Justin Timberlake Wants To Be An 'Actor,' Not A 'Movie Star'

Justin Timberlake keeps finding box-office success with roles in animated flicks like "Yogi Bear". And with so much buzz around his film "The Social Network," in which he plays Napster founder Sean Parker, you might think that Timberlake has left the world of music behind for Hollywood. But JT knows that you want him to put out more music.

"They're looking at me like, 'Why aren't you staying with one path?' " he told the Los Angeles Times, referring to his fans' response to his shift in careers. "They look at me like I'm ungrateful for my music career because I want to do film."

Timberlake explains that he always wanted to act, even before selling millions and millions of albums with 'NSYNC, and he admits that when he left 'NSYNC fans were just as riled up when he embarked on his hugely successful and now revered solo career.

"I faced the same feelings when I went solo," he explained. "I had the same obstacles in music. I still do. But I feel like I should pose the question to everyone else: If you had this opportunity, what would you do with it? Entertaining is in my blood. I make no bones about the fact that I have always wanted to work in the forum of film. I take this seriously. I'll be 30 in January, and I'm saying to myself, 'If I'm going to do this, I need to do it now.' "

What it boils down to for Timberlake is that he doesn't just want to be famous at whatever he does — he wants to do it and see what happens regardless of the fan response. "I don't know what a pop 'career' is. I just wanted to be in music," Timberlake said. "I don't necessarily crave to be a movie star. I just want to be an actor. I don't look at it as a career — I just feel lucky. That's not to say I'm going to take every opportunity that comes up. But now I have more chance to plot out a path."

Timberlake says that when the time is right and he can make it work for him again, he'll go back to recording music. "I want to conceptualize something a little bit more," he said. "And it's probably because of the experience I'm having working with directors and screenwriters and getting to play cool characters. If that means I come up with, like, my version of 'Ziggy Stardust,' so be it. Who knows? What I've learned from acting in movies, I want to apply to music and see what happens."