James Reid Is Our April Cosmo Crush—And The Spotlight Hits Different This Time

James: You know, I've been in the industry for quite a long time, since 2010. But it feels like I've kind of grown up with Cosmo. There's some kind of cover or something to show the different stages of my life.

James: It's a feeling that someone has stepped into your world, and it's just opened up a whole bunch of possibilities. That kind of gets you excited, you know?

James: I'm quite direct. If I have a crush on you, I'll just immediately ask you out. Even though I'm direct, I'm still very shy. It doesn't mean that I'm not shy as I approach you, or I'm nervous, or my heart's not beating out of my chest—it just means that I don't really know how to beat around the bush. The only way I know how to act is to be honest and be direct.

James: I'm thinking back to when I was like five years old. It was probably like my teacher or something. My first celebrity crush was probably Angelina Jolie. I think she's just gorgeous.

James: It's changed for me over the years. Definitely when you're young, it's the looks that first get your attention, and that's what you crush over. As you get more experience, it's the personality that you want, because you want someone who you vibe with, right? And then that becomes the most important thing.

But as the years have passed and I've become more experienced, I think what matters to me is the way that they see the world, the perspective, and their mind becomes the most attractive thing.

James: Quiet confidence. I think that's how you would not just get my attention, but draw me in. There's something very magnetic about someone who has quiet confidence. They just seem like they're very comfortable with themselves. But not confidence to the point where it's overdoing it.

James: I believe that my love languages are words of affirmation. I know one of them is acts of service, because I love cooking her food. And definitely quality time. It doesn't mean we're actually doing something specifically, but time to do nothing, and I just enjoy it.

James: It was 'stop looking for The One.' Relationships are supposed to be learning experiences, so you can't put that kind of pressure on yourself, especially the other person, that they're supposed to fit this kind of description or role of being The One. You're just meant to learn from relationships. And then, when you're ready, you kind of get to choose.

James: Yes, because when you stop trying to do that and have this kind of standard of perfection in your head, then you find exactly what you're looking for—you stop ideating love.

James: I think it's helped me just in general. I mean, the answer to your question would be yes. In acting workshops and drama classes, they teach people to be more aware of what they're feeling and why they're feeling and what to do about it, which is extremely handy and useful in life in general.

So, especially in a relationship, it's really important to understand where they're coming from. You need to really understand your own emotions, too. It's something that I recommend everyone try doing at least once in their life. Just take a drama class, take an acting course. It's fun. It's terrifying. It's exposing. It's humiliating. But it's also extremely insightful. It really forces you to kind of get in tune with yourself. The most important thing is that it teaches you how to listen.

James: I wouldn't say my partner is in show business. But certainly for me, I've been in the limelight for quite a long time. I've found a way to draw a line. I think it's because of how I was raised or how I grew up—or I'm not sure exactly. Maybe it was my dad. Maybe it's my friends. But they keep me very grounded. There's a part of me that wants to just be able to live a normal life. Even if it's difficult for me, I'll still try to live like everyone else. And it's really my friends and my family that keep me grounded. They don't treat me like I'm a celebrity—and I don't treat them like they're not.

James: People see a lot of relationships come and go in the entertainment industry. I would say more of them go than stay. Naturally, because I feel like being in the limelight only speeds up the process of people having to or exposing whether or not people are being real. It just forces you to be real. That's the only way you can survive being under the limelight. If you're pretending or you have a hidden agenda or whatever it is, you won't last long. If anything, being in the limelight weeds out those who are real and those who are not.

James: We inspire each other a lot, and it's kind of difficult for us to peg where it comes from, because there's things about her that I'm like, "I love this about you, and your taste, and the way you see things, and this part of your creativity." And then she'll say, "Well, that was inspired by you, and how you do this."

So, it's kind of hard to say where it comes from, because over the years, we've influenced each other a lot. Now that we work closely together—she is my creative director for a lot of things that I do—it just feels very natural. For me, what I always say to her is, I love the way that you see me. I think it's very nice, and that if she's the creative director for your project, you actually kind of see really how she sees you. And it's always an incredibly flattering experience.

James: Yeah, that's my job. [To say that] work stops now and shutting off the brain stuff. I think somebody really needs to do that [in a relationship.] She's also the type who is very productive, very active, and she's a planner. Whereas I'm more of the spontaneous 'I'm okay with the chaos' type of person. So it definitely is a potent mix and creates a very interesting relationship. Kind of like opposites, but really complement each other.

James: So when I was a kid, it was probably so one-dimensional. It would be so simple. It'd probably be "beautiful." [Now? My dream girl is] still beautiful, just in so many more ways than I would have meant when I was a kid. Just beautiful in the way they think, the way they see the world, the art they create, the way they talk, everything.

James: For me, it's very... very simple. I don't use shampoo every day because it's bad [for my hair.] There's a lot of natural hair oils that help your hair grow, keep it healthy. It's there for a reason. So it's better to not shampoo it every day, just every other day.

