Q&A: 'Breaking Dawn' Star Julia Jones Hangs With the Boys

Let's just get this out of the way:  Julia Jones is gorgeous.  If you know her from "The Twilight Saga" -- and you probably do -- you've seen her running through the woods in zero makeup and the kind of low-glam outfit one doesn't mind ripping to shreds.

The actress and model joined "The Twilight Saga" in "Eclipse" as Leah Clearwater, the first and only female werewolf in the history of the Quileute tribe, and the look doesn't do her justice. But we can attest: in person (and without jean shorts), she is stunning.

Jones tells NextMovie exclusively what it's like to infiltrate the boys' club, what "The Twilight Saga" means for girls and, of course, who has the best abs in her pack.

What's it like to be the only girl in -- literally -- a boys' club?
It's mostly fun and it's a little bit sometimes like… you want to puke. I felt so privy to their conversations, they literally stopped censoring themselves around me. At a certain point... they said, 'We're just not going to try to clean this up at all for you.'

I kind of got to a place where I felt like I... know how to think like a guy. I may have blocked most of it, but it is intricate and complicated and it's a whole thing that goes on with boys, especially at bars.
Did that work to your advantage while you developed the Leah character? It seems like she's become deliberately unfeminine to keep up with her pack.
I actually thought to myself, 'Wow, it's really strange how much I really want them to not censor themselves around me.' Like I really want them to be cool with me in every situation. It's such a unique, concentrated environment when you're with a group of people all the time. That kind of heightens your need to be accepted all the time, but that's exactly what Leah's going through.
Has knowing how gross guys can be impacted your dating life?
It's been a serious struggle for the last few months!
That said, you spent an enormous amount of time with a bunch of shirtless men, so it's not all bad. Whose abs were the most impressive?
It's kind of a tossup between Taylor [Lautner] and Alex Meraz. They are both just in, like, pristine shape. And actually Booboo's in really great shape also.
What was your "Twilight" growing up? What did you geek out over?
I'm, like, a real nerd, in that I will take a book that is three inches thick and disappear and not leave until it's done. That would be my extracurricular activity.
When I was growing up, I was really into "Rent" and I actually slept on the street in New York all night to get to sit in the first few rows for it. So I guess I was more into that than anything else.
Do you want to do a musical theater or you just watch musical theater?
I can't really sing, really.
Historically speaking, the big "event" movies have mostly skewed male -- "Star Wars," "Lord of the Rings." "Harry Potter" is pretty gender-neutral, but "The Twilight Saga" is more or less the first midnight-showing-level phenomenon primarily for the ladies. Amazing?
Totally. I think it's a testament to Stephenie Meyer -- she's the reason the movies have been so successful and that we're at this place with ... a lot of really strong female roles. This franchise is really far from any other huge releases, and it says massive things about what [girls] are relating to and what they need. They need role models like Bella. And even Alice  and Rosalie and Leah, who are opinionated, strong people. All these characters come from very different places. They are strong people, all of them.
Leah changes a lot throughout the series -- mostly in the final book (and these last two movies). Did you enjoy her growth?
It was a relief to play, actually. "Eclipse" was just so strenuous emotionally, because she was so angry all the time. ["Breaking Dawn"] was really fun -- I was very ready to let her move past her anger. She doesn't, like, get happy. I don't know that she smiles at all even in "Breaking Dawn".
She just starts to deal with her stuff.


NextMovie
xoxo
Carrie