Jesse McCartney Will Wait Out Shock Before "Departure" Tour

By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith Mar 18, 2008

Jesse McCartney tells us he won't be departing on tour in support of his forthcoming "Departure" album until at least fall. The 20-year-old heartthrob is unveiling a new, more grownup sound -- and image -- on the album as evidence for its first singe/video, "Leavin'." "There's a certain shock value to it. I went through what I call musical puberty," he says of his urban pop stylings. "It's for an older audience than the Disney crowd. We want to let the album settle a little bit and let people catch up with me."

McCartney says it took him two years to put "Departure" together -- a period that included the disappointment of his "Right Where You Want Me" album. "My pop/rock record wasn't well received here -- it did do well overseas. When the head of the label and my best friend (Bob Cavallo of Hollywood Records) told me, 'I want to start over, but I'll make you my priority for 2008,' I slept for a week. I felt so completely shut down," McCartney admits.

The new album is more in line with the music the blond cutie pie loves and grew up on -- Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Michael Jackson. "This is actually the record I wanted to make earlier, but I don't think I was ready for it."

In addition to "Departure," McCartney has the DVD release of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" April 1 -- plus supplying the voice of Jojo in 20th Century Fox's elephantine box office hit "Horton Hears a Who!"

He has prospects for live action movie work ahead, he says, but is focusing on his music for the time being. As is Hollywood Records, to hear Jesse tell it. The Disney subsidiary will be trying for older buyers than its norm. "I think that Hollywood wants so badly to prove they can push an artist without needing all the Disney synergy, and reach an older demographic."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Richard Gere put his affection for canines to the test filming Lasse Hallstrom's recently wrapped "Hachiko: A Dog's Story," to hear leading lady Joan Allen tell it. "Richard's relationship with the dog is very key -- the story is focused on the dog," notes Joan, who plays Gere's wife. "My scenes are not so much with the dog. My character is resistant to having the dog in the house. She says, 'You know we had an agreement -- no more dogs.' She is resistant and, in all honesty, a little jealous when he develops this intense bond with the dog. She feels a bit left out in the cold."

Several puppies played Hachiko as a pup, and "three dogs were rotated in to play the main dog," who is an Akita brought from Japan to the States. Joan adds, "From what I've learned, they're not the most trainable dog around. They're very gorgeous and regal, but they don't really care about pleasing people. The trainers were amazing in what they achieved with these dogs."

MIXED MEDIA: "How I Met Your Mother" regular Cobie Smulders says she managed to get a film in during the writers' strike -- by throwing out the script. "It was an independent movie called 'Slammin' Salmon.' It has all sort of improv," says Smulders, who stars with Michael Clarke Duncan and Bill Paxton in the film, about a Miami restaurant owner who is indebted to the mob and has a contest to see which waiter can earn the most in one night. Smulders says her first improv experience was "very freeing. It was fun to do something different from the TV medium for a few weeks."

Meanwhile, Smulders happily reports that the CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" is one of the few shows getting to do "almost our complete season. I think we're missing two episodes only, so that's great." The actress, who plays newscaster Robin Scherbatsky -- a.k.a. former pop star Robin Sparkles -- on the show, is also excited because "they're getting into some fun stuff in the Robin Sparkles world, and there's the possibility of another music video happening. The first one went over so well, people really enjoyed it. I love doing those videos, they're so fun and silly, and I love doing anything that involves my job as a newscaster."

FOR THE RECORD: "Big Brother" contestant Amber Siyavus was heard making anti-Semitic remarks last year on the Internet feed for the CBS show, not the network broadcast, as this column stated the other day.

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Dancer and choreographer Cris Judd has definitely been expanding his resume of late -- not only as a judge on Lifetime's "Your Mama Don't Dance" dance competition show but also in the acting realm. For one thing, he's completed "Goyband," an indie film "I shot last year. It's about an aging pop star in a boy band, with Adam Pascal from 'Rent.' He's an aging boy-bander, kind of still stuck in the '90s, who gets booked to do a show at this Orthodox Jewish retreat/casino and ends up falling in love with a girl there who is there to be married. I play a converted Orthodox Jewish gay guy who is really flamboyant. It's a lot of fun." The film, also starring Amy Davidson, Natasha Lyonne and Tovah Feldshuh, is awaiting distribution.

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.


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