Ansel Elgort on being "wifed up," Thanksgiving traditions
Young actor Ansel Elgort broke his fans’ hearts in the tragic drama “Fault in Our Stars,” and he might do it again when they hear what he has to say about his girlfriend, Violetta Komyshan. At the opening of Canada Goose in New York, he said to CBS News, “I’m kind of wifed up to be honest. I think of it like I’m f***ing married.”
Elgort talked to CBS News about his upcoming movies, his career as a DJ and what he’s doing for Thanksgiving.
In your upcoming movie “Jonathan,” you play twins. What was that like for you?
It’s really great. It’s cool. To be honest, I made Jonathan, who’s the main character, very different from me -- and he is -- and John -- the movie is from Jonathan’s point of view -- like me, so I play John close to myself and Jonathan not at all.
You’ve posted anti-Trump sentiments on social media before. How do you feel about him now that he’s the president-elect? How do you think people should move forward?
I think it’s hard to move forward because he’s already done a lot of damage. The Supreme Court is going to be really right-wing, and that’s not what we need. Our country should be a progressive country -- that means moving forward and progressing -- and what Trump means is the opposite of that. He’s going backward, and what he stood for in his campaign was very blatantly racist and sexist and not what America stands for and not what it stood for these past eight years.
We need to move past racism, slavery, genocide -- things like what Shailene [Woodley] is doing, protesting at the DAPL. She’s protesting the disrespect of Native Americans.
Have you talked to Woodley?
Yes, I have. I’d like to get involved but I’ve been busy since all that happened shooting a movie and doing reshoots. But I’d like to get involved. Not enough of us really get involved.
Your career as a DJ is taking off. How do you balance your music and acting? Do you prefer one over the other?
I love playing roles. I love being in “Jonathan” and “Baby Driver” -- all my new films -- but music is really mine. It starts with nothing: a blank slate. I create it from the ground up. My records -- I do the production, the writing, the vocals myself, which is a great feeling.
In a movie, I’m stepping into a product that already exists and I have a role in it, which is great, too, but I love something that’s my baby and I can’t wait to get involved in my show and stage design and what I want to do as an artist so I’m very excited for music.
What are you thankful for this year?
I’m thankful for my family and friends. I have a very strong family and friends and I think recently I’ve really noticed how important that is and that’s a way to keep your sanity in this world be around people you like.
Do you have any holiday traditions?
We always get together and have a nice dinner and talk about what we’re thankful for, which is always very funny because some people go very deep and some people try to get out of it.
You posted on Instagram an emoji illustration of yourself crying with a caption about watching yourself die in “Fault in Our Stars.” Was that really how you felt?
I was pretty upset about it to be honest [laughs]. You know, that movie really got me too, actually, which is good. I was able to step back and watch as a viewer, which I always hope to do in movies and music, and it did to me what it did to a lot of people -- it made me cry.