Time interviews Robert Pattinson and Chris Weitz

Time Magazine talks to Robert Pattinson and director Chris Weitz where they talk about New Moon, the fans and working with each other. Here are some excerpt:

Robert’s interview:

TIME: You took on an edgy vampire movie and it’s become this. Did you know what you were signing up for?

Robert Pattinson: I had no idea it was going to be like this. I really had no idea until… I guess I still don’t. The time that it hit me really was when we were shooting in Italy and the emotional reaction — it wasn’t just screaming. It was like people were so intently listening and watching. After every take there was polite applause. And it wasn’t hysteria. It was literally devotion to the characters. It was amazing. I haven’t felt that in any other situation.

Casting Edward was crucial to the franchise. What did Catherine Hardwicke see in you?

I don’t know. I was a little intimidated by Kristen in my audition. So I played it like a guy who is beating himself up a lot about everything. I don’t think anyone else did it like that. I think they concentrated on the confidence aspect. If you read the book, you know he’s the perfect man, ideal man. If you’re a guy you have certain ideals about what you think is attractive. And that’s why I didn’t go into it for ages, because I thought I’d end up being silly in the audition. I’d be posing. I guess I tried to ignore every aspect of the confident hero of the story. And I played the extreme opposite. It didn’t end up being that in the film.

Chris’ interview:

In your letter to fans you said you’d “protect” the work. What was it like dealing with the author Stephenie Meyer?

Weitz: We had a long talk on the phone before she gave the green light. In my corner was the fact that she really liked About a Boy. But I think she wanted some assurance about fidelity to the books, which was already important to me. It really did come down to the buzzwords from the books themselves — protection and fidelity and devotion.

Was blood involved in that oath?

Weitz: That did not involve any rituals. That was just a simple conversation.

How much do you pay attention to what the fans are saying on the web?

Weitz: During shooting I tried to not go onto the Internet at all if possible. I started to pay attention to fan reaction to the trailers that have been out and what kind of stuff they like, just in order to get a temperature of where things were heading. I think you end up being a politician responding to polls if you pay too much attention to the Internet. Because it’s a quick way to convince yourself that one particular person who happens to be Twittering at the moment just happens to be the authority. I try to put out fires when bizarre rumors get started. One rumor I addressed was that the Volturi scenes were supposed to be set in a bathhouse with everyone naked.

To read more of their interviews, click on the links above.

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