Keeping my hair short is fantastic because I don't have to worry about it. It certainly beats having bleached hair. I'm never doing that again. Just the maintenance is too much.

James: I don't like high-maintenance stuff anymore, which is why also for my skincare, I keep it very simple. I use a facial wash that has all-natural ingredients. I really don't put anything on my face other than a natural-ingredient face wash.

And then, to be always camera-ready, there's something that I do use. It's something that I've been creating because I wanted to create a product that was my one product for anything that I need, because I do like to be low-maintenance, just as a guy. It is an SPF with moisturizer, and it has a tint. And I had it matched to my skin color. Once I put it on, it's everything I need in one go. It's still in the prototype phase, but I'm lucky because I have all the prototypes and I still use them. *laughs*

James: The most important thing outside of all the stuff that you could put on your face is, of course, eating a lot of good food. Especially something that's rich in collagen. I cook my own bone broth for 24 hours, and then keep that in the freezer to then heat it up the next day. That's what you need to drink every day so there's a lot of collagen. That and sleep.

James: I use the Louis Vuitton Lover's Cologne. It's very woody, very earthy. I think it's sandalwood. I like those very earthy musky tones.

James: It's always getting some sun. I always notice that I look better and I need less makeup if I've got a healthy amount of sun. So I walk every morning around 7 to 9 a.m. so I get the morning sunlight.

James: First thing I do when I wake up is stretch. I think that flexibility is so underrated. I think so much pain and injuries don't come from being physical. It comes from being physical when you're not flexible. It feels good to stretch in the morning.

James: I think show business—and especially at the level that I was at in terms of fame and celebrity—it's not for the faint-hearted, the weak-minded, and the insecure souls. It's not for those people. And I think I was one of those people when I was at the height of my career, which made it very difficult for me.

Really the reason why I wanted to take a break was because I just needed to… at the time I was like, what, 27? I think going off on my own and just literal soul-searching was long overdue. So I took a step away from something that felt very suffocating. There wasn't really room for me to grow or change because people had an idea of who I was supposed to be and what I should do. It was very stiff and it wasn't a very good environment for me to grow in at the time. It's not what I needed at the time.

So I left and I focused on music because music is different from acting as a creative outlet. Music is a very personal experience—writing about your own stories instead of acting out someone else's. I learned a lot about myself through music. I traveled a lot because of music and I got to dive into a lot of business because of music. It's taught me a lot, but it was always my intention to go back to acting when I felt like I was ready. Now, I'm at a point in my life where I think I am ready. I feel like I've learned enough about myself to where I feel like my mind and my heart is strong, it's centered, it's aligned to the point where I can do this again without getting lost.

James: The biggest one is just the trust in my own judgment. I follow that like the North Star, which is something that I struggled a lot with before when I was younger. Trusting my own judgment, or at least learning how to do that, has been crucial for me. Especially with everything that I'm going to be doing in the future with an upcoming album, upcoming tour, new businesses opening up, there are many things for me happening this year. I think it's because of that [trusting my own judgement] that brought me here now, so that I think is the biggest one—really learning to trust myself.

James: I have made an album, but I'm still finalizing it. So the release date of that is still to be announced. And I have a major teleserye happening that will be coming out this year as well with Dreamscape.

James: More than anything, I'm just looking forward to exploring acting again as a creative outlet and as a craft. I've been doing a lot of acting workshops again. I've just been studying and refreshing my whole approach to acting with my teacher, Miss Anjali. The technique that she uses, it's called Meissner, is very useful not just for acting, but also in life. They've been very incredible acting workshops, and it's got me excited again for acting.

James: I think I just kind of found my stride and my sound and my voice when it came to writing with the last EP that I just released, JJH. I'm releasing a deluxe version of that EP with a brand-new song connected to it, with a featured artist. They’re one of many featured artists that I'll be collaborating with this year. I'm very excited for it.

I actually just came from about a two-week lock-in with the music where I locked myself in and I worked with up to 10, 12 different producers, artists, and writers, and I made maybe 16 songs in two weeks.

James: Extremely. And yeah, I'm really happy with the songs that were created. My goal is to find myself and create music that is really authentic to me, and just enjoy the making process, and that's what's been happening. I always say that it's the creation of the music that's for me. Once it's made, it's no longer for me. Once it gets marketed, sold, and put on Spotify or whatever, that part is really for everyone else. 

So what I hope to achieve with the music, I've already done. I'm very happy with the music that I made. Well, this is just the first. It's just the start. I have a lot of songs coming up.

James: If I could collaborate with one artist to create one whole special album, it would probably be Daft Punk. It's the first album I ever bought when I was a kid. Definitely that French house genre. I'm deeply inspired by it. It's like the core of who I am with music. If I could make one album with one artist, it would be them. Unfortunately, they split up. So I don't know how that's going to happen. But you said no limits. *smiles*

James: On the music side, I've never been more excited to share a new project or music with them. I think songs will define me as an artist and will start a new era for me in music. And when it comes to the acting, I really can't say much about it except: