Shane West, star of The CW’s Nikita (Thursdays, 9 ET/PT), never got into any of the more recent spy television series like Alias or Dark Angel.

Old school Miami Vice was more his thing.

“But we’re not wearing pastels and I’m not driving a Ferrari or a Lamborghini,” says West.

It was over a decade ago when West, now 32, first gained attention on Once and Again and then again in 2004 when he joined the cast of ER for five seasons.

“I’ve been very fortunate, especially with the two series I have done which were critically acclaimed and won awards and things like that,” acknowledges the Baton Rouge, La. native.

After his run on ER, West turned to his other passion, music. He went on an American and European tour with the celebrated punk rock band, The Germs. “I’d like to get back to that,” says West, who had earlier folded up his own band, Johnny Was, rather than compromise to make a record deal. “It’s a crazy dream come true. An absolute rush playing with those guys, being part of that scene.”

Then West, who after touring made some independent films which ultimately may never find distributors, decided it was time to get back into “the mainstream” and venture into his first pilot season (auditions for potential new TV series) since Once and Again.

“The (movie) industry is so destroyed right now anyway,” says West. “If you’re not Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise you are not even being able to audition for a lot of movies nowadays for lack of finances and all that kind of stuff.”

Nikita was West’s first choice but he was truly surprised they considered and then chose him to play Michael, the male lead opposite actress Maggie Q.

Read the rest of the interview here

Skytv interviewed Shane’s co-star Melinda Clark at the opening night of “West Side Story” some weeks ago; she talked about Nikita and Shane saying really lovely thing about him! Take a look!

Zap2it have a new interview with Shane for us! I think it’s a really good one, talking about, fears, first kiss and bad habits… Take a look!

Shane West has a very loyal following, and being able to play dark, brooding and conflicted on The CW’s “Nikita” is just part of the appeal.

Unlike Division agent Michael, however, West is very positive and open, subjecting himself to Zap2it’s probing Celeb Slam Book questions with good humor and candor. It’s not like he has anything to hide. In fact, most of his fans are already well aware of his musical talents and various tattoos.

West’s first order of business under Zap2it’s sinister too-bright light bulb is to divulge his first “real” kiss. It sounds a little tricky, but as any actor learns, it’s all about improvising. Here’s the dirty deets:

“I’ll pass on the name,” West tells Zap2it. “I guess it would have been pretty late. I’d have to say junior year of high school. I’m talking first real kiss. I kissed a million girls in kindergarten. So junior year in high school, outside of a movie theater on a slope that we kept slowly sliding down, which is really embarrassing. And then my mom came and picked us up. It was awesome. I don’t think I ever saw her again.”

Her loss we say.

West also dishes on his biggest fears, worst habit and a very sweet and scary treat he indulges in once a year.

1) What’s your guiltiest music pleasure?
There’s always something to say about ’80s one-hit wonders. Being born in ’78, I certainly have plenty of that. I have my iTunes right in front of me. Well, some people truly love the music, but I’ll say for certain nights out in Las Vegas and that kind of stuff, I have some Rihanna and Lady Gaga. That’s not what I normally listen to, but obviously the world does, so I don’t know if that goes under a guilty pleasure, but it would be for me as well as plenty of Motley Crue, Poison and all the hair bands from the ’80s, which are a lot of fun.

2) If you could jam with one person dead or alive, who would it be?
Joe Strummer, singer for The Clash. Big time. And he is dead, unfortunately.

3) Which celebrity do you find attractive?
There are many. I’d have to go with Angelina Jolie on that one. I’ve liked her since “Cyborg 2,” which is a movie not many people saw. Check it out. It’s one of her first films. It was pre-”Hackers,” but not by much I don’t think.

4) What’s your worst habit or trait?
It’s been smoking in the past, which I’ve cut out. It was biting my nails in the past, which I’ve now cut out. I’m 32, so I did a full life reversal at 30 of at least paying attention to things more and actually getting them done instead of screwing around with them. I’d say it’s just — I have an inherent laziness that’s built in me that I have to fight through all the time. So I would say getting off the couch. I’m very much a huge movie watcher and book reader, and even though that can be productive, it still does mean sitting on the couch. So I think my worst habit is getting me out of the house. Once I get out then I can keep moving.

