Ashley , Nikki Interview

Continuing in the Twilight Saga as The Cullen Family are Peter Facinellli as Carlisle, Jackson Rathbone as Jasper, Elizabeth Reaser as Esme, Ashley Greene as Alice, Nikki Reed as Rosalie, and Kellen Lutz as Emmett. In this third installment of the popular franchise, the Cullens have pretty much decided to accept Bella, but Bella’s really put them in a position of jeopardy. There’s an entire clan of vampires coming to Forks and they’re going to have to defend her and themselves. Both the Cullens and the werewolves must find common ground in order to protect Bella and the human population of Forks and La Push.
MoviesOnline sat down with The Cullens to talk about their new film, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” Peter explained to us why he might not be the knight in shining armor we thought he was. Jackson promised to turn in his boots for a pair of tap shoes if there’s a “Twilight: The Musical.” Elizabeth and Ashley shared their wardrobe plans for the press tour. Nikki described how spray painting her body to make her pale as a vampire helped her get into character. Kellan couldn’t make the press conference because his character took off the day to hunt.


Q: Peter, you were the knight in shining armor vampire? How did you get around so quickly to save everybody?
Facinelli: Vampire speed… It’s interesting that you would say “knight in shining armor.” It’s a matter of perspective because I sometimes feel like my kids don’t appreciate me. My Cullen kids. If you look at it from our side, he saved them, but if you look at it from a different point of view, it was kind of a selfish act in the sense that they didn’t have a choice in the matter. I know there’s at least two of them. I won’t name names. (laughter) They’re having a difficult time with me having transformed them. As Carlisle, it is a difficult thing. He goes back and forth between saying, “Well, I tried to do something good there, but I’m not sure if I made the right decision because, again, they didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
Q: For someone who hasn’t been a fan of the series, why would you recommend someone should go see this movie?
Facinelli: Are you not a fan?
Q: No. I’m a fan.
Facinelli: Oh okay.
Greene: I think because this one essentially has something for everyone -- especially in Eclipse because the whole film is leading up to this battle. There’s a lot of action in this film. There’s a love triangle that’s been formed that only thickens in this one. You get a little bit of everything to heighten extremes.
Rathbone: Definitely. They told us that in the third film

of the Twilight franchise that the guys would get to have a lot more action and a lot more visceral vampire action, which is one of those things I think people are really going to dig. It’s what makes part of the darker side of the myth of the vampire world more exciting. I think it’s going to explode on the screen nicely.
Reaser: I’m a fan of David Slade and I think it’s worth it just to see how dynamic what he’s done [is]—from the very first moment with Xavier. Seeing all these new characters being introduced to Xavier and Bryce who is not a new character, but a new actress and is so wonderful. You get to see their back stories. There’s so many amazing characters to follow that you can’t not get hooked, I think.
Reed: It’s so hard when you’re the fourth in line answering that. I think it deals with universal topics—not only this really intense, “I would do anything, literally die for you” kind of love that I think we’ve all felt at one point or another. Also, young characters such as Bella, her insecurities and stuff. With this film in particular, you get to learn a little bit more about some of the characters—like Rosalie and Jasper—[the characters that] the fans of the books know about. When you’re dealing with a screenplay, you really have to focus on what’s important, which is the love triangle. The rest of us feel like we’re screaming and clawing to show something.
Facinelli: I think that there’s a misconception with Twilight that it’s just for pre-teen and teenage girls and that guys might go see it. When New Moon came out, it had more action and guys responded to that. Although they didn’t really want to admit it, it’s kind of like guys driving around singing and listening to Barry Manilow in their car, belting it out loud and then someone pulls up next to them and they pretend like they’re not. Now, with Eclipse, the action has gotten even greater. For me, as a male, it’s my favorite book because I love all the action—yet you still have this love triangle that’s heated up even more. It hits on a lot of different things. It has themes of vengeance which is universal. You have themes of alliances being formed between two different families or covens or species or clans or mortal enemies that are teaming up for a common good—which I think is a great universal message. With those universal messages out there, with a family that you can relate to in the sense that they’re bonded and joined up for a common good—with the action and with this love story, it’s got a lot of things going on for a lot of different people. I’ve had fans that are six-years-old up to eighty. I’m hoping that they enjoy it. It’s my favorite book and I enjoyed it.
Q: This is a family that rallies around one particular girl….
Reed: I hate it.
Q: Why?
Reed: Actually, I think it says a lot about Rosalie that she’s willing to contribute. It’s really funny speaking from our characters perspective because we are such a family and we actually all love each other and we don’t fight and that’s just the truth—as boring as it is. I think it says a lot that when it comes down to it, the family is really willing to step up. Whatever makes us hesitant is put aside because we all come together. We are a family.
Reaser: Edward has been alone for so many years, so I think we all…
Reed: So what?
Facinelli: We just want him to be happy. As a family and as a unit, we just want him to be happy.
