My new crush: Emile Hirsch

Jake in his younger years in "October Sky" and "Moonlight Mile", completely doe-eyed and soft features boyish looking. Talk about lovable teenage crush!

Here let me introduce you my new movie crush: Emile Hirsch, a young brilliant actor, maybe not as famous as Jake but with a very interesting, versatile career, whose first roles were also naïve and smooth, as in the romantic comedy "The girl next door", in which he made a giddy transition from demure student to wild ex-pornstar's boyfriend:
I had a huge crush with Emile after watching him as Matthew Kidman in "The girl next door" (2004) and his memorable limousine sex scene with Elisha Cuthbert: Before, Emile and Jena Malone starred as a young couple in the coming of age indie drama flick "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" (2002).

Other powerful teenage roles by Emile were Sedgewick Bell in "The Empreror's Club" (2002), Duncan Mudge in "The Mudge Boy" (2003) and Tim Travis in "Imaginary Heroes" (2004).

Emile also started with a trend performing characters based on real life guys with "Lords of Dogtown" (2005) playing Jay Adams, skateboarding in The Z-Boys. Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger as Jay and Skip in "Lords of Dogtown".

And then the more adult roles as a drug dealer gangster wannabe Johnny Truelove (inspired by Jesse James Hollywood) in "Alpha Dog" (2006), directed by Nick Cassavetes: Emile's most important role to date was under Sean Penn's inspired directorial wings in "Into the wild" (2007), offering us an overall incredible performance as the tortured Chris McCandless who runs away from an alienating society travelling to Alaska. I can't recommend "Into the wild" enough. I watched it recently and is heartbreaking, written beautifully as a road-movie poem. It has become one of my favourite all-time films.Emile played Speed Racer in the family movie "Speed Racer" (2008) by Larry and Andy Wachowski. I also have watched it and it's visually stunning and very funny -Emile's love interest is Christina Ricci as Trixie-.
Emile has recently finished his role as Cleve Jones in "Milk" (2008) directed by Gus Van Sant, based on real life Harvey Milk who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America, and who would be assassinated later.
Here is an interview clip from the Focus Features World Premiere of "Milk" at the Castro Theatre at 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA on October 28th, including Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Dustin Lance Black, Alison Pill, James Schamus, Gus Van Sant and Gavin Newsom.
"Milk" will be released on November 26th.


Emile's last role is an unhinged Vietnam vet in "Taking Woodstock" (2009), about the generation-defining concert in the summer of 1969, currently in post-production, directed by Ang Lee.

EMILE HIRSCH (THIS YEAR'S LOVE) VIDEO: