Fast five with Ryan Guzman

1. HIM AND HIS CALVINS

Crowned by tabloids as Hollywood's latest heart-throb, Ryan Guzman first put his hot bod on display in 2009 when he was a Calvin Klein underwear model.

He initially wanted to be a professional baseball player, more specifically "a left-handed pitcher for the Yankees", he told Latina magazine. But after an arm injury and subsequent surgery, his childhood dream struck out.

2. STEPPING UP

The 27-year-old of Mexican, English, Scottish, German, French and Dutch heritage got his showbiz start in the 2012 dance flick Step Up Revolution and its subsequent sequel Step Up All In last year.

Guzman, who found his natural dancing rhythm through practising mixed martial arts, was hailed as the new Channing Tatum, who kick-started his Hollywood career with the very first Step Up movie in 2006.

3. IT BOY

This dreamboat caught the attention of Jennifer Lopez, who chose him to be her male lead in The Boy Next Door, opening here tomorrow.

In the thriller, directed by Rob Cohen and produced by Lopez, the US singer-actress plays Claire, a recently divorced high school teacher who falls into temptation after meeting her son's friend Noah (Guzman).

4. NAUGHTY & NICE

Although Guzman got to make out with Lopez in an extremely steamy scene, Guzman told Latina it was daunting to be naked and doing naughty things to one of the sexiest women in Hollywood. "I never thought I'd be naked in front of the camera," he said. "You see a lot of Ryan Guzman in this film."

Guzman told E! that Lopez was the one who was cool with it. "She was the one who kept me at ease. She talked me down. She said, 'We're going to do this and we're going to do that. Everything is going to be fun. You're going to have fun'. It was."

5. GREY AREA

While Guzman may have had a blast cuddling with Lopez - both are rumoured to be super-cosy in real life - he missed the opportunity to star in another racy movie, Fifty Shades Of Grey.

He told People that he auditioned for the lead role of Christian Grey, but filming for Step Up All In clashed with filming for that movie.

His next project is a starring role in award-winning director Richard Linklater's baseball movie That's What I'm Talking About, where he plays a college freshman who moves into a fraternity-like baseball house with his hard-partying teammates.

Looks like Guzman still has a chance to live out his baseball dream after all.

FAST FACTS

NAME: Ryan Anthony Guzman

BORN: Sept 21, 1987, Texas,US

FILMOGRAPHY: Step Up Revolution (2012), Step Up All In (2014), The Boy Next Door (2015)

This article was first published on Jan 21, 2015.
Get The New Paper for more stories.