Sam Rockwell has asked Justin Timberlake for dancing tips as he’s looking to play choreographer Bob Fosse in a new movie.
Sam, 49, won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture on Sunday (07Jan18) for his portrayal of a dimwitted police officer in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – the latest in a string of prizes he’s won for the role.
He finds that one benefit of being an awards season contender is that he gets to mingle with other stars, including Justin Timberlake – who he chatted with about dance.
“There are moments of enjoyment when you’re rubbing shoulders with a mentor like Gary Oldman,” he told The Times. “That’s a kick. Tom Hanks, who I’ve worked with. Meryl Streep. Judi Dench…Oh, I got to talk about dancing with Justin Timberlake.”
Revealing his reason for talking to Justin about his dancing skills, Sam added, “Well we were talking about Bob Fosse, who I might play. He knows a lot about it. I showed him a move and he showed me a cooler way to do it – because he’s Justin f**king Timberlake.”
Although he’s not got the SexyBack singer’s skills, Sam is pretty confident in his ability and explained: “I’m pretty good. Not as good as Justin.”
In addition to winning eight Tony Awards for choreography, Bob won an Oscar for directing the 1972 film Cabaret, and also helmed his own acclaimed semi-autobiographical 1979 movie, All That Jazz. The legendary dance star passed away, aged 60, in 1987.
Sam has not been announced as the star of any forthcoming biopic on Bob’s life – and the last time one was mooted was in 2011 when executives at cable network HBO optioned a biography by Sam Wasson with a view to adapting it into a TV movie.
The Usual Suspects filmmaker Bryan Singer was initially attached to direct the film, with Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, the duo behind movies such as Hairspray and Chicago on board as executive producers, before the project stalled.
