Credit: Daniel Huete
Our beard profile with Trevor Wayne was so epic we had to split it in two! Part II of our interview with the model/actor/host gets into more of Wayne’s crazy encounters while at TMZ – like that time Jon Voight turned the camera on his beard – and how breaking his collarbone led him to growing a beard.
We also talk about the trials and tribulations of getting signed as a model, the nicest celebrities in Hollywood (one of whom you wouldn’t expect), and his childhood dream of working for the waste management company.
If you haven’t checked out Part I yet, do yourself a favor.
Favorite celebrity you’ve met on the job?
I like obscure celebrities to be honest. I would see Kim Kardashian 4 times a week. I used my position at TMZ very effectively. I was put in front of these superproducers not being followed by the paparazzi - they’re out shooting actresses and models, not directors and producers.
One of my favorite people ever is producer Brian Grazer. He owns Imagine Entertainment, he did “A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13,” “Liar Liar.”
Also Darth Maul from Star Wars (Ray Park). He’s the coolest character in Star Wars. I had to work LAX and he was on my list of people coming through that night. He was just a normal dude.
And Charlie Sheen’s really nice. When he was going through his tiger’s blood days, that was awesome. He handled his surge of attention well.
Have you seen The Social Network? Armie Hammer. Remember the twin brothers, the rowers? That’s actually one person, Armie. Armie’s really cool.
Jon Voight once turned the camera on you and your beard. Was that the first time your beard made its appearance in all its glory?
When that happened I had recently been signed to a modeling agency and a talent agency. I had also filmed my first national commercial ever. It was for Mastercard.
I was on this natural high of positive stuff. I saw Jon Voight and the day I shot him was World Beard Day. He happened to have a really nice beard at the time and I decided to talk beards. I told him, “Mr. Voight, nice beard, sir.” He goes, “nah, you got a nice beard. Give me that camera.”
When he first grabbed the camera I was completely in the shade. Then he goes, “hold on, let’s have you move over to the left a little bit." He said, “alright, now you’re well lit.” I thought it was awesome.
He asked me to tell him about my beard. I don’t how I recited what I recited but I told him that those who have beards should grow their beard 10 inches long and donate it to a child in need.
Who/what influenced you to grow your beard? How long have you had a beard?
My brother. I would not have my beard if it wasn’t for Tanner. I was skateboarding in my parents’ neighborhood 3 years ago. I ate shit. I crashed on this hill and broke my collarbone. The doctor told me I was going to be on the couch for a month, that I couldn’t do anything, and that I’d need my mom and dad to take care of me. He said, “don’t use your left arm at all or I’m going to have to operate on it.”
So I was sitting on the couch watching TV all day. My favorite thing was Jeopardy. I couldn’t wait for it to come on.
My brother walks into the room one day and goes, “yo man, you should grow a beard.” He told me, “you’re on the couch for a month. You can grow a beard and I can’t.” The selling point was that the girls would love it. So I started growing a beard.
I didn’t shave for a month, and my hair grows so stupidly fast, that 3 ½, 4 weeks goes by, they take me out of my sling, and I’ve got this pretty dope beard. I came back to LA and my roommates, whom I had been living with for years, didn’t recognize me.
The first time I got back they were at a concert. I got there a little later so I went to them in the back room. I tapped one friend on the leg and said “hi” and he goes, “hey,” and then turns back around really quick, like a dismissal. He then turns back and goes, “heyyyy.”
It got such a great response, so I decided to just keep it.
Credit: Alex Stone
How did you get into modeling?
My roommate was a professional model. He had been with Wilhelmina since he was 15. Your typical all-American, water polo-looking dude. I was in my house bar one afternoon, in between jobs, thinking about what I was going to do. He goes, “you should model.” I was like, “haha, don’t mock me right now.”
He said he wasn’t kidding around. He said, “your whole look right now, the bearded thing, is super marketable. You have a beard, tattoos, you can make it work.”
My other roommate is a fashion photographer. So model Matt was like, “just have Alex shoot your portfolio.”
You got lucky with that!
Yeah, it was almost meant to be.
My roommate said we would go to the beach, shoot some casual lifestyle photos, then suit up and shoot in a studio. He built me a quick portfolio.
The model told me to take those photos around town to all of the agencies. Once a week they have a casting for men and women. So they’re constantly looking to get fresh talent. I walk in with no modeling experience at all. I had my modeling portfolio on my cell phone. They’d take it in the back and say, nicely, they didn’t have room for me on their board.
But they told me my look was really cool, I would find representation somewhere, we already have the bearded guy. I was like, doesn’t that guy get sick ever? Or doesn’t he get booked where he might need an understudy?
I bounced around. I went to every major model house in LA. I ended up getting picked by this boutique. I really liked the lady running it; she was one of the founders of NEXT. I was only with her for a few months when she decided to retire. She said she was going to throw a birthday/retirement party at the Sofitel and wanted me to come.
