Adam Levine: Acting is 'the coolest thing'

NEW YORK — Whatever you do, please do not call Adam Levine an actor.

He'll cringe and immediately correct you.

"I'm very humbled by it, and I'm not going to wax poetic about acting. Anthony Hopkins is an actor," he says. "I'm a singer in a band who got a call and decided to give it a shot. I got so lucky with this experience. I definitely want to do it again."

Levine, already a magnetic presence on NBC's The Voice, makes his official dramatic debut in the musical romance Begin Again, playing a musician who cheats on his girlfriend and writing partner (Keira Knightley). Levine, who never planned on pulling a Streisand or Beyonce, nevertheless couldn't turn down the opportunity because really, who would?

"I think every person in the world, no matter who they are, kind of secretly wants to be a movie star. I'd never trained to do it. It's the coolest thing," Levine says. "It's James Dean. Or Tom Hanks. They make an indelible impression on the culture and I really appreciate that. I never had a hankering to be a movie star — it was never a plan in my life — but it was an enticing opportunity."

For Levine, acting is directly related to his childhood in Los Angeles. "When I was a little kid, my father used to drag me to tryouts for certain sports. He told me that I didn't have to do it, but I should try it. I was a pretty shy, introverted kid, believe it or not, and I'd go kicking and screaming," he says. "All of the sudden, I fell madly in love with basketball and it changed my life. There's a voice inside me that says, 'Don't be afraid to try something.' I credit my father."