You have reached Jim-Sturgess.com, a growing resource for the talented British actor known from his work in the films Across the Universe, The Other Boleyn Girl and 21. Up next is Crossing Over due out August 22 (US). Here we will keep you up to date with all the latest news, media downloads and information. Bookmark us and check back often for the latest on Jim Sturgess!
After talking with Ben Mezrich and Jeff Ma, the Daily got a chance to interview the star of 21, Jim Sturgess, as he recalled the energetic feel on the set, the crazy math of card counting, and his compatibility with fellow actors.
Question: Are you happy with the final results of the film?
Jim Sturgess: Yeah, definitely. I saw it a while ago. When you’re making the film you have no concept of how kind of visual it’s going to look. Especially in the scenes when we’re playing cards and all that kind of stuff. While we were shooting those scenes, it was fairly kind of tedious kind of work: pushing chips and flipping cards and all that kind of stuff. And then when you see the film, you see how dramatic it looks. It was a shock to all of us, I think. The director [Robert Luketic] kept saying just trust me, trust me, it’s going to look great … stuff that you kind of don’t like doing as much. Actually you want to do the kind of big shouting scenes or all the meaty scenes or whatever. But we kind of stuck with it, and I think it paid off.
He’d never been to Vegas and he’d never played blackjack. Gambling meant “the horse races and the dog track … and fruit machines (slots),” and Vegas was an “iconic place” of casinos and indulgence.
But for 26-year-old British actor Jim Sturgess, the role of Ben Campbell, an MIT student who hustles casinos for hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the movie 21, was something he couldn’t pass up. The newcomer sat down with Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers on “Popcorn” on ABC News Now to discuss his new film and the age-old temptations of Sin City.
We were whisked off to Las Vegas for the premiere of the adventure-in-Sin-City film 21. Staying at the hotel where some of the film was shot (the Red Rock) and going to the premiere and afterparty at Planet Hollywood was a great experience. We realized that there is a whole new Vegas, aimed at a younger crowd who enjoys clubbing and playing blackjack and poker. The film is based on the true story of a group of brainy M.I.T. students who invented a card counting system and took the town for big bucks playing 21.
Co-stars Kate Bosworth, looking smashing in a short, gray/silver sparkly Lagerfeld dress and Jim Sturgess [Across the Universe] in a dapper black suit, took the stage before the premiere after being introduced by co-star and producer Kevin Spacey. We got the idea that the cast had a blast making the film. For our interviews the next morning, everyone was a little worse for wear after a glamorous nite but Jim was very cute in black, long-sleeved sweater and jeans and Kate looked casual chic in a ’60’s retro batik-patterned sundress by Catherine Miran over a black blouse accessorized with copper necklace and bangle bracelets.
At this time last year, most people in the States hadn’t even heard of Jim Sturgess. Twelve months later, he seems to be in every other movie. He stole hearts in Across The Universe, stole scenes in The Other Boleyn Girl, and is about to steal some cash in 21l, the sort-of-true story of Jeff Ma and his team of MIT students that broke the banks in Las Vegas with their card-counting system. Sturgess plays Ben Campbell, an exceptionally smart student who happens to be struggling financially and is handed a way to pay for his dream of Harvard Law School and then some. Ben has a head for math and he becomes the leader of a team of students who have an elaborate card-counting system at the blackjack tables in Vegas. The 26-year-old Sturgess is quickly becoming one of the hottest actors on either side of the pond with co-starring roles with Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta, Rose McGowan, and Ben Kingsley all coming up before the end of the year. And there’s still a chance he might star in a musical stage version of Spider-Man, with songs by Bono and The Edge and direction by Universe helmer Julie Taymor. Sturgess spoke about the musical, his research in Vegas, the rush of gambling, why so many people responded negatively to Across The Universe, and much more when he sat down with The Deadbolt recently while doing press for 21l. We kept the cards off the table.
The Deadbolt: When you’re considering a project, what’s most important to you - the overall story, your character, or the collaborators?
The last thing British actor Jim Sturgess wants is to become a teen poster boy. That may be too late to fret over. He already is in North America after his Jude character in last year’s Across the Universe scored with the under-20 crowd of mostly females.
While his latest portrayal is less fanciful, Sturgess has lots of swooning heartthrob moments in 21, which opens in theatres in a few weeks.
In the movie, Sturgess plays a brainiac MIT student who is led by one of his professors (Kevin Spacey) on card game sojourns to Las Vegas where their
card counting earns the gang millions.
21 (2008) 
