Michael Sheen on playing Aro

British actor Michael Sheen is best known for playing werewolf lord, Lucian, in the Underworld Series. But now, the actor has switched sides as he plays Vampire leader, Aro in the next Twilight installment, New Moon.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Michael explains his decision to switch sides and how much influence his daughter had in his decision.

Why join the bloodsuckers?

“I wanted to see how the other half lived,” Sheen explains with a grin. “Or unlived.”

Actually, Lily, his 10-year-old daughter with Underworld actress Kate Beckinsale, had something to do with his decision. “She is very, very into the books. I know how obsessive she was about them, so I was already predisposed wanting to be in it.”

After he read the first two books himself, Sheen realized why the literary phenom causes teen girls to swoon. “What it has tapped into, at least in the first book, is how it feels to fall in love for the first time. I don’t think you have to be a girl to relate to that.

“The second book captures the utter desolation of losing that first love. I went through that myself, and Stephenie Meyer invokes that brilliantly.”

So what kind of vamp is Aro? “I suppose the Volturi are like the royal family of vampires, and while he is more their spokesperson in the books, he is their leader in the film. He’s got a sort of regality about him.

“I like the way director Chris Weitz describes him. On the surface, he is very charming and very warm, sort of likable and soft. But underneath, you get the sense he is a psychopathic killer. I love playing with that idea.”

Michael pretty much said the same thing in his interview with Parade Magazine.

Speaking of blood, taking on Aro in New Moon.
“There’s so much expectation about the sequel. People who are hooked on the stories have very definite ideas about the character from the second book. So it’s a dilemma. You want to give them what they expect, what they want to see, but you also want to surprise them. My biggest concern has been that everyone would remember that I played a werewolf in Underworld. So it would be a stretch for me to become a vampire. But I just love Aro. I think he has a gentle side even though he’s pretty scary. And I’m just very pleased to have a whole new generation of people I can scare.”

His daughter got a literal kick out of the news.
“I was excited about being in New Moon mainly because I thought it would make my daughter Lily very happy since she loved the books and the first movie. But, she was a bit overwhelmed. It was like when I was kid–if there was something I was really into, the last thing I wanted was my mom and dad to be into it as well. So, at first, Lily got upset and sort of cried when I told her. I think it was just like her fantasy imaginative world suddenly colliding with reality. She did punish me a bit. When she kicked me, I think that was sort of acting out her frustration.”

jediyoda