LOS ANGELES, CA  [Wednesday Dec.13.2006]  /WMQT.com/ -- Justin Timberlake has taken on a meaty role in the upcoming movie "Alpha Dog," and director Nick Cassavettes wanted him to meet the man he was portraying.

The SexyBack star plays real-life killer Frankie Ballenbacher, who is currently serving a prison sentence for the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz back in 2000.

Timberlake said, "Nick and I travelled to upstate California and I sat down with him at the prison and spoke to him for a couple of hours. You're talking about someone who for four years had been in a penitentiary and was serving a life sentence. I don't think he had any perspective on me playing him."

The artist added, "He was a person who was very misunderstood and very remorseful, but you get one life to do things right and he didn't."

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