Alex Solowitz of MTV's 2gether

We caught him in between dance rehearsals just days before MTV debuts its made-for-TV mockumentary 2gether. It's the story of a group of four good-looking young guys-and one fat, old, bald one-and their quest to get rich, famous and laid as America's newest teen heartthrob boy band (and surprise, he plays the dumb jock/bully). He was more than happy to spill the beans on groupies, his real musical career, and Carson Daly's fingernails?

Alex? Hey, how's it going?
Good.

I saw 2gether last night.
How'd you like it?

It was great. What was it like emulating one of the boys of a boy band?
[laughs] It was fun, it was goofy. Two of my favorite things to do are to sing and act, and I got to do both so I was pretty stoked about it.

How weird was it to have a ton of girls screaming and throwing their panties at you? Did you feel like you were really in a boy band at times?
It was a trip. Those guys in those boy bands have the life. I'm mean, it was just nuts having all those girls screaming and stuff like that-it was a lot of fun.

What have you done before 2gether?
I've been acting for about three years. I've done Saved by the Bell and Never Been Kissed.

The original Saved by the Bell or the new Bell?
The new Bell-the new class. It was... OK. It's an acting job, so you know, it's kind of... [trails off].

I understand. How was Screech?
[laughs in a very strange way] Screech? Oh, Dustin [Diamond]. Umm, he's got a hot girlfriend, I guess.

Really?
Yeah, I was pretty surprised by that.

Me, too. Back to the movie, though-was the work involved kind of like being in a real band?
Actually it was really like being in a real band. Our choreographer is a Broadway dancer and he taught us everything, and there were times when we only had a day to learn a dance plus we had to record a full-length CD. Like tonight MTV's throwing a premiere party for the movie, and we're going to be performing new dances that we just learned yesterday. It's demanding.

What was the process of getting this gig? [Was there much competition for the role?]
There were lots of guys up for each part, but think I was one of the first guys hired.

Yeah, when I was watching the movie last night, I had some friends over and all the girls thought you were the cutest-they thought you were the focal point.
Naw, we're all connected, you know? We all kind of make it happen.

Do you really sing and dance?
Oh yeah, I had to sing and everything. I have a CD out. It's not distributed, but I produced it myself. It's just really to send to record companies to get my name out there.

What kind of music is it?
Like, um, I'm like a male Jewel-guitar, soft songs. It's pretty cool, I just met with Dave Matthews the other day.

Randomly?
No, I met with one of Epic records A&R people when I went in to audition for another boy band, but of course I'm doing 2gether so I can't really be in another boy band.

Another rockumentary?
No, an actual real boy band. It's 3N3, three boys and three girls-Epic is doing it. Anyway, Dave was talking to me and he said, "You know, you can't be in a boy band, you oughta work on your solo career." So I go back [to Epic] tomorrow to see if I can do my own thing too.

So being a real musician that plays his own instruments, was it degrading to be portrayed as a dumb guy in a boy band?
It's like as long as I'm working I'm happy, so regardless of where they stick me I'm happy. As long as I get to do what I do, I'm stoked.

Have you been recognized as Mickey yet?
Yeah and I wasn't even dressed up like him either. You know, I'll just walk down the street sometimes and get recognized. You can get wrapped up into a character like Mickey-I've been on a few auditions since the film wrapped and I'll audition as Mickey without even knowing it. And I'm totally not into method, I don't go around like a badass all the time-you just get lost in it.

Is 2gether planning anything else like a tour or another movie?
Oooh, good question [laughs]. But that question must remain unanswered. All I can say is that anything is possible and you'll definitely be very surprised when it does happen.

Tell me about the groupie action. I know you technically weren't in a band, but were there chicks throwing themselves your way?
Oh definitely. I mean, you know how it goes, regardless of if you're in a band or not, you're still an actor on a movie set and everybody thinks you're someone. Umm, yeah. It was flattering, let's put it that way.

Do you have a girlfriend, and did she get jealous about all the girls all over you during the filming?
No, no, she was totally supportive.

Is she like the Yoko Ono of the band?
No, no, she's totally cool.

Have you been typecast as the bad boy a lot? I only ask because you look like you were born to play the tough guy.
I guess so. I played the really stupid jock in Never Been Kissed, same with Saved by the Bell. I usually play the dumb jock or the goofy kid. I can play just about anything, though. I mimic people really well.

So you're not the type to walk around the set like Jim Carrey and demand that everyone call you Andy Kaufman to stay in character?
[Laughs] Nooooo, no way. I don't just sit around and brood as I smoke cigarettes and drink coffee; I take a little bit of everything from my friends and what they do. They're just normal guys who work at the mall and smoke pot all day long, and I just hang out with them. I have actor and musician friends and I take from them too.

Do you have any big Hollywood friends yet?
Big Hollywood friends? I'm really good friends with Drew Barrymore. She's throwing herself a birthday party in a few days.

Really? I was just going to name her as an over-the-top example since it's seems really cliché-like you can't be a young actor in Hollywood unless you know Drew. So what goes on at a Drew Barrymore party?
Just a normal party with people drinking and dancing. I think one of the reasons why she likes me is because I'm more down-to-earth than most people, you know what I'm saying? I don't give a shit. I'll tell you how it is. I don't have an 'ON' button. You can always tell when someone is on, you know, those fake-ass people, it's like they went home and cleansed themselves with bullshit.

Is MTV cool to work for? Are they pulling the strings of 2gether so you don't make them look bad?
Ahh, MTV? C'mon, please, they're totally hip! They're one of the coolest stations we got. They don't give a shit what we do.

You're doing MTV's TRL tomorrow. What do you think of Carson Daly?
I was expecting him to be a total spazz, because you know, when you're big and famous, you can tend to act like a dick-how can you not? But I was pretty impressed with how cool he was. He's one of the most down-to-earth people for being where he is.

Did you ever meet him while he was wearing that black fingernail polish? What's up with that?
Yeah and do you want to know why he does that? Because even I asked him, "What's up with the nail polish? Then he told me he used to, when he was a DJ, paint his nails a different color for each band member he was interviewing on the air. That way the station's engineer knew which band member's microphone to turn up by the color of fingernail that Carson held up-kind of like signals.

Interesting. The first time I saw it, I thought: This guy's trying way too hard. Think about it, if you're on MTV and you start getting old, you're out of a job. Unless you're Kurt Loder.
I don't know, though, up close and in person, it looks like Kurt Loder has had quite a little bit of [face] surgery.

You've seen him, not me. Last question: In a bad-boy fight between 2gether's Mickey Parke and New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg, who'd win?
Well, Mickey Parke got his ass kicked by a 14-year-old girl, but I still think I'd-I mean he'd-be able to kick the shit out of Donnie Wahlberg-and his punk brother Marky Mark too.

--interviewed by Michael Alarcon