You need to write some more.
Nikki Reed: "I do. I write a lot. You know, Thirteen was sort of like a fluke in that when people used to come up to me and go like, 'God, it’s so amazing,' I was like, 'What? That was so easy getting money for that. People don’t just hand you 1.5 million dollars?' 'No, they don’t.' I've written a number of screen plays since then. I've been offered a lot of really great writing deals, some of which I've passed on because I don’t want to misrepresent myself and pretend like I have a voice that I don’t. I know what my voice is. It’s very specific. If you asked me to write for Family Guy tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to do it. Or, you know, some sort of weird science fiction film, there's no way in hell. But I do have a voice and if people are going to sort of like push me along that road and step onboard… I'm very independent and I'm very stubborn and I don’t sort sway, and so when people decided that they're interested in funding what I'm writing, then great. And if they don’t, well then I'm not going to hop on your boat."
That makes sense. And you're also expanding into producing?
Nikki Reed: "Yes, I just produced a film in New York and I’m going to, basically I’m going to direct. That's what I’m going to do. So if you asked me if I wanted to like be an actor forever, the answer would be no. It never has been and it never will be something that I want to spend the rest of my life doing. I respect that like that’s what Kristen wants to do forever. And I have more respect that I could ever… I mean she's amazing and it's not an easy thing to do. It's just there's another angle that I would like to approach film with, you know?"
You want to use your voice.
Nikki Reed: "Yes, and also sort of like what we were talking about with all this, I’m not… It has been very overwhelming in that sense, which is why I know that there's other things that I'm capable of doing, such as directing or writing or all of the above or producing, and I will very soon. I'm tempted, the reason I'm sort of stuttering is because I'm tempted to talk about some things but I just feel like I shouldn't because I haven’t... There’s a few books that I've been looking at, well, I'm optioning."
Good for you.
Nikki Reed: "And what I'm doing with going to New Orleans again with Kristen [Stewart] is I'm doing a bit of writing because I've decided that I've never like really tackled the whole book concept, like writing a novel myself. It’s very interesting. It’s sort of endless, you know? It doesn't have to fit into 90 minutes or 110 pages. It doesn’t have to explain each character by the second act or the arc doesn't have to be as consistent. I mean you can do, there's freedom. It’s really cool. And I've just been sitting and writing and it's not fluid at all. The beginning makes absolutely no sense and that was my big trepidation. I just couldn’t start. I was opening books going like, 'Okay, just help me with the first line because I just can't start.' And then I just decided, 'Okay, let’s pretend I'm going to write the beginning later,' and I just started writing. It’s unbelievable. I can write forever. I can be a journal entry. I can make myself into whatever character, but I'm sort of writing about myself but I'm not. And nobody can criticize that."
It’s all yours.
Nikki Reed: "Yeah. And it doesn’t have to be brought to life and you don’t have to have a visual of what this person is. So it’s really cool. Anyway I'm going with Kristen to New Orleans because that's why it’s such a good balance because I'm there for her while she's shooting and I'm a good support system, and she's an opportunity for me to go elsewhere and have an excuse. Because I'm always multitasking and I'm not good at saying to my team, 'So I'm going away for five days to maybe write. I don’t know if I'm going to accomplish anything but I have to go to Louisiana.' They're like, 'You're crazy.' But when I say, 'I have to go to be with Kristen. I have to. End of story. Goodbye.' And then I get to go have time for me to do what I want. And she's shooting nights and I'm sitting in like a peaceful trailer in the middle of Louisiana. And the history there, I mean it’s really incredible. So, for that, I appreciate that and her."
Do you have a lot of stories in your head or just one you're trying to get out?
Nikki Reed: "I'm 20, so I could give you a million stories. But then the thought of being 30 or 40 makes me feel like I would just be overflowing with tales to tell. Yeah, I don’t know if it’s necessarily truthful to my life or if I have a very free imagination, but I have a lot of stories that I could tell. And in my, it’s a long 20, I mean in my 20 years I've done some pretty irrational things and acted out and done a lot of things that are worth telling. Not necessarily bad, but just like growing – life. And also the life of being an actor who had a movie made about her life that wasn’t necessarily about her life but marketed as that, and how that affected my life is a story in itself."
Do a follow-up to Thirteen and put it straight.
Nikki Reed: "Oh I can't. I just really can't do that. I just really can't. No, because I have a family and I have parents who were greatly, you know in positive and negative ways, affected by that film and I just never would do that again ever to them. It’s just not considerate. If I could write the Nikki Reed story and I was the only person in my life, then maybe I would be narcissistic enough to write that story. But unfortunately there's a lot of people in my life that have to be flushed out and I just wouldn't do that again."
Page 4: On Future Writing Projects and Thirteen
