<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Photographed by Bruce Weber.It almost wasn't a job,\" Tom Sturridge says about his upcoming 1966-set film, Pirate Radio. \"We'd wake up every morning at six--Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix blasting over the speakers on the... Photographed by Bruce Weber.\n\nIt almost wasn't a job,\" Tom Sturridge says about his upcoming 1966-set film, Pirate Radio. \"We'd wake up every morning at six--Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix blasting over the speakers on the boat--sail into the middle of the ocean, and watch the sun come up.\" Tom plays Carl, an unruly teenager who, after being expelled from prep school, is sent to live with his godfather (Bill Nighy) on a rusty trawler in the North Sea. It's hardly punishment, though: The ship, which broadcasts an illegal but hugely popular rock 'n' roll station, is helmed by a motley crew of rambunctious DJs (Philip Seymour Hoffman, whom Tom calls \"a god,\" stars as the leader of the pack).\n\nThe 23-year-old Brit, who has appeared in Vanity Fair and Being Julia, shares some similarities with his character, Carl: Tom dropped out of high school and never graduated. \"I hated it so much,\" he says. \"It just wasn't for me.\" Such antipathy towards academia also helped him get into character recently; he has spent the past couple months garnering brilliant reviews as the lead in the U.K. production of Punk Rock, a play about rebellious private-schoolers that's been compared to Broadway hits The History Boys and Spring Awakening.\n\nBefore taking the stage for Punk Rock, Tom lived in a tent with his aunt and cousins in Botswana, couch-surfed around Manhattan and Los Angeles, and filmed the indie romantic comedy Waiting for Forever--which is expected to debut at Sundance this January. In it, he stars as Will, a homeless street performer in pursuit of the girl (Rachel Bilson) he's loved since he was six. \"I had to learn how to juggle to play that part,\" he says, laughing. \"I thought I was good, but it turns out I was really terrible.\"\n\nIt seems he may be having his Hollywood moment, but Tom--with his almost studied nonchalance and carefree disposition--is certainly taking it all in stride. \"Some people are defined by what they do,\" he says while tugging at his mop of thick, dark hair. \"But for me, it's just a gig, a few months here and there. I spend the majority of my life not acting.\" --LINDSAY TALBOT"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/tom-sturridge-pirate-radio>