The actors who play the Cullens - minus a few of their onscreen family members - participated in the LA press day for the next-to-last Twilight film, Breaking Dawn Part 1, something they've done for the previous three Twilight films and will likely have to do one more time as they close the series out. Together for a press conference in support of the November 18, 2011 release of Breaking Dawn, Peter Facinelli ('Dr Carlisle Cullen'), Elizabeth Reaser ('Esme'), Jackson Rathbone ('Jasper'), and Nikki Reed ('Rosalie') chatted about their characters, director Bill Condon, and wrapping the blockbuster franchise.
Jackson Rathbone, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser and Nikki Reed The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Press Conference
What have you learned from your characters?
Jackson Rathbone: "I learned I prefer not to be a blonde. That’s definitely something I learned."
Peter Facinelli: "Staying out of the sun makes you youthful."
Elizabeth Reaser: "I learned patience. [Laughs] I’ve learned a lot from Esme. Esme is always looking for a way to love someone and a way to be kind, and that doesn’t come naturally to me all the time so it was the practice."
Nikki Reed: "I guess I’ve learned that it’s okay if the world doesn’t like you."
Jackson Rathbone: "We like you."
Nikki Reed: "Sometimes playing a character that’s not the most likable can be challenging because, a lot of times, people think that you are a reflection of who you are playing. So I’ve learned to really stand by the character that I play, but also find a healthy balance and separate myself from it; defend her, but defend our differences."
On the last day of shooting were you relieved that you could start tanning and drinking high fructose corn syrup and eating a lot of salt again? Was it nice to be liberated from the physical demands required for your roles?
Peter Facinelli: "For me, I spent so much time trying to stay out of the sun because the more color you had, the more make-up you had to wear. [They] put more coats of paint on your face to look paler. I remember going to my daughter’s soccer game and I looked like the Unibomber because I was all covered up. Literally, the sun would come out and I would find myself slinking into the shade. So, it was kind of nice that I went to the Maldives this summer and didn’t have to worry about that. Just got in the sun."
How do you feel saying goodbye to these characters now that you're finished up?
Jackson Rathbone: "It’s definitely nice to hang up the white make-up and the wigs and the contacts; that was always cumbersome in the mornings when we were shooting. But it’s nice because we have the premiere coming up and next year Breaking Dawn Part 2, so it still feels very much alive."
Peter Facinelli: "It doesn’t really feel like it’s over for me. A part of it is over. The filming process is over, but we have one more year of one more film coming out so I think next year it will feel more complete. We see each other during press and we’ll see each other doing press next year. We still have another year together, so it only feels like a part of it is over."
Nikki Reed: "We’re used to revisiting these projects a year later, so I think everyone asks us what the last day of filming was like and I wish I was creative enough to make up a really dramatic tale. It was dramatic because we were freezing. It was six o’clock in the morning and we just wanted to get inside. There wasn’t a river of tears because we knew we’d see each other. Maybe in three or four years if I don’t have job..."
Elizabeth Reaser: "I think next year will be sad."
Peter Facinelli: "Also for some of us, we still had more filming to do. We had first unit wrap so that was kind of weird, but I still had another two weeks of second unit stuff with Elizabeth - so I think my last day with Elizabeth was two weeks later. I do remember hugging you (to Elizabeth) for it seemed like forever."
Elizabeth Reaser: "We were hugging and I think I was yelling and screaming a little bit."
Jackson, you were really dancing up a storm at the wedding. It looked kind of retro. What were you doing?
Jackson Rathbone: "It’s a little Jitterbug, a little old-school swing dancing. When I was doing musical theater as a kid, I definitely did a lot of swing dancing and I was really into that kind of music, so we definitely did a little choreography. They had a little different dance style for us and I was talking to our choreographer and said, 'Hey, why don’t we do this old-school flip?,' which I was really nervous about because Ashley [Greene] was in heels. I didn’t want to throw her and suddenly it’s the last day of filming and I kill her. That would be really bad. That would be terrible. It was really fun for me to call up the old-style dance moves."
Elizabeth, can you talk about Esme’s kindness toward Jacob so that he finally is a bit more friendly to her?
Elizabeth Reaser: "I think he begins to understand the nature of our family and begins to see us for who we really are and not for, in a way, the color of our skin. There’s a scene with Peter and I where Jacob says, 'I think I get it now. You guys are really a family,' and he sees that he, in a way, has become a part of our family and we care about him. And, I think Esme is kind of hard to resist. She’s just so good and loving and wants to take care of everybody, although Leah is a little resistant."
