Teen Idol Bieber: ‘I’m Just A Regular Person’

LOS ANGELES — Every generation has had its own teen idol whose dreamy pictures cover loyal fans’ bedroom walls. In the past, it was Elvis Presley, Davy Jones, Donny Osmond or any of the Brat Pack members. Today, it’s YouTube sensation turned mega-pop star Justin Bieber.

His movie debut is the documentary “Never Say Never” that follows the now-16-year-old Canadian from his days as a little boy with a winning smile and love for music to selling out Madison Square Garden in New York. Don’t mistake his young age for inexperience, though. In Los Angeles last weekend, I sat down with him and asked about his whirlwind tour.

Q

How has life on the road been?

A

It’s been great. I got to be on (Jay) Leno and (David) Letterman. I was on the “Today” show, “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show (with Jon Stewart).”

Q

You seem to be a nonstop performing and promotion machine. Is that natural, or do you have someone telling you where to be, what to do and what to say?

A

I am not a machine. I’m just a regular person. I just have a love for what I do. I love to travel. I love to be with my fans. I love to perform. I love to sing. I just really love what I do, and I think that’s important.

You become a machine when you start to not like having fun with what you’re doing. When that happens, that’s when I’m going to stop. It’s such hard work — why would you want to do this if that wasn’t fun for you? It is pretty crazy, but I get to hang out with my friends and travel. It’s just such an amazing experience.

Q

Do you get any time to just do normal teenage stuff?

A

I get one day off a week, so I just do whatever. I either sleep or go hang out with my friends. I like to go to the beach. I like to go to the movies. I like going bowling. I go to the mall and just hang out.

Q

Is it possible for your mom to be normal with you? Do you have a curfew? Do you get punished?

A

What do you mean? It’s not like, as soon as you get to be a pop star, you’re immediately not treated … regular anymore. My mom is still my mom no matter where I am or what I do. She’s still going to be, like, my mom.

I definitely have a curfew. This morning, I had to get up early, so I had to be home by 10:30 last night. Like, if I was home late, she’d take away my phone or something. She yelled at (me) a couple of times when we were doing interviews on the bus at, like, 2 in the morning. She was like, “(You’ve) got to go to bed!” It was really funny.

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