CosmoGirl Article with Justin

You know him as the blue-eyed, curly-haired angel from *NSYNC. But he has a lot more on his mind than just music. Here, the thoughtful 19-year-old from Tenneesse talks about charity, spirituality, and why most of his girlfriends have cheated on him. By Elizabeth Kuster

Okay, Justin, the first thing we want to ask you about is your new charity-The Justin Timberlake Foundation. How'd you get the idea to start it?
The idea came from me growing up with a school that didn't have a very good musical program. If I hadn't begged my mom to do things outside of school-like take voice lessons- I probably wouldn't be where I am today. So I gave and have been raising money to give to schools. I think kids should learn about every different style and era of music and have it be fun. Classes should include today's music too--something they're familiar with. When I've raised enough money to cover what each school needs, I want to oversee the cirriculum. I wanna stir up the grits a little bit.

It's cool you're so personally involved. A lot of celebs attach their name to a charity and that's it.
Well, it's very important to me, for a couple of reasons. One I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me going outside of school to do music. Two, Columbine. I think it's dumb that people were saying "Those kids did that because they were listening to Marilyn Manson music, blah, blah, blah." That's shallow. But we do know that kids who did it weren't the most popular kids. Everytime you give kids an oppurtunity let out their energy in a positive way, you're gonna have a better outcome. I mean, say you get a couple of kids who don't fit in, and in their off time they go and form a garage band. The next thing you know they're Pearl Jam or Blink 182. It could happen to anyone. It really could.

You seem to be comfortable with who you are have you always been like that.
Well, I went through an insecure stage in middle school. I was always questioning myself in anything and everything. A lot of times people think before they act, and I think sometimes they should act before they think. It's funny how much we use our minds to second guess ourselves, when in reality we should just use our hearts and go for it!

So it sounds like you went through an awkward stage in middle school. What about grade school?
I hated my hair. That was the thing everybody teased me about: They called me Brillo Pad. I was always trying to straighten the crap out of it or cut it all of. I couldn't deal. In second grade, I took, like paper scissors and just cut my hair all uneven. I was like, "I can't stand this snip, snip, snip." That's the only time I ever really got a spanking.

What made you go that far?
I just wanted to be like everyone else. My hair at least. 'Cause everybody's like "Your hair! Your hair!" It wasn't like everybody said "Oh that's cool"- like now. Now I get compliments on my hair because it's so different. But you know kids just make fun of each other. They're cruel. Anything that's different gets picked on. You had to look the look and walk the walk.

And now that you're older you want to be different- you want to be your own person.
I'm just a very passionate person in everything I do. I really believe that whenever you do something you should put everything into it; otherwise, it's really not worth it.

We've heard that you "put-everything-into-it-attitude" has overwhelmed some of you past girlfriends. Is that true?
Every relationship I've been in, I've eventually overwhelmed the girl because they just can't handle all the love. Honestly! That's always been my dilemma.

Well, how do you show a girl love?
There all kinds of little things you can do.

So you tell them you love them, you give them things, you do things for them...
All of the above.

Do you call them 24/7?
Well, I'm not annoying. I'll do things like put cards in their drawers.... I mean dresser drawers. And scavenger hunts--I'll hide clues, and they'll follow them to the gift.

That's so sweet! Is it true that one of your girlfriends cheated on you? She must have been totaly crazy!
Most of the girls I've been with have cheated on me.

But you don't think all girls are like that right?
I'm trying not to. But I went through a period where I was disgusted. I'd totally give myself to somebody, and she took it for granted and I was like "What is anything worth?" I kinda felt like it was all just a game, and I wasn't into playing the game. So I despised women for about a half a year.

Did somebody finally sit down and say "You gotta have hope?" or something?
Yeah. And you just get over it. You learn that the people you were with just didn't love themselves enough to be honest with you. That's really it. You have to know it wasn't you it was them--they couldn't be honest with themselves, so they couldn't be honest with you either

You have so many female fans who love you. Have you and the other *NSYNC guys ever talked about who's labeled the heartthrob?
No. I think we all have a good attitude about everything. Everybody has a niche, and our differences are what make us a group. If there was one less of us, it wouldn't be *NSYNC. We definitely feel blessed, but you know that if we were sitting in a small club singing in front of fifty people we'd still be happy.

In the last year, *NSYNC has gotten so big it's insane. What have you learned about yourself through this superstardom thing?
That when you're on tour, you get disillusioned. There are lots of yes - people out there who tell you what you want to hear so they can get what they want out of you. I hate to sound jaded, but Chris and the other guys are really the only people I can always depend on to be honest with me.

Because your all in the same boat?
Exactly.

You singled Chris out. Are you and he a lot a like?
I have stuff in common with all of the guys. But Chris and I have the same intrests. We always talk about sports, and we have a lot of the same views on family and spirituality.

What about your spirituality? Have you ever had any spirtual experiences?
Well, I think miracles happen everyday. You know, I don't get a chance to go to church any more so some people might say I'm not as involved in my spirtuality as them. That's so not true. I don't wany any people to think I'm blasting the church; I'm just saying I can get the same experiences outside of church. I read my Bible but don't base my decisions on what the Bible says: I base my decisions on my experiences with God. I saw this T-shirt the other day that said, "I'm not religious, I just love God." I thought that was a cool little message. I don't want to get too deep into this conversation, because my spirituality is mine and I really don't want anyone to feel something that they don't want to feel. But my thing is God is all around us--in everything we say, everything we do, everything we feel. I really believe that.

And you believe in angels too?
Oh, sure. Um...I'm telling you, you're gonna get me into this conversation and people are gonna be like "He's a freak!" But okay, I think angels could possibly be people who've lived more lives than others. If that makes sense to you. They've already figured out who they are, and so all they do is give to other people. Haven't you ever had someone in your life who never though about themselves--they just gave and gave to other people?

Yes. Moms are that way.
I feel like women have lived more lives than men anyway.

That's an awesome idea. Why do you feel that way? Because we're more in touch with...
With everything.

Emotions?
Exactly. Do you think you are? Okay have you ever heard the term "You're an old soul?" People say that to me all the time. Well, women are old souls.

Since you have an old soul--you're a giving person-- people could say you're an angel.
I guess you could say that, sure. But I really don't think that you should categorize me that way. Trust me, I definitely do things for me. I just do what makes me happy. If there ever comes a time when I'm not having fun doing what I do, then I'm just gonna quit. I mean what ever makes you happy, live by that.

CosmoGirl November 2000