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Star Spotlight
With roles on MTV's Punk'd, Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and this past summer's Derby Stallion, 17-year-old Rob Pinkston is one of this year's hottest young talents. Coming up, this rising star will hit the big screen next year in The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang, a comedy about searching for a legendary creature. Get to know more about Rob right now with our exclusive interview.
Q & A
Q:
Had you ever ridden a horse before Derby Stallion?
Rob: I didn't get to ride the horse in the movie. I was kind of bummed. My character didn't ride horses. I got to hang out with the horses, pet them, and feed them, which was really cool.
Q:
Did you have fun doing the movie?
Rob: Yeah, we filmed on a field next to a golf course at this beautiful resort. The resort gave us golf carts to drive back and forth from the set. We ended up getting into golf cart races and just fooling around in the golf carts. It was a lot of fun!
Q:
Your character, Chuck, has just moved to a new town and he experiences a lot of peer pressure. Do you identify with or understand what Chuck is going through?
Rob: Yeah, I have moved ten times in my life so far. It has been pretty difficult, but it is really cool because I get to meet new people and it is kind of nice starting over sometimes.
Q:
Do you ever get pressure like Chuck does from his friends?
Rob: When I was younger, I would get stuff like that but I think I have been pretty lucky that I haven't been pushed around by peer pressure.
Q:
When you were younger how did you handle that?
Rob: I think I have a good head on my shoulders. I have a very guilty conscience. If I do even the slightest thing wrong, I have to tell somebody and get it off my shoulders. I couldn't do anything super bad or anything I didn’t want to do.
Q:
How do you think Coconut Head, your character on Ned's Declassified, would handle that same sort of pressure?
Rob: I think he would do the same thing. I think Coconut Head is just a normal guy [who] has always done what he wants to do. He is still a part of the chess club and he pursues his dreams just the way he wants to.
Q:
Do you like identifying with him? What are the things that you think are similar and not similar at all?
Rob: We both are pretty nerdy. I find math pretty easy and he is big on math. He likes chess. I like chess. I think I might have a slightly better fashion sense then Coconut Head, but I think his personality is the reason that he is so cool and people like him. I think if anything, I would admire his personality.
Q:
How long have you been playing chess?
Rob: Since I was a little boy. My grandfather taught me how to play chess. I would play him everyday.
Q:
Do you go back to regular school or are you home-schooled?
Rob: I am doing an independent study program where I do all of my classes either through the Internet or through the mail. I found that the classes are a little more comprehensive. They cover a little bit more stuff. I think the biggest difficulty or change is having to be self-disciplined and telling myself I have to do my work and stay focused.
Q:
Would you like to stick with acting, or do you think you would like to direct or produce?
Rob: It would be fun to try everything. I am really into directing! I love being able to tell stories in new and different ways and express them that way. I would really like to direct, but that doesn’t mean I would want to quit acting for directing. I would love to learn how to work the camera and do cinematography. I love to learn almost everything I could learn.
Q:
What is it like doing Punk’d and working with Ashton and the other guys?
Rob: It was really exciting to work with Ashton because he is such a big star. When I first got on the show I was like, "Wow, this is going to be so cool!" Ashton is a really nice guy. It was really easy to talk to him. I always admire his clothes. He always has the nicest clothes. It was just a lot of fun working on the show.
Q:
How do they come up with the ideas for the show? Have you ever sat in on a brainstorming session?
Rob: They have a couple of people that produce and write the show. Ashton helps write them too. Some of them wouldn't get to happen because the punk'd person wouldn’t make it on time or something or would cancel. Sometimes they wouldn't go down and I wish they did because those were some really funny scripts.
Q:
When did you first know that you wanted to act?
Rob: I was in seventh grade and we had to take different electives as optional classes. We had to get a fine arts credit, and one of the credit classes was drama. I was pretty shy at the time.
Q:
Did you want to challenge yourself?
Rob: Yeah, I just figured why not? So I took it and we had different scenes to prepare throughout the entire semester and perform them at the end for our parents after school. I did a monologue and it ended up being much better then I expected. I just got a thrill from being up on the stage. I loved making people laugh so I ended up taking the class like three or four times.
—Interview by Marie Morreale
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Rob Pinkston
(Photo: Debi Patton)
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STAR STATS
Star Calendar
You can catch Rob on the Nickelodeon series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.
Star Stats
Full Name: William Robert Pinkston IV
Nickname: Babycakes
Birth date: January 30, 1998
Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia
Current residence: Valencia, California
Height: 5'
Hair/eyes: dirty blond/brown
Star Faves
Sports: football
TV show: Lost
Actors: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio
Musicians: The Postal Service
Food: Cheesecake
Color: Blue
School subjects: Drama, math, and history
Author: J.K. Rowling
Book: The Hobbit
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