5) What’s the latest book and/or movie that affected you the most?
I just finished, believe it or not, “On the Road” for the first time, about five or six months ago. It was one of the reasons why I drove — I didn’t hitchhike — but I drove from Los Angeles to Toronto to shoot “Nikita.” It affected me enough, and I had not done that before. I had done it on tour buses with my band, but you’re on a tour bus and you’re asleep. It doesn’t really count. So that book truly affected me in that sense that I wanted to feel that Americana and see it. I’m currently reading “The Fountainhead,” which is going to take me a year I guess because it’s like 800 pages. I make sure I start and finish everything, so I can’t just stop even though I have other books to read.

“Paranormal Activity 2″ was really creepy. I didn’t really realize it was that effective until I tried sleeping the last couple of nights. There’s also a movie that came out called “A Prophet” that came out this year. Brilliant film. It’s essentially a “Godfather”-like tale taking place in prison. I hadn’t seen a film that powerful as they had been 20-25 years ago in that genre. It seems like it had been a while since the last “Goodfellas.”

6) Who do you text with the most?
Currently that would be all the actors and actresses I’m working with right now. In reality, my buddy from high school, my sister back in LA and the three good friends who are my roommates.

7) What is your deepest fear?
Besides failure, it would have to be sharks and drowning. I did go swimming with sharks in Hawaii a couple years ago to try and get over the fear, and I did a pretty damn good job, but it’s still a brutal way to go. And I’ve always thought drowning would be terrible.

8) What’s a surprising activity you do in your free time?
I’m pretty much an open book from what people know about me. Besides you know, reading, watching movies, I play the guitar, I go to the gym a lot, I run. I think those things people already know. I started rock climbing here in Toronto. With a rope. Aaron Stanford, one of the actors on the show, is getting really into it. He just started bouldering, so wants me to go with him and do that with no line or anything. I’m trying to find time for that because it’s a great way to stay in shape. And it’s not boring, that’s for sure. It’s a great combo.

9) What’s your food weakness?
Because of Halloween ending not too long ago, my weakness around there are breakfast cereals such as Boo Berry, Franken Berry and Count Chocula. And I’m still frustrated to this day that they are not sold all the time and only sold during Halloween. Obviously someone made the decision — well, they’re terrible for you, so it’s a good thing they’re not. But it’s fun to have during Halloween. I’m looking at them right now. Those three boxes that were sent to me from my roommate in LA they’re currently in my kitchen in Toronto sitting next to egg white protein, Emergen C and Clif bodybuilder bars … and Boo Berry and Franken Berry

MTV. com interviewed Shane fot the program “The Seven > The Seven | Exclusives”. You can see the video of MTV.com site:

I know that some people outside the US can’t see the video so I ripped it for you and uploaded on YouTube so everyone can now see it!

If you want you can also download it in a better quality here.
Enjoy!

Another video interview of Shane at New York Comic-Con last week. I really couldn’t find an embed code for this one, so I’m afraid it’s just a link again. But so very worth it when you look at the icon they used in the corner *melts*

I just found another interview of Shane at comic-con. I don’t think you can embedd with the type of player they used, so here’s a link

Shane West at the New York Comic-Con”

And this was the description:
Nikita star Shane West joined us in the press room at New York Comic Con to talk about landing the role of Michael, how previous version of Michael influence his portrayal, working in Toronto, what’s coming up for his character, his lack of stunts on Nikita, and more. And because we know what Nice Girls like, we made sure to get some good forearm shots and close ups of his “dreamy” face.

As many of you probably knows Shane, Maggie and Lynsdy were at the NY Comic-Con last weekend! They talked about Nikita and a lot of other stuffs! We’re trying to find as many articles as possible about Shane’s appeareance, by now you can read something here:

We also find a lot of pics from the NY Comic-Con and from the “old” CW Upfront at Multipleverses so take a look at the gallery!

CW Upfront

NY Comic-Con

Another cute and intersting interview from Shane as always. You can check it out here:

Shane West Dishes on His “Nikita” Role and Hitting