Reaser: We’re so isolated, even as a family. We have each other, but we’re very isolated and there’s only so much room for intimacy and connection in all of our lives. We all have a partner and Edward doesn’t. For him to find that partner after all these years, it’s as important to us as it is to him.
Rathbone: It’s got a “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” vibe. In a real family circumstance, you have your family members and relatives who bring something to the table that maybe you don’t necessarily like or are confused by. Everyone reacts differently. Jasper wants to kill Bella. It’s his natural reaction. Having to accept something that your relative loves… If your loved one loves something, you have to love it too. You have to support it. As much as it causes you pain, if it causes them love, it’s worth it.
Facinelli: I think everyone has had a family member that someone’s dating and you’re like, “Okay… if that family member loves them, then I need to love them too.” It’s another thing that’s relatable. I think of this whole thing like… If you strip away the vampires, there’s a lot of human elements you can relate to, that being one of them.
Q: If Stephanie approved it and the studio wanted to, would you guys be open to exploring your characters more deeply in solo films? Or some sort of spin off?
Rathbone: Like Twilight the musical? Oh yeah! I’ve got my tap dancing shoes prepared.
Reed: Well, with Bill Condon… you never know!
Facinelli: The Chronicles of Carlisle?
Rathbone: The Chronicles of Carlisle? That’s awesome! I think it’s one of those things. As opportunities present themselves, we’ll be on board or trying to figure it out with our schedules and everything. What the Twilight franchise has done for a lot of us is amazing. We have so many fans and such a strong support system. It’s a blessing. I’m just going to keep going day by day.
Facinelli: The thing that’s fun for us too is meeting the fans of the book and the fans of the movies. We’re just as much fans as well. It’s kind of cool for me to be in something that I’m a fan of. I love the books and I love those characters so much. So now being able to have a say in that character is, for me, pretty cool.
Q: Did you feel that you had to stick to what was there to create your characters or have you been able to bring a little bit of yourselves to each of the roles?
Facinelli: I feel like it was our obligation to interpret that character. The books are definitely my starting point. I tried to add different things to make it my own. But, definitely, I had my vision of who Carlisle was that I created from the books. That was always my bible for me of the character. But little things, like Carlisle adding the scarves. That wasn’t in the books. I went to Catherine Hardwicke and I said, “I’d like Carlisle to wear scarves because I think it’s something he might do.” With the scarves thing, I thought, A, it might be something cool because it might be a piece of fashion that he’s taken throughout the years and it stayed with him. I always look at Carlisle like a gentleman and I thought the scarf thing would make him appear a little more gentlemanly. Then I thought on a subconscious level, maybe he’s afraid of having his neck exposed. I thought, maybe he just doesn’t like having that neck exposed because he got bit there. There’s this whole journey of the scarf. When it came to the third one, I said to David Slade, “Look, I like the scarves, but I don’t want them to become like Mickey Mouse ears where everytime you see Carlisle he’s wearing the scarf.” Especially going to battle with the scarf would’ve been silly—unless he started using it as a weapon. So I said, “Let’s loose the scarf, but let’s give it a purpose.” There’s a scene where I go to the werewolves and I ask for their help. At that point, I chose to take the scarf off. That’s me basically standing vulnerable in front of them, almost naked in Carlisle’s mind, to ask them for help. From that point on, the scarf’s not there. Maybe in Breaking Dawn we’ll bring it back.
Q: For the women, can you tell us a little about preparing wardrobe wise for your press tour -- where you’re headed and what you’ll be wearing as well as what you’re wearing today. Also, for Ashley, did you lighten your hair? What inspired that?
Greene: I didn’t do it today, but I did it a week ago. I randomly get these bugs where I want to change something or do something. It’s summer and I haven’t had my hair really light since I was probably fourteen. I was at the salon just to get it cut and I was like, “Let’s just do it!” I don’t know how my team felt about that, but… thank you for noticing. Fashion-wise, I’m super excited! I’m a big fan of fashion, so I’m super excited about the press tour and how many places and premieres I get to go to. Today I’m wearing Stella McCartney. The biggest plan is… We picked out like 30 outfits to have fun with it. I have a lot of opportunities to wear a lot of different people. I will say that when I’m in the UK, I’m going to try and wear a UK designer. I’m not sure who I’ll wear yet, but we’ve got four choices for the UK. I haven’t narrowed it down just yet.
Reaser: I’m wearing Etro.
Reed: I don’t know who I’m wearing.
Reaser: I finally broke down and got a stylist which was the smartest thing I could’ve done.
Reed: Me too.
Reaser: I have no innate fashion sense, so it’s been really helpful.
Reed: I’m not the best person to ask. I will know what I’m wearing in a few minutes.
Reaser: Want me to check? Oh wow! We’re both wearing Etro!
Reed: I don’t know what I’m wearing to the UK premiere. I really love clothes, but I like when I’m in a fitting and people direct me and tell me what to wear. It’s not really my area. I’m really happy Ashley answered that one first.
Greene: You guys should watch Jackson today. He has a couple of outfit changes.
Rathbone: I’m treating it like a theatre and this is act 2.
