Justin Long: The 'Mac Guy' Gets a Piece of the Action

Most of the time they just walk up and say something like, "Hey, Mac Guy. I bought a Mac because of you."

Once in a while, they're curious: "Sooooo, Mac Guy, do you actually own a Mac?"

The ones who think they're funny go with, "Hey, man, look out, I'm a PC." That's always a hoot.

It breeds strange moments, you know, this whole human-embodiment-of-a-machine shtick.

Probably none more so than when Justin Long is shopping or eating a hot dog and suddenly finds himself listening as a stranger launches into a tale that begins: "I'm having a funny thing happen on my screensaver. . . ."

"It always takes me a couple seconds to adjust to the fact that I'm in the Mac commercials, and they really, genuinely think that I am also like an expert," says the 29-year-old actor. Long says he can download music from the Internet; that's as advanced as it gets.

But if he's looking for a chance to lose the techie-dork reputation, well, "Live Free or Die Hard," is not that chance. He plays the smart-mouthed hacker sidekick to Bruce Willis's weathered Luddite, and together they battle a band of cyber terrorists to save the girl, the country, etc. (See review on Page 36.)

It's the first -- and could be the only -- crack Long has had at the "action hero for a major motion picture" category. So of course he had to take it. That the role will strengthen his association with a very specific character type -- one that could be hard to escape -- is a risk he's willing to take.

"I have two different thoughts on that," he starts, in a cadence reminiscent of a hummingbird's wing speed. "Just realistically, it's so rare to work in this business -- we're all carnies, we go where the tents are -- that if that's where they are, that's what people want and see me as, I'd happily do it. And be thrilled to work as long as I could.

"But on the other hand, I've done a few movies, smaller movies where I get to play characters and less-recognizable type parts and guys who are very dissimilar to myself, so I've gotten kind of an appetite now to kind of do more versatile roles. That's one of the goals of 'Die Hard.' I pray to God it does something for my career, more opportunities to play non-computer geek guys."

Whew.

You get the sense, talking to Long, that there's never enough time for him to say everything he wants to say. Eight-year-olds sneaking third cupcakes at summer birthday parties don't match the exuberance on display as he launches -- almost unprompted -- into story after story after story. About the eel livers he tried during the Asia leg of the press tour. The iPhone Steve Jobs wants to give him but that he's scared he won't know how to use. The beloved godfather who made him want to be a priest when he was a kid. The girls he discovered who made him think celibacy might not be a fit.