American Teen Is No Hills

And that's a good thing. But some of the real-life stars of the Oscar-buzzin' documentary still wanna make it in Hollywood

By Marc Malkin Jul 22, 2008 6:30 PMTags
American Teen cast: Mitch Reinholt, Jake Tusing, Hannah Bailey, Megan Krizmanich, Colin ClemensMichael Buckner/WireImage.com

What do you get when you take five teenagers and have camera crews follow them 24/7 during their senior year in high school?

Nope, not only The Hills but the new full-length feature documentary American Teen.

"We're a little more real than The Hills," says Colin Clemens, one of the five real-life stars of the flick.

But that doesn't mean Clemens doesn't want some of Lauren Conrad & Co.'s Hollywood life...

Before we get to that, though, let me give you a quick synopsis of American Teen, which opens Friday. (Dark Knight is not the only movie playing these days!) After following 15 Warsaw, Ind., high school seniors for about 12 months, director Nanette Burstein's final cut centers around (above, left to right) heartthrob Mitch Reinholt, video game geek Jake Tusing, artsy outsider Hannah Bailey, resident mean girl Megan Krizmanich and basketball star Clemens.

The flick's been generating Oscar buzz ever since it became one of the most talked about favorite films at this year's Sundance festival.

The five relocated to L.A. for most of this summer to promote the movie. No wonder there's been some Hollywood fever creeping into the group.

"Colin is going to be a comedian," Reinholt said over Sunday brunch at West Hollywood's Taste restaurant. "He's gonna be huge."

"Or an actor—whatever," Clemens added.

For now, Clemens, who will enter his junior year of college in the fall, is concentrating on his basketball career. After school, he hopes to play overseas before coming back to the States to join the NBA.

And then Hollywood? "I will definitely give it a try," he says.

Tusing is also jonesing for a career in the entertainment industry.

"I didn't have any plans for a career until I got out here and I saw what was available," Tusing said. "I have no idea what I want to be doing. But I do remember, when I was a kid and watching movies I wanted to be a director, but then I wanted to be a producer. But I'm not sure what a producer does, aside from like funding. Maybe I just want to be rich like them."

Everyone already knows Bailey wants to be a director, because she talks about it in the flick.

Krizmanich is premed and wants to be an ob-gyn. Reinholt also has his eyes on medicine, as an optometrist.

But in the short term, all five have something much more pressing to worry about: their upcoming live appearance on Thursday's Today show.

"I'm trying not to think about it right now, because I think I'm gonna be really nervous," Reinholt said.

"It's crazy," Krizmanich said. "I gotta pack, but I don't know what I'm going to wear."