What is your most memorable fan encounter?
Elizabeth Reaser: "I had one recently where someone yelled at me."
Peter Facinelli: "Yelled, like angry?"
Elizabeth Reaser: "Yeah, that was why it was memorable. Did you say a good one?"
Peter Facinelli: "I had a few fans ask me to sign their arm or leg and actually get it tattooed, which scares me because it puts a lot of pressure on me. If I end up not acting anymore, then they have this really bad tattoo on their arm. So, I feel like I have to keep going doing what I’m doing."
Jackson Rathbone: "You can’t pull a Prince and change your name anymore, can you? 'The artist formerly known as Peter Facinelli'."
Peter Facinelli: "Nope. Can’t do that either. [Laughing] That wouldn’t fit on her arm."
Jackson Rathbone: "The fans over the years have been utterly amazing and supporting. We wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for their loyal devotion to these films, and there’s definitely been some craziness. I mean the word fan comes from 'fanatic'. There are some that are that way. There’s some that are so sweet and adoring. It’s one thing when they scream at you and you want to run away. When people start yelling at you and chasing you, your first instinct is to run the opposite direction…"
Peter Facinelli: "Actually I run towards them..."
Jackson Rathbone: "That’s a note. You want to see Peter, just run at him."
Peter Facinelli: 'Just yell my name out and I’m like, 'Yes! Do you want a picture?'"
What can you say that working on this franchise has done for you? What has the transition been since the very beginning?
Nikki Reed: "I’ve learned one really important thing is just observing the whole situation, which is fame does not mean success. It’s great being a part of something that’s so well known, but we all have to do good work after this so that’s what I’ve taken away from that. It’s coming to an end, so now it’s about what choices we’re going to make and what we’re going to do with our lives."
"I’ve always done this thing where I put my life before my work so it’s not a lack of ambition, it’s just a desire to live my life and know that I’ll only be 19 once and 21 once. I moved away a lot in-between filming. I went to Greece to learn Greek and was in Russia for a bit. I want to do all the things that my brother, who is a year older than me, got to do because he was just a 'normal' kid and I didn’t want to miss out on that. I guess I’ve learned to just have faith in the work and hope that after this movie, people will still want to see me out there."
Jackson Rathbone: "It’s been an incredible learning experience. I think one of the most fascinating things that I really loved about this film series is working with so many different, diverse directors and people I’ve respected and seen their work for years. I formed my own production company a year and a half ago, so to be able to learn from them and the amazing producers over at Summit and all these directors; every single one of them has a different style; it’s so important for me as a young actor and young artist to get to learn from the best in the business. This time we had Bill Condon and he had such an amazing aesthetic. The nightmare wedding sequence just blew me away; the blood and the roses...it’s so well done. When you read the book, you realize things differently. It’s the artist’s objective but the way he brought it to life, it’s so phenomenal that I got to work with somebody of that caliber."
Nikki, you get to work a lot with Taylor Lautner in Breaking Dawn. Can you talk about the scenes you two got to do together?
Nikki Reed: "I just saw the film last night and was disappointed because one of my favorite scenes is not in the movie. We shot this scene and I go to serve him food and I put it in a dog bowl and I write 'Fido' on it and he hits me in the head with it. It’s very dramatic and I thought it was a great representation of who Rosalie is; really over the top. Working with Taylor is very enjoyable. He’s very honest. His eyes are very honest and I would say he very good at committing 100% to the decisions he makes throughout the film."
"It was nice to interact with other actors for a change. They have a line, then you have a line and say something back. [Laughing]. Taylor’s wonderful and he’s great with his shirt on, too."
Nikki, in this movie you get cuddle time with Renesmee. What was it like to take on that pseudo-mommy role and work with the baby?
Nikki Reed: "I loved it. I loved actually getting to love something and share that. This was the moment when I got to be totally raw and vulnerable and express that love for something else. It was a rubber baby a lot of the time, well-made but rubber. We also worked with a mechanical baby at different points in time, so there would be a man between my ankles pushing a button and the hand would move up and sometimes it would grab my eye and pull and my hair goes down and I’m like, 'This is not part of the scene.'"
Jackson Rathbone: "It was like Chucky."
Nikki Reed: "But I love working with kids. We had some great babies, the real ones. They didn’t cry as much as they would have, I guess."
