In a new released cover story for Teen Vogue, Ansel Elgort stars as the cover star for the September 2015 Issue. In the interview Teen Vogue released online, the Insurgent star talks about his music life and how he incorperates producing music with the time he has on his busy schedule during filming.
Read the interview down below, and look at the amazing behind the scenes photos from the photoshoot thanks to the cooperation from our good friends from Elgort_News. There is a also a behind the scenes video from the photoshoot which you may also check out:
Ansel Elgort: I love how you had no clue I was a DJ back then. When I went into the booth and started playing back-to-back, you were like, “What the hell? Why is he playing with us?”
Martin Garrix: That was an awesome night.
AE: We really became close after the first time you came over to my house in Brooklyn. We have a picture of it, all of us on the water, and I put my Knicks hat on you. That was the beginning of the friendship. We’ve been boys ever since. Then we played Pacha [a club in New York]. Oh, my God, that was epic.
MG: It was crazy. When did you start making music?
AE: My senior year of high school. I began DJing for fun. My friend taught me on a computer with Traktor DJ, and I would play for classmates at parties. But I really fell in love with dance music when I was 18. It took a year before I made anything I was really happy with.
MG: It took me four years, so it’s all good, Ansel.
AE: I was so bad. I called myself “Hanzolo,” but when I told a pal of mine at school, he was like, “Dude, that’s the stupidest name ever. You have to change that. Why don’t you just call yourself ‘Ansolo’?” And I was like, “Oh, word. That’s cooler.” Hanzolo just sounds stupid.
MG: Do you have time to produce music while shooting a film?
AE: I actually get into it more when I’m on set. Right now I’m filming Allegiant: Part 1 in Atlanta all week. I like to focus on it when I’m in the trailer waiting for my scenes.
MG: When you’re going on tour, do you find it hard to travel with just hand luggage?
AE: Everyone makes fun of me because I’ll go places with only a change of clothes and my computer. I even forgot to pack for the Oscars, and my friends thought that was so absurd. I put what I wanted to wear on my bed and didn’t remember to place it in my suitcase. I was in L.A. for four days, and every day leading up to the ceremony I wore the same thing, and I smelled so bad. One day we went hiking in the mountains, and I got so dirty. The day of the Oscars, I go from looking like a slob to wearing a gorgeous Prada suit. It’s like living in two different worlds. But I don’t care. I was fine! I would just go down to the hotel pool in my underwear. But it was nuts — only a year before, I’d been watching the awards show at a viewing party; then, all of a sudden, I’m there presenting an award. I brought my mom, and that was so special.
MG: Unbelievable. Do you have a big suitcase in Atlanta?
AE: No, I have a little one with a few changes of clothes. If I’m lucky, I can get someone to help me with laundry.
MG: You just filmed November Criminals. How was that?
AE: It was great. I worked 13-hour days and was in every scene. That was a really challenging role and, since it wasn’t a big- budget movie, we shot the entire film in 25 days. But I had the weekends off. I actually played Ultra in Miami during that time.
MG: Amazing. How did you have time to prepare your set?
AE: I was going into total overdrive, man. But it was incredible. I felt invincible because I would get up so early and go to sleep so late. All the scenes were really hard. It’s about a kid who is coping with his mom dying of a brain aneurysm and whose dad is a drunk. I love doing emotional work, like The Fault in Our Stars.
MG: I haven’t seen that movie, but I want to watch it with you.
The Divergent Series: Allegiant New York 