Top dog

Up-and-comer Emile Hirsch rules the pack in "Alpha Dog."

By Kevin Maynard

"Los Angeles is a strange place," says Emile Hirsch, 21, of his hometown. "Growing up in Southern California is like growing up in the Wild West. It's like the final frontier."

Being a local has informed his best performances -- like a Venice skateboarding legend in "Lords of Dogtown" and now as a teenage drug czar in "Alpha Dog," in which he stars opposite Justin Timberlake.

The film, inspired by true events, follows teen gangsters in the San Gabriel Valley who hold a boy for ransom and eventually murder him over illegal drug money. Hirsch plays Johnny Truelove, a character who is based on Jesse James Hollywood, one of the youngest people on the FBI's most-wanted list.

Hirsch found the film's subject matter disturbing. "These kids listen to violent hip-hop, play violent video games and watch 'Scarface' while they get drunk and stoned," he says. "They think no one can touch them and never have time to develop a conscience."

He was also hesitant (at first) to work with Timberlake. "I mean, he's a superstar, but he hasn't really acted," Hirsch says. "But JT was cool. He didn't have an entourage, didn't have attitude. And he's not afraid to razz anyone who bags on his N'Sync days."

Hirsch follows one true story with another: Into the Wild, an adaptation of Jon Krakauer's best seller about an adventurer in the Alaskan wilderness, due this fall. He plays the lead.

Working under director Sean Penn during the arduous eight-month shoot was life-changing for Hirsch: "It was amazing. I mean, every young actor idolizes Sean."

Although the shoot is over, you still can see Penn's influence all over the young star. Hirsch drives a Prius hybrid, reads books such as "The Great Deluge" by Douglas Brinkley (about Hurricane Katrina victims) and asks repeatedly that the fact he smokes Camels be downplayed. "Sean has encouraged me to stand for something," he says. "But I'm still getting on my feet."