This is a GREAT Q&A session with Edi Gathegi and Alex Meraz. A must read. Thanks so much to the ever wonderful TwilightExaminer for this post!!
xoxo.
Rachel.
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The two may go head to head in
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, but there's no real animosity between Edi Gathegi and Alex Meraz when it comes to off-camera life.
Gathegi is notoriously "Team Laurent," and often he puns that his character fared well in an obviously unfair five-on-one fight in the book and film sequences.
The two joined up to speak about the film, and here's what they had to say.
Q: What was your favorite stunt to do?
Alex: For me, my favorite stunt to do was the cliff-diving scene. It’s pretty fun when you get the chance to jump off this fifty foot scaffolding just to practice the form, and it’s really exciting. I mean, it’s a good thing when an actor can actually perform your own stunts; it’s pretty rare.
Edi: I actually had a ton of fun on the second unit. The second unit director was extremely collaborative, and we actually created a shot together based on an idea that I had. And I can’t give it away, but the stunt that I do was something that I thought of and he said yes to, and it felt very wonderful to be able to have that sort of collaboration on a project of that scale.
Q: Alex, was it hard for you to come onto the New Moon set as one of the newcomers?
Edi: It was ‘cause I beat him up everyday [laughs].
Alex: There was no phase. Well, surrounded by the rest of the wolf pack, we’re all new to it, so we kind of relied on each other, you know, for support and whatnot, and we spent the most time together. So, when I saw any of the other actors, it was mostly in passing, but we did work together. It was all good, you know, we had a good time. No … I felt right at home.
Q: Edi, your character kind of makes his last stand in New Moon and Alex, yours just kind of begins, so how are your experiences in filming and how are your current experiences in promoting the film?
Edi: I guess that question’s to you, huh Alex?
Alex: You’re passin’ the torch onto me?
Edi: Well, I die and he’s just born.
Alex: Yeah, ‘cause I feed off of you.
Edi: You eat me and then you get a new life. For me, it’s all about perspective. I just feel really lucky that I was a part of not only one film but two in a huge franchise so it’s opened up a lot of doors and given me opportunities to meet people and travel and do interviews, and like it’s
not bad for my career, and right now it’s sort of like, will the Twilight ever end? I don’t know when it’s gonna end, but it’s very strong, there are a lot of people, there is a lot of passion to it, and I just feel lucky to be a part of it.
Alex: And I do as well. I think it’s an amazing franchise and I’m very fortunate to have a couple of films ready for me right after New Moon. So, it’s a good process and it’s a rare thing. Most other franchises … in fact, I don’t really know of any that actually take the time out to communicate with the fans as we’re doing, you know, and I think that’s a very crucial process, and, you know, it definitely motivates you to get back and do good work.
Q: I wanted to know, now Edi you play someone that’s actually a bad guy, and then Alex you’re playing someone who’s kind of misunderstood but comes across as mean, and I was wondering where you guys draw that energy from to come across that way on film?
Edi: Well if Alex’s character is misunderstood, then I want my character to be misunderstood. [Laughs] My character is a vampire, and they eat people, and he wants to eat Bella, and that doesn’t make him a bad guy.
[Alex laughs.]