BoxOffice® Pro - November 2011

BIG PICTURE > THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN—PART I
What's it like working on a film where people are so fascinated
by the tiny details? However you and your hair designer
decide to style your hair for the wedding, thousands of girls
are going to copy it for their own wedding or prom.
It's funny. It's something you have to put out of your mind while
you're working, or else it's incredibly heavy, it weighs you down.
You want to do something that is clear to you. But at the same time,
it makes it exciting, like, "I hope they like it!" I'm also on their level:
I'm just as worried about how the hair is going to look. It's just not
normal for other people to be as concerned about something that
you're concerned about on the movie. Usually, people don't know,
people don't care. It's unique, really unique in that way. I've never
experienced that on another project.
Knowing that other people take your role as seriously as you
do—it's kind of a great confluence of actor and audience.
Yeah. It really is pretty amazing, and it's so different. I've had a
taste of it in a couple movies, but this case was the most extreme.
Playing real people, you get a similar experience. With Joan Jett
[in The Runaways] and then a On the Road, where I play this woman
who's absolutely f--king incredible, LuAnne Henderson [who inspired
the character of Marylou in the novel and film]. That was so
important on a level that had nothing to do with
me. So it's a similar experience. Usually, I
own these parts—they're mine and the
director's and the writer's. But this has
relevance on another level in the real
world.
That's true. Especially with On the
Road, Marylou is based on a real person
but she's also existed in the minds of
readers for six decades. And you've got
the pressure to make them all happy
with your take on that character.
Were there moments during Twinlight
where you were wondering
how much you could make the
character your own?
Having read the books and sitting
down with everyone involved, it's
so funny. People don't love the same
things you love all the time. And
some things I would remember
from the book never existed. It
was odd. Like, that something
had happened to Bella between
films and I would fight tooth and
nail for it, but it wasn't there. I
had made it up. It was something
I had imagined from
between the times that are
there. Which is a strange experience,
especially when you're
arguing with the director. Then I'd
go back and read chapter 23 and it wasn't there. It was so weird. But
different things are important to different people and you've got to
choose. And that's what makes the job cool, that's what makes the
movie ours. It's a strange thing. It's owned by so many people at this
point—it has such a huge past and we've had so many directors. I
must sound totally corny and weird, but it's loved by an insanely
diverse and large group of people.
We've culled pictures of Twilight fans posing with their favorite
piece of memorabilia, or posing next to paintings they've
made—sometimes even whole wall murals in their own
house. I love their enthusiasm.
So do I. I always feel this intensely about things I work on, but to
suddenly look up and see that other people do as well, there's nothing
more to say other than that it feels good. It's nice to share that.
On an energy level, that's going to fuel you. It feels cool.
You mentioned all the directors you've been through. That
makes you and Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner the old
guard—you know the characters and this world so well. What
do you tell the directors when they start?
Everyone was so different, it always felt fresh. As much as going
back and working with Rob and Taylor and the rest of the cast and
everyone else who'd been there the whole time was like picking
up where we left off, at the same time we were pretty accepting of
the fact that we were going to
have different directors on every one.
The director, you follow him. He sets the tone 100 percent. I love
that. Feeling lost is
not a cool thing and I rely heavily
on directors. It's the nature of doing the job—I don't
dictate, he does. Everyone genuinely had differ-
ent ideas—not even different ideas, they were
moved by
very different things. The things that
got them off about the project were all very,
very different. That was interesting to see.
How did Bill Condon fit in? What
made him different?
He had this very unobtrusive gentleness.
He's incredibly sweet. It's funny,
now I'm describing him as a character,
but he accepts things that are simple,
and I
feel the same way. Somehow, the
romance is easier to accept in this movie.
Things started to feel genuine again, things
started
to feel real again, because he believed
in them so much. And that's pretty awesome
considering the point in the series
that this movie is at. I think that Bill is
really collaborative and awesome, and
I
think that he really was able to get
that Edward and Bella are united now
and they really do feel, at least to me—
or
they're working on becoming—
whatever the f--k it means to be "adult."
And
it's nice not to see them scrambling
48 BOXOFFICE PRO NOVEMBER 2011