Liam Payne predicts acting future for bandmate

One Direction heartthrob Liam Payne has tipped his bandmate Louis Tomlinson to follow in Justin Timberlake's footsteps and become a successful actor.

The One Thing hitmakers have already proved they have acting chops thanks to their Best Song Ever music video, in which the boys play caricatures of people they have encountered in the music industry.

And now Payne thinks that his pal can go even further by embracing his inner thespian and becoming an actor full-time.

In an interview with Australian radio show The Hot Hits, Payne heaps praise on Timberlake's transition into a movie star, saying, "I'm very proud of the idea that he has come from just being in a boy band to doing something like that. He is a very talented guy to be able to pull off that as well as he does, and to be one of the best performers in the world."

Suggesting Tomlinson is the next pop star to head to Hollywood, he added: "He puts himself in a lot of roles. Sometimes I think Louis would actually be quite good. He'll sit on the bus sometimes and he'll tell a story, but he puts himself in the character. I do reckon he'd be quite good actually."