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The Verge: Robert Hoffman

Written by Kyle Buchanan | 13 Jul 2009, 7:00 AM |

There are all sorts of entrées into Hollywood stardom (be they model, waiter, or producer’s nephew), but Robert Hoffman went his own way: He moved to LA to pursue work as a dancer. Slowly but surely, his physical talents landed him lead roles in She’s the Man and Step Up 2, and viral videos he conceived in his spare time (like Urban Ninja and the irresistibly bizarre YES Dance) earned him a sketch comedy show in development at MTV. We talked with the actor last week about his eclectic resume and his role in the upcoming Aliens in the Attic, but first, he had to overcome a minor tragedy.

So you lost your iPhone today?
Yeah, I was getting a massage and I lost it. [laughs] So I’m without any sort of scheduling.

Admit it: It’s kind of a nice feeling to be without a phone.
It’s a weird feeling. There’ve been times when I haven’t had a phone and I thought, “This is really awesome, I don’t think I want to go back.” Actually, the first time I lost my phone and I was driving through LA with no distractions, I did think to myself for a second, “I should commit to this! I should fully commit to this.”

You must have been the only person who wasn’t watching the Michael Jackson memorial today.
Were you there?

No, I watched it on TV. But I know he was a big influence on you.
Michael was definitely one of my first and biggest inspirations — without him, my love for movement wouldn’t have been realized nearly as early. Death is such a final step, though. You kind of have to let it go.

You started dancing after you saw his video for “Thriller”?
Yeah. I saw it, and it wasn’t that it registered with me that I wanted to dance — to me, it was the first important thing I had ever seen. It seemed like there was nothing cooler or more wonderful than moving to music. It was just all I could think of as a kid.

When you first began in the industry, you were a background dancer in two notorious Hollywood flops: From Justin to Kelly and Gigli. Which was the better gig?
You know, I gotta be honest with you: Gigli was a really good job. Not that it would win any awards, but I was there on the beach every day in Malibu with a bunch of bikini models. On Justin to Kelly, though, it was a month in Miami with all my dancer friends. So I gotta say, it’s a dead tie. They were both really fun movies to make.

Have you learned anything from dance that’s bled into your work as an actor?
I think dance can be a very tricky thing for actors, because when you dance, you’re at 110% all the time. When you’re acting, though, you have to come at it from a grounded level. But I do think there’s a physical confidence there with dancers. I’ve done a lot of physical comedy jobs where there’s a lot of my movement [background] coming out.

Is your role in Aliens in the Attic like that?
Yeah, I’m Ashley Tisdale’s boyfriend, but for most of the movie I’m under the influence of these alien mind control plugs that shoot in the back of my brain. So I’m a pawn — I’m being physically manipulated and guided by the aliens, and at some point the kids steal the controller and guide me too. I’m doing 110 crazy physical gags, twisting like my body’s being controlled.

Do you ever go too far when you throw yourself into a role that requires so much movement?
Well, shoot! In dancing, please — that’s all we did. We’d throw ourselves too far and do things we probably shouldn’t be doing. In [Aliens], there’s a shot where the kids are controlling me and I come storming through a field, and I said, “I’ll go straight through that bush and fall flat on my face and I won’t even put my hands up to brace myself.” So I bowled over this bush and fell on my chest and my head came down and hit the ground, not too hard, but this bush tore a hole right in my eyelid.

I got up and I kind of felt blood coming down my face, but I had to commit to the shot and not react. The camera’s behind me, and I’m walking along and the two boys are walking with me and I go, “Guys, am I bleeding?” And they’re smiling and laughing, and they’re like, “Yeah.” “Is it bad?” “Oh, yeah.” [Laughs]

You’re also in Burning Palms, Christopher Landon’s upcoming series of vignettes satirizing five LA neighborhoods. Which hood is yours?
Oh, shoot. Don’t ask me that, I can’t remember right now — that was last year! I’m basically a really dimwitted boyfriend to Jamie Chung, and I have a very specific sexual request to make of her. And that sexual request ends up spinning her into a complete psychotic breakdown.

Let’s go back even further than that…a couple years ago, you acted in Young Americans with Topher Grace and Anna Faris, based on a story Topher co-wrote. The movie’s been on the shelf forever and Topher hasn’t made another film since. Do you know why there’s been such a holdup?
No, I don’t! It’s this great project, and no one understands it. We’ve got all these great actors in it and a great script. There’s a couple of different rumors about why one person in power didn’t think it should go this one time, or someone didn’t like a certain topic, but at the end of the day, it keeps getting held back. Meanwhile, Anna Faris became a big star, and all these things keep happening…there’ve been 101 key times to put this damn movie out. Every time I talk to someone, they’re always like, “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy, but they’re finally putting it out.” “For sure?” “For sure.” That’s all I hear.

Your costar Dan Fogler has implied that some people had problems with all the drug use in the film.
There’s a lot of drug use that happens, but we’ve got a lot of hard R-rated movies that are wildly successful right now. So I don’t know.

Is there anything you haven’t gotten to do in your career yet that you’re itching to do?
All I ever wanted to do was be good at dancing. People told me I could go to LA and make money off it, but I had no clue that any of this would happen. I’m just enjoying the ride, but I have four or five ideas that I’d really like to do. Like, I’d really like to make YES Dance: The Movie. It’d be the funnest thing ever.

My God. What would that even be?
A cross between Zoolander, Paris is Burning, and Tenacious D: Pick of Destiny. ♦