other one was to be in a video
game, and two of those were half completed with Hannah
Montana. They came out with this Ken Doll of me and this
crazy Hannah Montana video game. (In the game) there
was this guy on the cover, wearing my clothes and I was
like, That s me?! And I just went ahead and bought it
because I thought, I have to check this out , and there
was this 35-year-old dude with a much higher voice than
me doing my voice and I was like, that is not me! X-Men
is going to be my legitimate shot at getting it right.
GROOMING BY ERICA SAUER/EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS MANAGEMENT
ART DIRECTION JENNIFER DE KLAVER/DE KLAVER DESIGNS
FASHION ASSISTED BY ANNETTE ABLAKAT
LUCAS TILL
I heard that you ve started a production company?
Yes. It s called Grindfist, and the name suggests that we like
to have fun. My friends and I were going on a vacation, but
we thought, Let s do something while we re over there.
We ll shoot a documentary. Wait, we don t know anything
about documentaries, let s shoot a movie. Jason Trost,
who s my partner in this company, wrote and directed
this movie and we ended up finding out I had Battle: Los
Angeles coming up, which cut our time short, and we
ended up shooting 85 pages in six days. It was rough, but
it was also the most fun I had had up to that point. Jason
makes it look a million times more expensive than what we
put into it. We shot another movie prior to X-Men where
we had a much bigger budget, and it s called Versus. I m
not going to say too much about it as it s still in the works.
Running your own company, you get a taste of what it s
like to be a director, or a producer: What position do you
see yourself pursuing?
I like producing, or being a very creative producer, rather,
where I can get a taste of what it s like to be a director
without having to have all the responsibility fall on my
shoulders. I never thought I d say this but I really find
producing from start to finish more fulfilling than acting.
From the script up until seeing the final product̶it s like
watching a child growing up.
Your aunt is apparently involved in a human rights
organization called Nightlight. Can you tell us a little bit
about that?
Nightlight is an organization aligned to fight the modern
human rights violations concerning human trafficking.
Essentially, modern day slavery is now bigger, and more
profitable than it was during either the trans-Atlantic
slave trade, or during the times of the Roman Empire.
Still, we as consumers do hold a great deal of power, so
awareness of where our products are coming from is
key. There s a new app coming out where you can take
a picture of the barcode and it ll tell you the probability
that it could have used slave labour. They key is not to
feel too bad as much as to just get involved. Boycott
or do your research. You can look us up at www.
nightlightinternational.com. ■
MARCH 2011 AUGUST MAN 167