Talking with the Cullens: The New Moon Press interview

The Cullens were represented by Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Luz and Nikki Reed during the New Moon Press Conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. The cast talked about returning for the second time under director Chris Weitz, meeting the fans and the Twilight mania, having new actors added to their family, their other projects and many more. Here is an excerpt of their interview:

Q: How was it to make New Moon with a new director and a new story that has a whole different emphasis?

Ashley: This go-around, I think we were all a little bit more prepared, which was nice. In the first film, we were all going, “What’s going on? What’s happening?” And, we had the support of the fans behind us. In the first one, we were going, “Oh, God, we hope they don’t hate us,” and they completely embraced us. So, going into the second one, I think it was a much more fun, relaxed experience, at least for me.

Kellan: Yeah. It’s nice to have that weight off your shoulders. We were all stepping in and giving a face to our characters, which fans already had celebrities and actors, who they envisioned as Emmett, Alice or Bella. It’s nice to have their support, so it was a huge weight off our shoulders shooting New Moon and then Eclipse.

And then, we had Chris Weitz, who’s such a laid-back, easy-going director and who really had everything so organized. It trickles down. We felt at ease, with knowing what the scene is and what he wants out of us, and then allowing ourselves to go to Chris and be like, “I want to try it this way,” or “What do you think of this?” He’s so open to all the actors’ decisions. It’s nice to feel like an actor and not a robot, so it felt so easy.

Q: How was that different from working with Catherine Hardwicke?

Kellan: I loved Hardwicke.

Elizabeth: There’s a big difference.

Nikki: All directors have a different approach.

Ashley: I think Catherine was thrown into it just as much as the rest of us. So, as the rest of us, she was kind of going, “Oh, my gosh, what’s happening?”

Q: Ashley, did you have any input into Alice’s wardrobe because she’s so stylish?

Ashley: Yeah, they definitely ask our input. We have a little bit of input in it. I don’t think it’s any secret that I really adore Audrey Hepburn, so I asked that maybe they throw that in there a little bit. And, I think Jackie O. was thrown in there a little bit. I loved it. I wanted to take my wardrobe home with me, each day.

Q: Was that you driving that car? What was that like?

Ashley: It was me driving the car, which scared all of the producers. Two takes and it was over.

Q: Did you notice that you were reading, watching or listening to anything different to get into your characters at all? Since these characters are so eternal, do they listen to new music? Do they change with the times?

Elizabeth: I think they do. I personally think that they’re trying to fit in to the human world. So, I think it’s important to them, in every way, that they look normal, that they have normal clothes and that they listen to music. They have a lot of time on their hands, too. They’re up all night, so they work on their hairdos a lot.

Nikki: We’ve found a way to justify why we’re wearing like a lot of Nike and also why our hair and make-up is totally flawless. We always find a way to justify it. We’re up all night, so we have time for that. They want to be contemporary and cool. They wear a lot of Nike. Sometimes head to toe Nike. We just love Nike.

Q: In the last year and a half, all of you have been thrust into this celebrity spotlight and you have such an avid fan base. Where do you think the public and fans’ right to know about your private life starts and stops?

Nikki: I had like a really interesting start because the first film I did was marketed as being autobiographical, so there weren’t ever boundaries set between me and the public, or between journalists and interviewers and myself. I’m still trying to find that balance, honestly.

Ashley: It’s a fine line, definitely. I think it’s hard because the reason that we are here is because of our fans, and they want to know everything about us because they adore us and they support us. And so, you do want to give them a little, but there is a certain point to where it’s not normal for everyone to know everything about you. Not all of my friends know every single thing about me. Different people know different things, so it gets a little tough there. And then, on the flip side, you never, ever know what someone’s going to write about you. Maybe an interviewer likes you and maybe they don’t. That’s where it becomes tough because you do want to be open and honest, but then you still have to protect yourself.

Kellan: I think it’s great to adopt a dog that bites. That’s where the paparazzi will stop. Ashley has a lovely dog, Marlow, which is kind of small but hurts. My dog, Kola, does not like anyone that she’s not friendly with, so the paparazzi stops at my front gate. It’s usually crazy to have paparazzi step outside your house. The coolest thing with the Vancouver guys is that they are respectable. They will just ask for a signature or photo and let us go have a cast dinner, away from set, where we can feel human, and we’re out of the white make-up and the contacts.

It’s a double-edged sword. We’re blessed to be actors and have such a loving fan base, and the fans are always so great. They give us presents, which is so crazy since we’re allowed to work because of them. The time they put into making dolls or buying gummy bears, or anything like that, is very humbling. It’s really nice to have everyone be respectful and just understand that it’s a job, at the end of the day. We aren’t really these characters, in life. I just thank them for everything.

Nikki: It’s weird to be a part of this new wave. This whole online gossip situation is a cultural phenomenon, on its own. People have always been obsessed with celebrity, but there was a disconnect and separation. People were on a screen. There were even filters. Now, I feel like your success is almost determined a little bit by how exposed you are to the world, but yet you’re recycled really fast, especially women. You’re hot while you’re literally hot, and then you’re out.

I think an ideal career for me would be to slide under the radar, so that I know that I’ll always work and people will always wonder. There’s mystery still. There’s just no mystery anymore. But, then again, producers actually cast based on things like this. If you’re not known in a small town in Italy or wherever, they don’t want to cast you because they need to finance their films. We’re trying to figure it out. There’s a new system of law right now.

Kellan: I think that’s what’s really cool. We didn’t know what this would become. We were just actors who fell in love with a script. It wasn’t about a Marvel hero that you know, like Green Lantern or Captain America. Whoever plays those characters is gonna be famous, right off the bat. With us, we fell in love with our characters and looked at this as just another job. I know for myself that I didn’t know it was a book series. It’s just great to be a part of something for the reasons that we are a part of it.

To read the rest of the interview, click on the link above.

jediyoda