Nikki, we didn’t get your memorable fan encounter.
Nikki Reed: "I had a girl ask me to marry her. She was not 18 yet. She looked very young and asked if we could get married and I said, 'Are you 18?' She said, “No, but my mom said it’s okay when I am.'"
Jackson, what's up with your band 100 Monkeys?
Jackson Rathbone: "We’re going to be going on tour in Europe November 27th until about December 17th. I’m actually going to be spending my birthday over there and it’s really exciting. It’s the first time for us to be outside the U.S. besides Canada, so it’s a really exciting time for us as a band. And we’re working on a couple of new media projects. It’s a really interesting time for film and music, especially with the internet. I just did a web series called Aim High where we were Facebook’s first show and aol/Cambio’s first show with their relaunch. I’m really excited about the possibilities of new media and where we can take it, so the band and I have been working on some ideas to move in that direction as well."
For Peter and Elizabeth, have you seen Rob and Kristen change in handling all the fan frenzy and media scrutiny?
Peter Facinelli: "I’ve been impressed. Everyone handles it differently and people have asked me if I’ve ever given them advice on anything and I’m like, 'No, because everyone has to experience it and go through it their own way.' I don’t feel like they’ve changed in who they are. They just have more people surrounding them so they more of an entourage and more security protecting them but, as individuals, I don’t feel like they’ve changed. That’s been nice to see."
Elizabeth Reaser: "I would agree. I think they had unusual challenges that I don’t think I could have offered any advice on. I also think it’s really exciting that they’ve gotten to play these roles and carry us along with them. It’s been amazing."
How was it to have Kristen join you in getting vampire make-up, contacts etc.?
Elizabeth Reaser: "It was funny. She finally understood some of the challenges presented when being a vampire. She was like, 'Oh, man! My eyes really hurt!'"
How did Bill Condon differ as a director than the others you've worked with on this franchise?
Jackson Rathbone: "Everybody has a different energy and that energy trickles down through the rest of the crew, the cast and everyone really feels that. The film illustrates that and I think, with Bill, he had this calm demeanor. He knew what was going on. He was very open to being asked questions. He always had an answer yet he was always open to different ideas, and that was what was fantastic about working with him."
Peter Facinelli: "I always say Bill puts the 'gentle' in gentleman. He’s a very gentle director and very classy. He was very caring and you could tell that he cared about what you were going through as an actor and what your thought process was and he wanted to hear it. It wasn’t just about setting up the camera. It was about the emotional journey that the characters were going through, and you could feel that."
Could you talk about any props you guys took or borrowed from the set?
Peter Facinelli: "I tried to take Carlisle’s ring on the second or third movie. I said it wouldn’t come off my finger. I went home and they tracked me down. 'We need the ring back.' I think they wanted it back so they could take a mold and sell it to all of the fans. They started selling the Carlisle rings. I think, on the forth one I asked to have one, so I have one of the original Carlisle rings that is not mold made."
Jackson Rathbone: [Teasing] "I’ve got one. I bought one as soon as they came out. 'Look at me! I’m Peter!'"
Nikki Reed: "I’m a huge rule-follower. It gave me panic attacks to think of taking something without asking. I would think about taking it but I just knew if I did someone would find out and I’d be in trouble somehow. They find that stuff out. In the first movie, in the baseball scene I wore these really cool sneakers and Kristen stole them for me. She came over to my house and said, 'They have two of these. You can have one,' and she gave them to me. But I never ended up wearing them. They had all the mud on them. They are just sitting in my closet. There are probably some other things I would have liked to have had but I can’t."
Do you take any notice of the critics opinions of the films or is it just the fans reactions you concern yourself with?
Elizabeth Reaser: "I take notice. I definitely am curious to see how they’re received, but I think the fan response to this type of movie is the overwhelming priority for us. For me, I want to hope that we’ve given them the story that they’re seeing in their minds all these years."
Peter Facinelli: "I think the harshest critics are the fans because they’ve lived with these books and they have visions of these movies already in their heads. So if most of the fans like them, you can’t please everybody, but if you get most of the fans liking them, I think that we’ve done our jobs and hopefully, the critics like them too. But when you have a book that hits such a big mass market, you’re hoping that you tap into that and most of those people like it."
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Additional Breaking Dawn Part 1 Interviews: Robert Pattinson / Kristen Stewart / Taylor Lautner / Peter Facinelli / Jackson Rathbone / Stephenie Meyer / Bill Condon