West Wings It

As the end of the TV season draws near, Shane West, Once and Again 's resident high school hunk, isn't stressing about the impending actor's strike or the future of his low-rated ABC drama. No, he's too busy dreaming about being a rock star.

As frontman for Average Jo, a band he formed with some actor friends, West sings, writes and plays guitar. "If the strike happens and I don't have anything booked, then I'm going on tour with the band," West tells TV Guide Online. "And I'll probably have more fun doing that rather than if I did book a movie, just because I've never done it and I'm sure it'll be amazing."

Last fall, Average Jo received some great exposure when the group appeared in a episode of Once and Again under the name Anti-Inflammatory — the faux band that West's Eli character performs in. However, the up-and-comer wants to make it perfectly clear that Anti-Inflammatory shares little in common with its real-life counterpart, describing Average Jo's sound as "kind of punk rock," but not "death metal or anything like that."

Citing The Clash and Green Day as influences, West has endured some ribbing from his bandmates for portraying a wannabe Backstreet Boy in the upcoming romantic comedy Get Over it (due in March), which also stars Kirsten Dunst. "It's everything I'm against personally," he laughs, adding, "my band already hates me." — Sheryl Rothmuller, "Insider" TVGuide.com (January 30, 2001)