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a I www.star-telegram.com Tuesday, June 22, 2010 3E Actor: Group already has a hit single CONTINUED FROM 1E "It's like life imitating art," Henderson says. "Or is it art imitating life?" Either way, it's not uncommon for Henderson and his Big Time Rush buddies James Maslow, Carlos Pena Jr. and Kendall Schmidt to experience "ridiculously fake and -over-the-top Hollywood moments" and to find themselves saying, "Wow, that was like something that could happen in the show!" The line between real life and TV fantasy is blurred even more because Big Time Rush NICKELODEON really is a band in the making. In the tradition of the Monkees of the late 1960s, these actors were cast not just to star in a cartoonish TV comedy, but also to make real music and to perform in concert. Big Time Rush is currently recording debut album, to be released by Label Group at the end of summer.

When the group released a single in April, the aptly titled Halfway There, it cracked into the Billboard Hot 100. Maybe, given that the show opened last November as Nickelodeon's highestrated premiere in three decades, the song should have been titled Already There. The guys are that big of a hit with the 8-to-16-year-old crowd that also adores Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and iCarly. "I never thought of myself as. teen celebrity material," Henderson says.

"But it's been a blessing to be on a show where I can showcase my acting and my singing." It has been quite a journey to get this far. Henderson was still a student at Birdville High School in North Richland Hills when he showed up for a cattle call audition in Dallas for Big Time Rush. At the time, he had only one notable TV acting credit on his an episode of Friday Night Lights, but he already knew "there was nothing else I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life except for this." More than 1,500 teens and young adults auditioned, af- what's hot now" but also Billie Holiday, B.B. King, Elvis Costello and Prince. Once Henderson made it to L.A., mind you, he didn't experience immediate success.

One low moment, he recalls, was being fired from a TV commereral before filming began because the director felt he "looked wrong" for the part. "I didn't even have a chance to be terrible in my first commercial," he says. But then the producers from Big Time Rush came calling, and everything fell into place. "It was a long audition process," he says. "It took a good two years to find everybody and actually get it set in stone.

I've never heard of anything like that. Two years? That's just flat-out ridiculous. But they were very particular about getting the right Not just people who could sing and act, but also who brought a certain spark to the roles. And I think they found it. I think they found all the puzzle pieces." Henderson's character is the one most likely to question the wisdom of his buddies' harebrained schemes.

"I've gotta get new friends," the TV version of Logan laments, although he inevitably goes along. In reality, Henderson says he couldn't have been teamed with a better group of guys. "They're great, genuine people," he says. "Even all of our families get along really well with one another. We stick to each other pretty tight.

Honestly, without even one of us, there, wouldn't be this show. We have our flareups every now and then, but when you're working 16 hours a day with somebody, that's bound to happen. But we all get over it really quickly, like guys always do. I mean, a second later, we're like, 'Let's go record some or 'Let's go play some and it will all be better. "We're a tight-knit group, and we love what we're do- Lee: Actor says new cop show has '70s vibe It took two years to find the right cast for the show, Henderson says.

NICKELODEON ter which perfectionist executive producer Scott Fellows took his sweet time winnowing the candidates down to his final four, meaning that Henderson didn't hear back about the role right away. Instead of waiting and hoping, however, he took the initiative and moved to L.A. once he turned 18, completing his final semester of high school in California. "It's a little scary to make a leap of faith like that," Henderson says. "But why sell yourself short? I'm all about going big." Mind you, back in North Texas, Henderson had been in an acting class with Demi Lovato, who hit it big in Disney Channel's Sonny With a Chance, and Selena Gomez, the breakout star of Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place.

If they could make it, Henderson reasoned, why couldn't he? "I also think it helped that my parents were behind me 100 percent," he adds. Although no one in his family has a show-business background (his father is a school therapist and his mom works in the pharmaceutical industry), Henderson notes that many family members, especially his grandparents, love music and are musically gifted. As a result, Henderson's musical tastes are quite eclectic, including "not just CONTINUED FROM 1E But perhaps even more remarkable about Lee's transformation is the ease with which he inhabits this new character. He's one of those lucky actors who can make his work on-screen look effortless. Oh, and did we mention that Dwight moonlights as an Elvis impersonator? "It's fun to kind of stop and think, 'Wow, who knew after Earl got canceled that I would go from that to playing a detective and singing Elvis songs on a stage in Lee says.

"But that's the beauty of acting. You never know what's going to come next." We chatted with Lee about starting a new show, playing a detective and performing as Elvis. What most attracted you to this show? We're kind of making an oldschool cop show. I think Memphis Beat feels like it could have been a cop show from the '70s, like The Rockford Files or The Streets of San Francisco, which is cool. How much of Memphis Beat is filmed in Memphis? We're going to Memphis every couple of weeks to get some key stuff.

But most of it is done in New Orleans. Both places are heavy in music and food and culture. The sense of overwhelming pride is so infectious. Then you add the heat and the humidity to each day, and it gives us a lot to work with. If your career as an actor ever takes a downturn, do you think you could make it CINEMARI For advance tickets showtimes visit cinemark.com or call 1-800-FANDANGO Exp Code Movies 8 North Richland Hills Movies 16 Grand Prairie Tinseltown 9 Arlington Tinseltown Grapevine Mansfield 12 Jason Lee plays Dwight Hendricks, himself at night.

But somebody else in Las Vegas as an Elvis impersonator? I hate to burst your bubble, but my voice didn't quite cut it. When we started recording, somebody else had to step in. Would I like to be doing the singing myself? Absolutely. It would be fun. But at least I get to do half of it.

I get to play a guitar onstage, and I get to at least look like I sing. It's my job as an actor to make it feel right. If I can accomplish that, then it's a good thing. Hypothetically, if the word "karma" were in a script, would you be leery about referencing it, given that your previous character was so closely associated with the word and the concept? a detective by day and the King does Lee's singing. JUSTIN STEPHENS No, I'd power through it, man.

might even look at it as a good thing, a sign of sorts. The beauty of that show, it was a silly sitcom, but it had a genuine heart to it. And you couldn't help but think about how important it is at the end of the day just to try to do the right thing and love your fellow man. That said, are you happy that you don't have to wear the Earl Hickey mustache anymore? I'm very happy to have lost the mustache. It was one of the best choices I've ever made as an actor, deciding to have that thing, because I knew it would just make that character, and absolutely it did.

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