Justin Timberlake as a reporter

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/03/02/showbuzz/index.html#1

Justin Timberlake is going to play a reporter in a new movie. Apparently, all one has to do to play a reporter is to take a lot of notes. Huh.

Justin Timberlake, cub reporter

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- So what's Justin Timberlake uncovering now?

Timberlake, who ripped away part of Janet Jackson's costume at the Super Bowl halftime show, tagged along with Associated Press reporter Bob Porterfield last week to get a taste for journalism.

The Grammy-winning singer will play a reporter who uncovers an elite team of corrupt police in the upcoming film "Edison," starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and LL Cool J. Shooting is expected to begin in Canada in the coming weeks.

Timberlake created a stir at the downtown county courthouse as he filled out an application for legal documents and pored over them with Porterfield in a public viewing area for about 45 minutes.

They pulled an old lawsuit filed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington against an electronics firm that allegedly used their likeness in ads without permission.

"He was interested in learning how you retrieve these public records. Basically, I showed him how you find them, how you request them," Porterfield said Monday.

Porterfield, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who teaches graduate-school journalism, was impressed. "I thought he was sharp. He seemed attentive and interested in learning this stuff. He has a real interest in developing his part. He took quite a few notes."