Max Irons – Los Angeles Times Magazine: The Next Factor

Los Angeles Times Magazine

By Leslie Gornstein

March 2011

Duck into any scenester depot between Sunset and 3rd, and you’ll spot them: aspiring matinee idols, pretty lads sanguine in their skinny denims and studied slouching. If only that elusive Hollywood fifth element, aka star quality, were the mere sum of blessed bone structure and an adorably terminal case of bedhead. Alas, breaking out of the pack as the next alpha dog—read, Brando/Newman/DiCaprio—demands traits that are difficult to quantify. True stars are born, not groomed, and this year promises an embarrassment of riches. They hail from the four points of the English-speaking world

From striking redhead Eddie Redmayne—who’ll squire Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn—to Henry Hopper, barely out of his teens and already a leading man in Gus Van Sant’s tragic romance Restless, the It factor is strong in these guys. And speaking of romance: If you haven’t heard of them yet, the starlets surely have. Collectively, the gossip mags have linked this bunch to beauties ranging from Leighton Meester to Carey Mulligan. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of America falls for them, too.

Max Irons

All right, folks, might as well get it out of the way: Yes, Irons is the 25-year-old son of Jeremy, one of the greatest British actors still breathing. You’d think such an august surname would translate into quite the fall-at-your-feet acting life, especially for a chap who qualifies as irrefutably gorgeous. Alas, that’s not always the case. This month, Irons breaks big as Henry, Amanda Seyfried’s suitor in Catherine Hardwicke’s Red Riding Hood. But getting the role was no stroll through the woods. “I had four auditions and two screen tests,” says Irons, stage-trained like his dad. “I’d be lying if I said there aren’t casting agents more inclined to see you. But if you go into an audition and do a mediocre job, they’ll never forget.”