Timberlake: "In Time" fulfills boyhood fantasies
Justin Timberlake is adding action star to his impressive resume with the new sci-fi thriller, "In Time."
The actor, known first as a heartthrob crooner with the boy band 'N Sync, has shown he can do it all, winning six Grammys and four Emmys -- so far -- in his career. On "The Early Show" Monday, Timberlake discussed his latest action film - a departure from his drama ("Social Network") and comedy ("Bad Teacher") forays onto the big screen.
This fast-paced, action-packed romp, he said, contains every one of his boyhood fantasies.
"You flip cars around and, you know, kick the bad guy's butt and kiss a nice girl," he said.
Timberlake plays Will Salas, a man accused of murder who has only 23 hours to live. "In Time" tells the story of a future society in which people stop aging at age 25, but are engineered to live only one more year -- and having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth.
Timberlake said, "When I first read the script, for like three days, I felt like I was asking myself a lot of personal questions just off the premise of, you know, just the concept itself. My character wakes up at 23 hours to live. If you only had 23 hours to live, you know, how would that affect how you lived your life? And, like I said, it's a lot of fun, but it does make you ask some really interesting questions."
"Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill said the film has Robin Hood elements in it, particularly with its portrayal of the rich and the poor that, she said, seems to be especially prescient with the "Occupy" protests throughout the country.
Timberlake said, "We have been talking about (the protests) lately. ... (The movie has) two sort-of topical themes, one being, do we really want to stay young and live forever, and, two, there is definitely sort of a metaphorical, very rich and very poor social divide in this movie that ... mirrors what is happening now."
So what's the next challenge for the multi-talented star?
Timberlake says he's going to promote this film and eventually have some downtime over the holidays with his family. He said he plans to "find some adventures" on a snowboard.