New Interview for August Magazine

Morning is his favorite time of day. You would think a party animal like Michael Reese Meyers was a night owl but he enjoys the quiet of a 7am stroll through the park listening to his iPod or grabbing a quick coffee at the local Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. "It's peaceful, I love it", he says. That is, until he sees the joggers holding hands. "Couples ruin it for me though. I have to turn away". Meyers still winces at the sight of romantic bliss. Not out of disgust, but out of jealousy. The world famous, incredibly well off Oscar nominated actor, who has bedded and dated some of the most beautiful women in the industry, is still, quite lonely. "I'm ready for love. I really think I am. I always wanted it, but I wasn't READY for it." Maturity, he feels, was the one thing keeping him back from getting the one thing he wants most in life, "happiness". He knows he has to put on a happy face and promote his new romantic drama If I Had You, which opens this week in cinemas and co-stars Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Rosie Huntington, but inside, he is dreading the inevitable topics he will have to face during the press tour. "It's a film about love, something that has eluded me my whole life, so of course I'm gonna hate talking about (love)".

Meyers plays a reformed drug addict turn successful restaurant owner in the film who tries to win back Keira's character, his ex-girlfriend from years past in the film, away from her emotionally distant husband (Worthington) who is away on a business trip with his flirtacous co-worker (Huntington). Meyers had to dawn a British accent for the role, something he's done twice before, the first being his very first movie role in Bend It Like Beckham (which also starred Knightley as a love interest for his character) and the second being his turn as James Bond 007 in this summer's Quantum of Solace. Meyers can relate to having to rehabilitate your image to get a female to trust you again. "I have to do it all the time" he says when courting a female who believes the media image of his bad boy womanizing ways is true. He admits he could never be with female friends like Keira Knightley or Olivia Wilde, both of whom he refers to as "like older sisters" because he isn't mature enough yet. "I have to be the man I want to be for a woman of that caliber and class to want to be with me, I know that now". The wise sage who informed him of this, his current squeeze, well former squeeze, Neve O'Reilly...the Irish actress he met on the set of Trust Me in New York this summer who will be his co-star in next year's Oliver Stone thriller The Devil's Double. "She's been a life changing person in my life. A best friend, a lover, everything. She taught me so much and I am forever grateful". The two are no longer together he says but when he informed her of the types of women he wants to be with she informed him "what do you have to offer these types of women?" That's when he realized he was constantly feeling "not good enough" for a reason, because he wasn't. Lately he has been reaching out to L.A.'s homeless, visiting shelters every other day and making friends with a few of them, including an old man named "Bobby", a pregnant 19 year old named "Roxeanne", and a 22 year old named Erica whom he recorded a video with and put on his website. "I wanna participate in charities more. I want to travel. Be more politically aware. More artistic. Just be a more well rounded person whose daily life doesn't revolve around when I'm getting laid next."

Meyers feels every girl he meets has a profound impact on him and the way he sees things, but he is ready to settle down. "I want love, marriage, all that. Not sure if I want kids or not, but I have time to decide. I gotta meet the right girl first". He has had a few offers that he has turned down though. "Oh some girls have hollered", he confesses with a sly smile. After denying to say who for almost 5 minutes, he is persuaded to reveal what Hollywood females have called asking for his attention. "Michelle Rodriguez. She actually e-mailed me once and wanted to go out. I told her I was busy and would get back to her but I never did". When asked why he simply goes "I don't know, not my type". He also name drops The Roommate actress Minka Kelly as a suitor as well. "Minka Kelly tried to get at me but she was with Derek Jeter at the time and I didn't need the drama". He admits a few years ago, he would have not cared whether or not she was in a relationship, but not anymore. "I just don't get a good vibe from her. Never met her but I have heard things and just from watching her interviews and stuff, something about her, something in her eyes, tells me she's arrogant. That's the last thing I need right now."

He admits to the fact that he is in the very early stages of dating a new lady but refuses to name her. "Don't wanna jinx it. In the past I didn't care about saying who I'm dating but now I just wanna keep it to myself." He does confess she is starring in a movie that is coming out this December but she is not really an actress by profession. "She's a tough chick. She could kick my ass, haha. But I like her alot. Physically she's exactly my type and most importantly she has a great laid back personality, confidence, swag, sexy eyes, seductive stare, a dope voice, she's just a cool ass chick." When it comes to dating, he feels emotionally exhausted with it all and hopes this new girl can change that. "I just feel so numb to it all. Like going on dates doesn't even excite me anymore. I feel like I have dated and been with and chased so many girls, it is all so old to me now. There is no excitement there. I feel like it will end the same way it always does...(with me) getting hurt. It's almost boring now. I have been through so much and I don't know how to drop this baggage and be happy again and just be me around someone again without expecting the worst. Neve said I need to stop dating completely and just find myself or whatever, which makes sense. Wait until I feel excited about life and love again, wait until I truly find someone that drives me crazy. But the problem is I'm so addicted to being around women I don't know if I can do that. It's a back and forth battle I struggle with everyday. That's why I am taking it super slow with the girl I am talking to now. I mean SUPER slow. We only been communicating through text and phone for the past month. We will meet up next month sometime. As friends first. Really, just friends. I need to get to know her and let her know me and really do it right. I'm tired of the same old routine. True love needs to grow naturally. Sex is the last thing on my mind right now."

Shockingly, the question he seemed to have least trouble answering was the one I was most afraid of asking. "Do you still love or think about Mel?" I say. He quickly and confidently says "Yea. Of course. I still love the shit out of her. She was the one. I think about her everyday. I don't think you ever truly stop loving someone who leaves you, you just learn to live without them." Meyers smiles as he gazes out the hotel window, almost relieved he was finally able to admit that. "For the longest time I had to pretend I didn't care, but I do care". But he refuses to let Morley and the pain she put him through weigh him down and he has come up with a way to diminish his love for her. "Neve taught me to think about all the things about (Mel) I don't like and amplify them. Realize how these things would not have made me happy, and remind myself that one day I will find someone who has everything I need and none of Mel's mental issues. It really helped."

Michael plans next year after filming in the Middle East wraps to get back in the studio and work on a second follow up album to 2009's Chants of Reign CD. "I really wanna start making music again" he says with an inspired tone to his voice. "That first album was a person on the brink of sanity, on the edge of suicide, and alot of people related to it" he says. "I was in the darkest place you can imagine, but now I want something more positive and uplifting, to tell people, it's gonna be okay". But first he needs a muse. "For me, sadly, my happiness comes from relationships, so I need to be in a good one to write some happy love songs. I'm sick of being depressed, I wanna be happy. I don't know why but I just have a feeling something good is coming in the next year." When I ask if he thinks he will find love soon, he replies "I hope so, I hope so".