5 Things You Don't Know About Alex Pettyfer

USMagazine, Friday, February 4, 2011, 10:31am (PST)

So just who is Alex Pettyfer, the mysterious Brit who managed to sweep Glee's Dianna Agron off her feet? UsMagazine.com uncovers some need-to-know info about the 20-year-old actor, who appears opposite his reported fiancee in the upcoming sci-fi flick I Am Number Four (in theaters February 18).

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1. He was a child model. A chance encounter with designer Ralph Lauren helped convince Pettyfer to get in front of the camera when he was just eight years old. "This weird-looking guy in the lift said to me, 'You're quite good-looking; you should model for me," he recalled in an interview with the New York Times in 2008. It wasn't until Pettyfer appeared in a Ralph Lauren campaign that he realized just who had discovered him.

2. He clams up in auditions. Before he scored the lead role in I Am Number Four, Pettyfer's nerves got the best of him. "When I went into the auditioning room, I didn't even read," he told Vanity Fair's February issue. "I said to them, 'I really think I'm wrong for this part. I'm really sorry for wasting your time.' And I walked out." Fortunately, director D.J. Caruso convinced Pettyfer to take the part -- and later introduced him to Agron, 24.

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3. He got inked for love. Prior to his relationship with Agron, Pettyfer dated his Wild Child costar Emma Roberts. "I got a girl's name tattooed on my ring finger because I was in love," he told Glamour UK in February 2010. "We've broken up, but I don't live in regret."

4. He's an outdoorsmen. Unlike some of his peers, Pettyfer insists that he isn't charmed by the Hollywood atmosphere. "I'm not into the party scene," he told VMAN in November 2009. "I like to have barbecues on the beach and go rock climbing at Joshua Tree."

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5. He transformed his appearance for Beastly. To fully embody his character in the modern-day fairy tale (which also stars Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen), Pettyfer was asked to radically alter his look. "I had to shave all of my goldilocks, which was one of the hardest things for me mentally," he told HitFix.com in November 2009. "And then physically I put on about 12 to 15 pounds [of muscle], because I'm actually quite a skinny guy."

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