Ashley Greene: Skateland, Twilight & Apparition

Ashley Greene was in Texas last week as she promotes her new movie, Skateland at the South by Southwest Film Festival. Ashley did some press rounds during her stay and one of them is Cinematical. In this interview, Ashley talked about filming Skateland, Twilight, and her current movie, Apparition.

Cinematical: At what point between Twilight films did you make Skateland?

Ashley Greene: I made it directly after Twilight. After Twilight, I came right back to auditioning. Actually, Aquila/Wood Casting did Twilight and they cast me in this, so they were like my cheerleaders rooting for me.

Cinematical: You’ve also been working on a few additional films, outside of the Twilight world. What sort of projects were you looking for to do between films?

Ashley Greene: I adore Alice Cullen and doing Twilight, but because there are so many of these films you definitely want to give a taste of something else in between so [fans] still see you as Ashley Greene and not Alice Cullen. And so, during the breaks, that’s what I was looking to do. Because Twilight keeps gaining more and more attention, and it’s doing so well and we have this incredible fan base that doesn’t stop, with each film that comes out I get more opportunities to pick and choose, which is really nice. Now I’m focused on showcasing what I can do and building longevity.

Cinematical: Tell us about The Apparition, your next foray into horror.

Ashley Greene: The Apparition is something I’m currently filming. We just got back from Germany this week, we were there for about two months filming at Babelsberg Studio and we start filming again in about a week in Los Angeles. The film actually takes place in L.A. which is the funny thing about this business, because we went to Germany to shoot it, we came back to shoot exteriors. It’s a psychological thriller that centers around these two characters, Kelly and Ben, who are played by myself and Sebastian Stan. We play a couple who are haunted by a supernatural force and we have to figure out what this thing wants. I definitely learned a lot of things about myself while filming this… I read the script and loved it. I’m so passionate about this project and my producers and director and co-star, I’ve gone places as an actor I didn’t know I could go. So I’m really excited for this one to come out.

Cinematical: What kind of scary places did you find yourself in during your performance?

Ashley Greene: I was terrified, and as far as just being vulnerable and sad and hurt, and strong… it’s not a horror film; we want it to be elevated and scary along the lines of Poltergeist, so I definitely didn’t want Kelly to be one of those scared, dumb girls in a horror movie. So we all worked together, it’s been a huge collaboration in making these characters really smart.

Cinematical: There seems to be an emerging trend in horror films of filmmakers shying away from the so-called “torture porn” subgenre and towards what’s called elevated horror.

Ashley Greene: Yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing. I look at a movie like The Strangers, and the scariest part about that movie is that these people do everything that you would have done and that you wanted them to do, and yet things still start happening. That’s definitely along the lines of what we want to do, because that’s the frightening part about it.

Cinematical: There is a sense that one of the easier ways for young actresses to make a name is to appear in mainstream horror films; is that something you’ve been mindful of, or are able to choose not to do because of the clout the Twilight films have given you?

Ashley Greene: Absolutely. I’m looking at The Apparation thinking, okay, this is a horror film; do I really want to go down that path? Because even though Twilight is certainly not a horror film, it is labeled a “vampire” film and it could be mistaken as such. So when I looked at this film, we had to read through it, and I spoke with the director and producers to see exactly how they wanted to go about the film. The fact that it’s as far away from that mainstream horror film as you can get kind of relaxed me, because I wanted to be a part of it but I didn’t want to be in a horror film, so it worked out. But yes, I certainly think Twilight has given me a lot of opportunities and it’s put me in a position and enabled me to be able to say, no, I don’t want to do that film, and I’m not going to do that, and I am going to do this. I’m in a very good position.

Click on the link to read the whole interview.

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