We cruised over there and a woman approached me, telling me she really liked my look. She said she was an agent at LA Models, and that I should come in to meet them.
I started laughing and said, “you guys were the first modeling agency I ever walked into. You already told me you have a bearded guy.”
She goes, “so what? He doesn’t look anything like you.”
I was like, “I know!” She told me to come in again. So I followed up with her on Sunday right after the party. We did a meeting on Monday. The series of events that led to where I am right now was wild. I’m very fortunate.
Credit: Gilbert Pereda
Credit: Eric Ashleigh
Do you have any tips for beard growers?
Don’t shampoo your beard every day. So many people come up to me and go, man, how do you deal with your face itching? Honestly my face didn’t start itching until two years into having my beard. It’s really hard to moisturize your face when you have a beard. So it’s important to use the products that companies like Zeus make because it’s hard to keep your face hydrated and you don’t want to damage your skin.
Don’t shampoo everyday because it dries your skin out. When you get out of the shower, apply your favorite beard product while your face is damp. You gotta have a damp face, because your skin’s more susceptible to moisture. Make sure you comb, because this thing has got a mind of its own.
How do you eat with a beard?
I get moustache in every bite. There are certain foods that I won’t eat in front of certain people, like cheeseburgers in public, on a date. I can’t do it.
I need to come up with a beard bib or something.
What is your greatest fear and have you conquered it?
I hate heights. Being up on a balcony on the 50th floor of a hotel is not my favorite thing. A couple shots of whiskey, that attitude will change a little bit. But I get a weird sense of vertigo and just climbing shit freaks me out. My palms are sweating just thinking about it.
You ever see those videos of those kids in Russia climbing cranes with no parachutes, no support system? And then doing one arm pull ups? I’m like, you guys are f*#king animals!
But I did go skydiving. I had a weird epiphany one day where I was like, holy shit, I could die tomorrow. I decided to do something crazy. So my 26th birthday was coming around, and I decided to get some homies to jump out of a plane.
Have I conquered the fear? No. I’m still freaked out. That was so high there’s nothing to judge how high you are. The jumping out, the freefall, it is super cool. The canopy ride, when you pull your parachute, it was freakin’ awesome.
So you wouldn’t go on the Sky Slide that they built on the 70th floor of the US Bank Tower?
Maybe at night.
Well, they have a bar there, so you could like, grab a little something first.
Oh, well, let’s go. That’s where we should have done this interview.
Where do you see yourself in the next year?
I see myself in Los Angeles, still bearded. Working in some sort of entertainment field. I’m hoping within the next year to figure out what basket to put all these eggs in. But I like how that road has a bit of fog in the distance because it’s nice experimenting. The weather’s nice, I’m in a cool car, I’m driving on this road and I’m excited to see where it goes.
Credit: Alex McDonell
Quick Answers
Right now, I’m obsessed with:
A few things. My motorcycle, my mattress, and Thai food. I love my motorcycle, it’s a great thing to have in Los Angeles, I don’t feel any more free than when I’m on that. You’re never supposed to skimp on anything between you and the ground, whether it’s tires, shoes, or your bed. So I recently bought a new mattress and it has been the best and the worst thing that could be introduced to my life. I get f*#king crazy amounts of sleep. It’s so goddamn comfortable.
The first website I log onto every morning is:
Facebook. It’s a good news source. It also lets you know what your peers are reading.
My favorite Instagram to follow is:
That is a damned good question. Honestly, I don’t know if this is a guilty pleasure, but I like this kid, Logan Paul. Not so much his Instagram as his Snapchat. He’s a young, up-and-coming actor. He’s f*&king hilarious. His Snapchat is brilliant. I get a lot of enjoyment from watching his stuff.
I’d love to visit:
Japan. People are always like, why not Italy or Paris? I’m like, dude, Europe will be there when I’m like 60 and I need to go on a wide tour in Normandy. I like Asian culture, architecture, food, automobiles and motorcycles, elements of how they live their lives. All the Asian countries are wildly diverse.
If I wasn’t doing this job, I would:
I would have pursued 5-year-old Trevor’s favorite thing: working for the waste management company. As a little kid, I was obsessed with garbage trucks. Basically it’s this huge thing on wheels that crushes shit, and as I little kid I was beyond infatuated. Sure a lot of people want to be firefighters or whatever. I wanted to ride around on the back of this moving monster.
But, as I got older, I started to ask real questions. When I was 9 I’d ask my local garbage man, “yo, how much do you guys make?” And they were saying (back in 1995), they made $4-6K a month, starting. I’m like, “hold on a second, y’all get to wake up, eat lunch, wherever you want to, and throw stuff in the back of this truck and crush it?” They’re like, “yeah.” $4-6K a month in 1995, I don’t know what that would equate to nowadays.
If I was more simple, I would have been a goddamn truck driver.
Follow Trevor Wayne on Instagram @TrevorWayne.
