'Dogtown' star is real-life skater

LOS ANGELES, March 2 (UPI) -- Venice, Calif., native and actor Emile Hirsch is putting his skateboarding skills to good use in the new film "Lords of Dogtown."

Hirsch is preparing to play Jay Adams in Catherine Hardwicke's film, based on the documentary "Dogtown and the Z-Boys" about a group of street skaters in 1970s Venice, reported Zap2it.com.

While Hirsch seems confident with his skateboarding, he is having to re-learn a lot since many of the tricks he knows weren't even invented at the time the film is set.

"... I'm going to have to learn how to do cutbacks and all kinds of ground-related tricks because back in the days in Dogtown, the Ollie wasn't even invented -- that's the most basic skateboard trick these days and they hadn't even invented it yet," he said.

Due to start filming later this month, the movie co-stars Heath Ledger as Zephyr team manager Skip Engblom, "Elephant" star John Robinson as Stacy Peralta, and Victor Rasuk as Tony Alva.