Guitar riffs, Clift, clubs: It’s all good

Last year he appeared in the small, touching film “A Walk to Remember.” Now the 25-year-old actor has moved into the big-budget company of Sean Connery in “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” And that’s not his only interest. West is part of a band -- Johnny Was -- named after a Bob Marley song, but that’s where the connection to the reggae artist ends. Johnny Was is rock with punk undertones and a little emo thrown in. They recently finished a demo, but not to worry, West wouldn’t give up acting for anything.

In the canyon

I live in the hills just along the Cahuenga Pass, and since I’m from Louisiana it doesn’t bother me to walk. So I walk to my local bars. I like schizobars with jukeboxes, or a clubby kind of bar. And I found them within walking distance from home: the Burgundy Room, Daddy’s and Joseph’s Cafe on Mondays.

I don’t ever really go to see films I’ve been in. But I love movies. My favorite movies are “A Place in the Sun,” with Montgomery Clift -- I really like Clift. I like “From Here to Eternity,” as well as “Giant” and “True Romance.” “Romance” is amazing, very violent, but that’s [Quentin] Tarantino -- he wrote it, but didn’t direct it.

Important meal

Saturday mornings -- it may be late, it may be early, but I’m eating breakfast. If I don’t eat breakfast, my low blood-sugar kicks in. I like the Griddle. I have the caballero -- it’s a heart attack waiting to happen: a breakfast scramble with chorizo. But at the Griddle you could possibly see the people you went out with the night before. Ned’s on Magnolia has a great breakfast chicken breast sandwich. And at Jumpin’ Java, also in Studio City on Ventura, I’ll have eggs sunny side up or a chicken sandwich ... and plenty of coffee.

Melrose haunts

Now the rest of the day depends. I may hang out with friends, play Ping-Pong or help them get ready to barbecue. If I don’t do that, I’ll shop. The Melrose area is nice. Camden Lock is a cool little punk store, kind of off the strip. Then I might go to Wasteland, just to dig through all their T-shirts for something vintage. Chrome Hearts is slightly expensive, but really designer.

On Saturday nights, every bar on the boulevards is packed, so we go to cooler clubs, where you can hang out and talk: Firefly in the Valley, La Poubelle over on Franklin, Saddle Ranch on Sunset -- places like that.

Sundays, I repeat the breakfast ritual. Then I might go out and buy some DVDs or CDs. The last DVDs I bought were “Narc” and “Old School.” The last CDs ... well, I’m into the Black Eyed Peas. I bought some older stuff too: “The Very Best of Dusty Springfield,” the first Doors album.

Favorites

I’ll go out to dinner. I’ll go to Bourbon Street Shrimp on Melrose -- it’s a cool, Southern food place that always feels mellow. Of course, sometimes I’ve got to read scripts. But, if I don’t have homework, I’ll just play some video games. Yeah, I’ve got a PlayStation 2. I play “Resident Evil” or a Marine game called “SOCOM.”

If I’ve ever got more than a weekend, I have a timeshare in a little town in Florida, or I might visit the family in Baton Rouge.

-- Carolyn Patricia Scott