02/17/09
Text: Derrick Jefferson
Photographers: Abbey Drucker
When Jaime King walks into an L.A. coffee shop with her hair pulled back, sporting a baggy sweatshirt, jeans, and scuffed sneakers—she’s still stunning. The 29-year old actress was clearly a model for a reason, and could easily pass for a decade younger, but there’s more going on here besides a pretty face. You probably recognize King from a few television shows—Fox’s Kitchen Confidential and the CBS ensemble comedy, The Class—that were both canceled before they had a chance to catch on. “Television is a fickle, fickle thing,” King explains. “It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time. There’s always a feeling of how long is this going to last. It’s weird. We won the People’s Choice Award and then they canceled [The Class]. But, that being said, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Going through all the torture off all that business stuff is so worth it to be able to do what you love to do.”
Don’t own a television? Perhaps you caught King as one of the sun-kissed nurses aiding flyboys and soldiers in Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor. The actress defiantly praises her experience with the oft-maligned director. “You know what it is? I think part of the issue is that people get so limited in what they think is cool, or not cool, and they get so stuck up in their highbrowness, that they don’t take the time to open up their eyes and see the beauty of what people do.”
Even film snobs could celebrate the project that would prove King’s turning point: 2005’s Sin City. The fruitful collaboration with co-director Frank Miller paved the way for her latest film, The Spirit. (“It’s like working with my brother,” King says. “Frank and me are like family.”)
King still finds herself wanting more, despite recent 13-hour workdays. Having survived the often fragile transition from modeling to acting, she envisions a day where she can get behind the camera herself. “My ideal dream is to be able to write screenplays and direct them and work with wonderful actors and really create films that mean something. Sean Penn, Clint Eastwood, Sarah Polley—so many great actors have directed.” Before you doubt her seriousness, know that King is a serious cineaste—movies are clearly her passion. “2001 is my favorite film of all time. On Blu-Ray? Forget about it.” And when she talks about the technology used to bring The Spirit to life, she sounds more like a fan of the comic books her films are based on than the actress starring in them. “We got to use these new cameras that have never been used before that shoot over a thousand frames per second, so you get super slow-mo…” The Omaha, Nebraska native’s eyes go wide. Her face lights up like a movie screen.
Pick up the latest print issue of Anthem for more photos, including a few too saucy for us to reproduce here.
