To play the lead in a Nicholas Sparks movie, an actor has to be dramatic, sensitive, and well, hot. This Friday, The Longest Ride star Scott Eastwood will join the finely chiseled ranks of Channing Tatum (Dear John), Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song), Zac Efron (The Lucky One), and of course, Ryan Gosling (The Notebook), in the latest Sparks adaptation.
If you haven’t read the book, which came out in 2013, Eastwood portrays Luke, a bull rider that falls for an artsy college student, played by Britt Robertson. It’s got all the weepy romance you’d expect, mixed with the dangerous grit of the cowboy lifestyle. Before you check out Eastwood’s southern swagger in theaters, here are a few other reasons why we’re smitten with the 29-year-old.RELATED: Scott Eastwood Admits He Cries Every Time He Watches The Notebook
1. His Instagrams are hot, but he’s still humble.
If you haven’t followed Eastwood’s feed yet, you’re missing out on quite a few steamy shirtless pics. So what does he think of all the buzz around his bod? “It’s funny,” he told InStyle. “I’m flattered, but I come from a place in California where there’s a ton of good-looking dudes, far better looking than I am. I don’t know what to make of it.”
2. His sense of style? He’s working on it.
Eastwood looked great in an all-black suit for the L.A. premiere of The Longest Ride, but fashion isn’t really his thing. “I literally still own the stuff I wore in high school. It’s totally embarrassing,” he says.
3. He can step outside the Hollywood bubble.
Off-screen, the star is developing Eastwood Whiskey, a whiskey company that is made using water from dad Clint Eastwood’s land in Carmel, Calif.
And he is also part owner of Saddle Bar, a bar in the Solana Beach area of San Diego. “It’s a nice local place, very un-Hollywood,” he says.4. He always brings his A (athletic) game.
At InStyle’s November 2014 “Man of Style” shoot, photographer Raf Stahelin challenged Eastwood to a pushup competition and he not only obliged, but finished the set off with an impressive headstand (below). He also likes to get sporty while in character. “For Invictus, I learned how to play rugby, and for Pride, I trained with an Olympic swimming coach,” he says. “One of the best things about being an actor is all the skills you learn.”
5. He doesn’t rely on his last name to get ahead.
When Eastwood started auditioning for roles, he used a different surname. “I took the last name of my mother, Jacelyn Reeves,” he says. “I wanted to see if I could make it on my own without a bunch of hype. I had something to prove to myself.”
As far as we’re concerned, mission accomplished!
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