EXCLUSIVE: RYAN SHECKLER TALKS ‘DOUBLE TAKE’ VIDEO, JUSTIN BIEBER COMPARISONS

Even though he may only be twenty years old as of this writing, Ryan Sheckler is already one of the larger names in skateboarding. He’s won countless events, starred in an MTV reality show, been a playable character in video games, helps to run his own foundation for families in need, and has now landed a spot in the newest “Double Take” commercial produced by Converge and sponsored by Power Balance. The series focuses on star athletes taking on two roles in an interview setting — the interviewer and the interviewee.

In the exclusive clip to the left, you can see just a small sample of what Ryan decided to pull off in his commercial — and yes, he is not afraid of taking on Justin Bieber or the fact that he looks kind of like the 16-year old singer. (You can check out more of the video at this link.)

In a one-on-one chat with Ryan Tuesday, I had the opportunity to ask about some of these comparisons along with some other topics about his career and his life.

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Matt Carter: So let’s start at the beginning — you’re the second one of these Double Take videos, the first one being Shaq. Did you get an opportunity to check out his?

Ryan Sheckler: Yeah, I watched it right before I was supposed to go on and do mine. They were like ‘we want to show you Shaq’s,’ and so I saw Shaq’s. I was laughing so hard when I saw his. It was amazing, so I really wanted to step it up and be like his, or maybe even top his. So we’ll see how it goes and see what people think.

So how did you get started with Power Balance, and how did this video come up?

When it comes to getting started with Power Balance, I put on my Power Balance for the first time about 9 months ago, maybe 10. I started wearing it, and all of a sudden I started feeling like ‘whoa, I’m wearing this thing, can’t even take it off’ — now at this point in my life I can’t even leave my house without it on. It’s like my cell phone.

They came to me with this idea about doing this Double Take, and I’m like ‘dude, I’m in.’ I love the product and it sounded like fun. They had a lot of good ideas, I had some good ideas … we talked about some crying from the [reality] show, we talked about Justin Bieber, and there’s a ‘Jersey Shore’ reference in there.

So do you mind being compared to Justin Bieber — you’ve been around longer than him, so shouldn’t people be comparing him to you?

I don’t care! Nothing really bugs me about that kid! He’s got a lot of pressure on his hands. The comparison, kids love it … it’s all fun and games, there’s no ‘I hate Justin Bieber.’