Interview with Evan Lysacek
2010 Olympic Champion and 2009 World Champion Evan Lysacek is always on the go, from touring to charity work, the 25-year-old skater works non-stop. He took some time to talk to the TheCelebrityCafe.com about touring with Smucker's Stars on Ice 25th Anniversary Tour, his recent film Rise and about how he takes his job and responsibilities seriously.
TheCelebrityCafe.com: How did you get involved with Smucker's Stars on Ice?
Evan Lysacek: Well, I first got involved myself skating with them in 2008. I was just a part time guest on their tour. I had been figure skating for several years after the Torino Olympics, so that was my first time with this particular tour. When I was growing up I always went to see Stars on Ice with my family. I grew up in Chicago and it’s very big there—they sell out in Chicago. When I was six and saw it for the first time, I thought it was great and very entertaining, I mean, as much as I can remember. When I was eight, I actually started skating myself so it took on a new life for me to go to the show and be inspired by my idols and skating and be able to sort of appreciate a little bit what they’re doing. Then, several years later, the show had a different meaning for me because I was starting to compete and I needed inspiration, I guess. I needed ideas for my own technique…whatever it was; the show had another role in my life. Then in 2008, like I said, I skated for the first time on the show. I was honored to be asked. Last year was my first time doing the entire tour, or most of it, and then something came up called ‘Dancing with the Stars.’
TCC: A little something…
EL: It took me out of a few of the shows, basically every Monday and Tuesday and I was jumping in and out of the tour and trying my best to keep my skating up. It was a very crazy schedule on the road, but it went well. This year is going to be my first time to truly be able to do the entire tour.
TCC: Are you excited about that?
EL: I’m very excited about it. It’s the 25th anniversary and Smuckers handpicked the skaters that they wanted to be involved in their celebration of the 25 years of the tour being in existence. I’m glad to be one of them.
TCC: Do you think Dancing with the Stars has helped you with your creativity?
EL: I think it helped me with the ability to do different genres. I think maybe I was creative only in one way before, now I’m able to branch out and do a lot of different genres.
TCC: You were just honored for your work in the community at the Thurman Munson Awards and named SportsMan of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. What does that mean to you?
EL: It means a lot. I think the Thurman Munson Award was really an honor. Really, it’s a team sport award. They honor basketball players and baseball players and I was the only individual athlete. That they recognized skating was a really big deal to me. I’m always trying to bring awareness to the sport.
Sportsman of the Year was a huge honor just because there’s only one every year. Vancouver was our most successful winter Olympics team ever and there were a lot of athletes they could have gone with, so to choose me was really special.
TCC: Do you think that was a goal of yours when you started skating?
EL: Not necessarily, that wasn’t something that I thought of and I was never driven by awards so much. I was more driven by achievement. Once you start winning it’s hard to accept not winning. It’s a drug in some ways, you become addicted to it.
TCC: What drives your charity work?
EL: I first started with some charity work when I was touring for the first time. After Torino and just saw the impact that working with the Make a Wish Foundation had. Basically, skating with kids whose wish was to skate with me. The impact of it was huge and it made me want to get more involved. I realized that was one of the most rewarding things in my life.
TCC: How does it feel to be seen as a role model?
EL: It is a big responsibility, something that I don’t take lightly. I think that leading by example is a good way to be a role model. It’s a strange situation, there’s a lot of amazing athletes that are great role models and unfortunately because of the internet and because of the media exposure that athletes get now, every word they say is critiqued, every action in their lives is scrutinized. I think that’s actually not a good thing because athletes are normal. They obviously act sometimes like Tiger Woods or Michael Phelps. They make big mistakes and people shouldn’t necessarily see that. That should be a mistake that they make in their own personal lives. People do see that now and so it becomes even harder as an athlete to keep being a positive role model and not show any weakness and not make any mistakes. So it's become a responsibility to me, I think, to do my best to live by the guidelines and the perfect set of rules that people have in their minds about Olympic athletes. Of course, I’ll make mistakes along the way, but hopefully they won’t be really big ones.
TCC: On your website it says you took some time off from skating to pursue other interests…what other interests have you been pursuing and do you think you’ll compete this year?
EL: Well, that is jumping the gun just a little bit because I’ve worked almost every day since Vancouver.
I did a part on a movie that premiered Feb. 17. I do have other interests. I like movies, I like acting, and I like to play golf and tennis and ski. I’m hoping that I have time to pursue those things. Right now it’s just pedal to the medal.
TCC: Do you think you would like to get more into acting then?
EL: I don’t know, we’ll see. I think living in LA for as long as I have has turned me off acting because everyone’s an actor. I think it’ll be something I do as a hobby for now and if I’m good at it then maybe, just maybe pursue it at some point.
TCC: Can you tell me about the movie you just did?
EL: Rise, documenting the 50th anniversary of the 1961 U.S. World Figure skating team that perished in a plane crash. The whole team was lost and our sport was wiped out. The rebuilding process started and, in many ways makes winning the Olympics in Vancouver helped the story come full circle. I think you have to see the movie to understand why, but I was really honored to be involved in it and it’s really an emotional project.
TCC: You have a very busy schedule. How do you keep up with it and what do you do in your down time?
EL: I have no down time, literally. I’m on airplanes, in which case I try to catch up on sleep. I have to adapt. I have a very structured schedule doing the same thing every day.
TCC: Some people complain about being seen as role models and complain about what people expect from them, but you don’t seem to mind that…
EL: I don’t mind it at all because role models have been really important and crucial to my success and my development, so for me to say that is an honor to me to feel like I am a role model maybe.