Greene: He’s not kidding.
Rathbone: Actually, I spilled coffee all over myself. I was actually holding an audition for the Twilight inspired spin-off of Dr. Carlisle Cullen and his many scarves.
Q: Robert said he gets into character based on the contacts…
Facinelli: We call them hub caps. It’s like having hub caps in your eyes because they’re really heavy, big discs…
Q: What gets you into character?
Facinelli: The scarf!
Reed: There’s such a physical transformation that I go through. I guess I can sort of agree with Rob, but I have to put on a wig. It takes quite a few hours. Even though I’m a bit tanner than the rest of these kids, it takes just as long because we all have to spray paint our entire bodies because none of us are as pale as a vampire. We get there at four o’clock in the morning. You close your eyes and you lay back in this chair. Four hours later, you wake up and you actually are a different person.
Reaser: For me, the make-up is a huge part of the process. Also, being on location in these forests and with the weather, it’s like you’re dropped into the world. It’s so specific that it makes you feel different.
Rathbone: I just start with the boots. I put the boots on and get the walk right and I’m good. That’s all I need.
Greene: Yeah, agreed. Contacts and being sprayed. White make-up. I will also say… It wasn’t necessarily planned, but Alice’s voice is a little higher than mine and she moves a little differently. That always helps—when you’re not moving like yourself and you’re not talking like yourself. That coupled with four hours in the chair, it definitely has an impact. Then, being surrounded by a bunch of other vampires helps. We get into this certain mode and world. The affect you have on other people is funny. When you forget what you look like and you have these contacts in, there’s a little kid that’s walking around set and has never seen vampires walking around—they’re horrified.
Facinelli: We should all go to Starbucks after work!
Q: Are you looking forward to working with a new director on Breaking Dawn?
Facinelli: I’m looking forward to working with Bill Condon. He’s phenomenal. I’m looking forward to hearing what his thoughts are on the series and the movie. It’s cool because all these different directors have these different interpretations. You don’t get complacent and sit back and go, “Ok. I know these characters.” They’re always asking you different questions and getting you to think deeper.
Q:There’s been talk of you getting an Emmy for Nurse Jackie where you work with different directors.
Facinelli: Gosh. I hope so. From your lips to God’s ears.
Q: Do jobs like that one make this film harder or easier?
Facinelli: I’m used to working with different directors-especially with doing that series and I’ve done different shows like Six Feet Under and Damages where they have different directors all the time. I’m used to it. They do bring different energies to it. If you look at Twilight, Catherine had this great kinetic energy. She was like a cheerleader. She’d come in and have this infectious quality about her. I always joked with Chris [Weitz] that he reminded me of Carlisle Cullen. He was cool as ice. He was a calming force. If things ran amuck, you’d look to Chris Weitz for the calm. David Slade had a mixture of both. There’s a calming sense and then a sense of getting excited. I’m used to that. I don’t know if working with different directors makes it easier. It’s just different. It’s not easier or harder. I actually shot Eclipse and the second season of Nurse Jackie at the same time. I’d be on a plane every couple of days flying from Vancouver to New York. People always say, “Well, did you get the lines confused?” They’re so distinct those characters that there’s no way of confusing them. For me, I love both of those characters. It’s fun being able to go from one world to a completely different world.
Q: There’s a lot more interaction between the vampires and the werewolves in this movie. As actors, what are you actually reacting to?
Rathbone: Oh my gawd. There’s a guy in a green suit. Or it was grey.
Reaser: I don’t know what you’re talking about. We had the cardboard cutouts.
Rathbone: There was some guy in a grey…
Reaser: Oh yeah!
Rathbone: We had to do whole monologues that way…
Facinelli: It was that and cardboard cutouts, which makes it a little difficult.
Rathbone: They’re like, “The wolf is going to be this big.”
Facinelli: It’s harder to act when you’re acting off that. When you don’t have anything coming back at you.
Reed: Although, I don’t know if I’m supposed to be the one telling this story. I’m sure someone else will tell it later, but…  I do believe that Taylor didn’t want Kristen to act off of nothing.
Facinelli: Yes, that was very sweet of him.
Reed: So he came in like a full silver spandex suit. I thought that was very considerate of him.
Facinelli: He dressed up as one of the guys in the green suits with a grey sweatshirt for the green screen. She actually had to cuddle him, but she got to cuddle the real Jacob/Taylor Lautner, which is nice because he didn’t do that for us… (laughter) That must’ve helped!
Q: What was the battle sequence like for you having to fight the wolves?
Facinelli: The wolves were working alongside us, so most of the fight sequences we did were with real stunt people—the bad vampires, which helped. They are so good at their jobs that they make us look good. We did fight training for six weeks and my daughter came down and she was watching one of the choreographed fights that I had. Then I had her do it. You have this twelve-year-old girl throwing this stunt guy across the room. It was kind of fun to watch that. It makes it easier because they’re doing most of the work.
“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” opens in theaters on June 30^th.source
~Robstenfan