On the Line, the first film featuring members of 'NSync, the world's best-selling pop act, arrives in theaters Friday. The romantic comedy stars Lance Bass and Joey Fatone as Kevin and Rod, buddies in search of the “perfect girl” Kevin met on a commuter train. (She's played by Canadian newcomer Emmanuelle Chriqui.)

        A few days before 'NSync was scheduled to perform in the “United We Stand” benefit at RFK Stadium, Mr. Fatone took time out from rehearsals to talk about the his film debut.

        Question: Everybody was expecting your first film to be 'NSync's A Hard Day's Night, or at least Spice World, but On the Line is just you and Lance and you don't play yourselves. Why did you make this movie?

        Answer: We didn't want to go that route. We didn't want to make the obvious. We wanted to just basically play different characters and hopefully expand on our acting careers. He (Rod) is stuck a little bit in high school. He still has that mentality. He's not the brightest character.

        Q: But he's not too different from the lovable goofball you play onstage with 'NSync; he's even a musician. Was it a conscious decision not to move too far from what people expect?

        A: There was a little typecasting (laughs). I think, for the first movie, that was the best and the safest way to go as far as doing a character.

        I'm not going to jump into some R-rated movie or a horror movie right away. I hope to do something like that some day.

        But obviously, those movies wouldn't be for my demographic audience. The movie's for the fans, just to thank them for helping us out with everything with 'NSync.

        Why not give them a movie that they can all go see?

        Q: It's not easy going from pop star to movie star, as Mariah Carey most recently found out. What makes you think you can do it?

        A: I think it all depends on the person and what their background was, as far as acting is concerned. In high school I did a lot of Shakespearean plays, dramatic one-act plays like Grapes of Wrath and musicals as well.

        So I mean I did a little bit of everything.

        Q: What was the biggest difference between acting in the movie and performing with 'NSync?

        A: Well, obviously, you don't have a live crowd to feed off of (doing a movie). It was weird.

        Obviously, you feed off the crowd when they're cheering and singing your songs and dancing. You see that right off the bat.

        But doing a movie you don't see anything until months later, the reaction of the crowds or the critics.

        Q: With the way the world has changed in recent weeks, is a movie like On the Line still relevant?

        A: It's actually one of the best things I think to come out. It's not explosions, it's not anything that has to deal with anything that's going on (after the terrorist attacks).

        For 80 minutes you can forget about that when you're in the movie theater. It's a feel-good movie. It's a romantic comedy. So I think it's something that everybody needs to check out, just to get their mind off of things.

Stadium's suite success
McGuinn feels at home with the folks
'NSync stars put film career 'On the Line'
Dual blues bands tear up tiny Latonia bar
Sum 41 show was more filler than killer
KNIPPENBERG: Knip's Eye View
Artists respond to attacks
Roundup your knowledge of 'Toy Story 2,' skating
You'll see MTV host 'Later'
The Early Word
Top 10s
Get to it