Question: How does it feel to have Backstreet Boys finally be a huge success in the United States? AJ: I'd say it's a big dream come true! We never really got a chance to be here. For the last year and a half, we've been over in Europe. Now we're finally bringing it home. I think it's worth our while. It's 'the bone,' as we say. Question: Are you surprised by the worldwide success of the group? AJ: Shocked, shocked! I'm more or less shocked at how quick things are moving than I am at what's happening. The fact that things are going so quickly is what's blowing my mind. The fast pace of success--it's like, I'm only 20! Slow down and give me a little time to have a life. I never went to my prom. I never went to high school. I mean, I had to get tutored. I have my ring, I graduated, but I graduated in my hotel room. Question: Did you really? AJ: Yeah, I still got to fly back home and graduate with my class. And it was funny because my last name is McLean, so I was supposed to be in the middle, but because I wasn't there for the actual [rehearsal] they put me last. All my friends are like, 'Be careful of this one step. Don't trip.' And what do I do? I trip accepting my award! Question: Were you embarrassed? AJ: Nothing really embarrasses me. I'm pretty goofy. Question: Are you looking forward to getting back in the recording studio and creating new Backstreet Boys music? AJ: Yeah, performing live is more fun, but in a studio is the more creative side. You can do anything and everything you want in there--create your songs, create your sound to be the Backstreet Boys sound. Especially if the five of us learn more about this stuff and coordinate together to make our own sound comfortable for us. Then, we'll step apart from all the other groups and we'll sound unique. So, hopefully within the next year [that will happen]. Actually, for our next album Brian wrote a song and the five of us produced it. It's our first time doing one Backstreet Boys style. Question: Before you joined Backstreet Boys you did some acting. Is there any chance you'd consider doing an acting project? AJ: Actually, I wanted [that] to be my first career! I wanted to be a dancer or an actor. I never really wanted to be a singer but it just kind of went that way, I guess. Being in the entertainment business just covers all terrain. You always have to have something to fall back on. Question: What would be your dream acting job? AJ: To do a movie with either Gina Davis or Dustin Hoffman and be a bad guy. I would love to be the villain. I mean, the good guy wins, but the villains are the ones everyone likes. Question: As a Backstreet Boys, you've done so much. Where do you see yourself five years from now? AJ: Still making music. I think at that level five years from now, jeez, we might split up and do our own thing. There is a solo artist within each of us. Not right now, but down the road. Like Howie with the Latin market or Nick with alternative, but the group Backstreet Boys will never break up. We'll always be a group, doing different things at different times. Maybe two or three of us will be working together. Question: What do you think it is about Backstreet Boys that the fans find so special? AJ: We're real. That's what makes us special, being real. We have nothing to hide. some things AJs said before: 1. Have you ever been in love? "Yes, with my ex-girlfriend Marissa. We went out together for two years, from April 1994. We sometimes see each other, but our relationship isn't serious like it was before. I sometimes hope that one day we might get back together again." 2. What's the most romantic thing you've ever done? "It was durig our first anniversary. Marissa was on her way back home and there was this big parcel waiting for her. I wrote on the outside, 'To Marissa with all my love - Alex'. When she opened the present, I jumped on her with a bunch of roses and a bottle of champagne. There's nothing like it to gain a girl's heart." 3. What type of girl attracts you? "I particularly like ones who have a strong personality, charisma and are sure of themselves. I also like girls with a sense of humor, who like to laugh. Physical looks are not important. Gina Davis has a smashing smile, fleshy lips, and now that she's blonde she's even more beautiful. She seems like a nice person, going by what she says in interviews. She seems very down-to-earth and homely, two qualities I look for in a girl." 4. Have you ever had your heart broken? "When I was 13, my girlfriend Christy died in a car accident. It was a terrible shock. When I spilt up with my last girlfriend Marissa it was really horrible too. I was completely madly in love with her. We decided to separate in August last year 'COs I was always in Europe with Backstreet Boys and we didn't have time to see each other. I was depressed for weeks, nobody could get near me." 5. Would you date a fan? "Of course. In fact it has already happenned. When fans put a phone number in their letters, I always phone them to ask how are they doing. I have this strange habit that when I see a phone I have to call somebody. Girls don't believe it's me and always hang up the phone. I love our fans. They are really nice, especially when you realise that no-one knew us two years ago." One person who would have benefitted from a big hug a few years ago was A.J. Mclean. This 20-year-old's worst fear of losing his voice actually came true! It all happened in London, England, he begins, "In the middle of our tour with another act. I got tonsillitis and lost my voice and I thought that I couldn't sing. I really wanted to push myself to sing this one night at the Royal Albert Hall." Being the pro that he is, A.J performed anyway. "If I missed this one chance to sing, I would have been devastated, so I got scared because it hurt. Then we got a doctor to look at me and he said, 'Ah!' And he backed off, and I was like, What? And he said, 'you have tonsillitis, boy! That was the scariest thing that happened to me." WOW! Luckily for the backstreet boys, A.J. didn't do any permanent damage to his singing voice-now that would have been scary! When should you not follow the rules? AJ: When the consequences are deadly. Like, when you're in school you should follow certain rules for sure, but don't do anything you don't wanna do, or do something where someone could get mad at you and maybe beat you up. When was the last time you thought "Ooh, how bizarre!" AJ: We filmed the TV show Wow! with those two guys who dress up as women. That was weird. When the camera is off them they stay in their female costumes. Like, I was standing in the bathroom using the john and there's this women-thing in the stall next to me. When you see them you have to look twice and think,'Oh, yeah, you're a guy, I forgot.' That was a pretty bizarre experience! Deep Blue Something sang about Breakfast At Tiffany's. If you had breakfast there what would you order? AJ: I'd order pancakes, french toast, three fried eggs, a cup of cappuccino and a really large glass of orange juice without the pulp. "You're Gorgeous," claimed Baby Bird. Are you? AJ: I'd have to leave that up to a girl to decide. (Goes all shy) I don't think that's a question that I can answer myself. Brian: What is it? I'll answer it for you! AJ: Am I gorgeous? Brian: Yes AJ, you are. **Quotes & Confessions* AJ: "I dreaded Easter every year because my mum made me go around hospitals giving out Easter eggs... dressed as a fluffy Easter bunny!"

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