January 28, 2010

'Twilight''s Peter Facinelli Talks 'Eclipse' & 'Nurse Jackie'


It's been a busy year for 'The Twilight Saga' star Peter Facinelli who has been juggling his schedule between shooting 'Eclipse,' the next film in the vampire franchise, with his role as Dr. Fitch Cooper on "Nurse Jackie." ET caught up with the jet-lagged actor to talk about both projects and his addiction to Twitter.

ET: You have a huge following on Twitter. What made you start?

Peter Facinelli: I just enjoy what Twitter is because I can really connect with the fans. It is a great way to share information with them and it is a good way to entertain. I like being able to put a smile on people's faces and mix that up with sharing information with them. That's important. Also, letting them know what I am doing. I have had people come to me and say, "Will you tweet this out?" There is like paid advertisement stuff. I am not into that. I want to keep my Twitter pure. I don't want to sell my followers anything, I want to be able to have that base, so I can tell them what I am doing and entertain them

ET: What will we learn about Dr. Carlisle Cullen in 'Eclipse'?

Peter Facinelli: You get to see a side of Carlisle you haven't seen before. There are some great battle sequences.

ET: Any word on 'Breaking Dawn'?

Peter Facinelli: I don't know. Usually, the fans know before we do.

ET: Did you ever think that 'Twilight' was going to do so much for your career?

Peter Facinelli: The fan base has been so phenomenal. When you go to an event, people have flown in from other countries just to take a picture with you. That is a loyal fan base that you can't even imagine having. I am thankful for all of them. That is why I try to give back in connecting with them [on Twitter].

ET: You were filming both projects at the same time. How did you juggle?

Peter Facinelli: I have had a very crazy schedule. There was a whole month where I was shooting 'Eclipse' and "Nurse Jackie" at the same time. And I actually enjoyed it because I enjoy what I do, so when I show up for work, it's very invigorating, and I get energized by it. So there were times where I'd get off an airplane from a red-eye and have, like, three hours sleep and then go straight to work.

ET: Dr. Fitch Cooper is a different type of doctor than Carlisle. Was that part of the attraction of the role?

Peter Facinelli: It was actually really fun for me to do such contrasting roles because Carlisle is such a calming force; he's a rock, and he's a foundation of this family. And Coop is none of that. He runs around like he's had four cans of Red Bull. So to be able to do those two contrasting roles where, in one character, I'm very still and the other one, he's very energized, was a lot of fun for me.

ET: Did you wear a wig to go back and forth?

Peter Facinelli: Because I was doing both projects at the same time, I wore a wig. There were days when I was literally running hours in the forest; then, I would jump on a plane and be on the "Nurse Jackie" set. I was going from Vancouver to New York like every three days.

ET: Is it hard to switch gears?

Peter Facinelli: For me it was invigorating. In the first two episodes of "Nurse Jackie" [for the new season] where I was crying, it came out of me just being emotionally exhausted. It wasn't written that I was crying. All of a sudden in the middle of the scene, I broke down and started crying. It felt right for the scene. I did takes in which I wasn't crying. Because I had just been dumped by Jackie and there was all this heavy emotion going on, it worked for the scene. I think it was me just getting off an airplane, having three hours sleep and just being that vulnerable that it hit me that hard.

ET: How dangerous is Dr. Cooper? Is he a better doctor than we think he is? Is he a worse doctor than we think he is? Should we be scared to have doctors like him?

Peter Facinelli: The interesting thing to me is you go to hospitals or you go see your doctor, and what you see is the white coat. And so you want to believe that they have all the answers, and you want to believe that they have more knowledge, but you don't know what they're doing in the back room. You don't know what their personalities are without that white coat. It was interesting because when I did 'Twilight,' I went and met with a doctor, and I hung out with him at the hospital. And his demeanor at the hospital was completely different than when we went and had dinner together. And so I think when Coop is with patients, he puts on a very doctorly -- there's a very doctorly side of him, and people have confidence in him. Is he a good doctor? I say it depends on what day of the week it is. He could, you know, cure you of some crazy disease that no other doctor could, or he might kill you with an ear infection. You just never know what you're going to get with him. That's part of the fun in playing him. But I think he tries. And I think he's an interesting character because he also doesn't have the confidence, so he tries to put on a persona to cover that up and tries to be overconfident at times. And Jackie (Edie Falco) just sees right through him.

ET: What kind of doctor is Carlisle?

Peter Facinelli: Carlisle is the head of the hospital. He is great because he has been around so long, he is very educated. He has a real love for humanity. People always ask me what kind of research I did to play a vampire. I said I did very little because I play a vampire who is trying to be human, who loved humanity so much that he wanted to hold on to that. When you look at something like 'Twilight,' the good vampires are not necessarily good; they're eccentric. The bad vampires are just doing what they're born to do. So for me, Carlisle is just holding on to his humanity; he doesn't want to be a vampire.

The second season of "Nurse Jackie" premieres Monday, March 22 on Showtime. 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' flies into theaters on June 30.

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Richard Roeper Talks Eclipse Video

Richard Roeper Talks about Twilight Saga: Eclipse director David Slade

January 26, 2010

Boston Girl Julia Jones in a big way to a major role in the next ‘Twilight’ movie Eclipse


If the first two installments of the ‘‘Twilight’’ franchise have proven anything, it’s that anyone associated with the wildly popular teen vampire movies will become instantly famous and be followed around by the paparazzi. That’s fantastic-yet-overwhelming news for Boston native Julia Jones.

Jones, 29, has a pivotal role in ‘‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’’ the third film in the teen vampire series based on the best-selling books by Stephenie Meyer. In the movie, due in theaters June 30, Jones plays Leah Clearwater, the only female werewolf in the pack, a mostly miserable young woman who is cursed with the power to read the mind of her ex-boyfriend — who has fallen in love with someone else. Jones explains that Meyer’s detailed portrait of Leah helped her fall in love with the angsty, supernatural character.

“Because Stephenie Meyer wrote the layers, you’re kind of serving something else,’’ says Jones, who had a small role on NBC’s “ER’’ and acted in a few indie films before landing the role in “Eclipse.’’ “Usually you’re looking for any clue you can in a script - usually it’s skeletal, because it’s not prose. But in this case, there’s 3,000 pages of detail.’’

Jones has perfected the art of the brooding werewolf frown, but in real life she has a sweet smile and a quick, dry sense of humor. She grew up in Jamaica Plain, summered on the Cape, and graduated from Boston Latin School. Her mother still lives on one of those pretty roads that connects Centre Street to the Jamaicaway.

“The cool thing about it is that there’s a pond on one end of our street - I grew up sailing on it - and on the other end of the street there were housing developments,’’ Jones says during a visit to her agent’s office in Los Angeles after returning from “Eclipse’’ filming in Vancouver.

Jones started her stage career as a child. By 4, she was dancing with the Boston Ballet in productions of “The Nutcracker.’’ By high school she was a Wheelock Family Theatre star.

Wheelock director Jane Staab says Jones was always intense and introspective, even as a teen. “Her intelligence just emanated from her,’’ Staab says. “She has an inner light you just sort of respect. It makes you sort of jump.’’

Jones left Boston after high school to study at Columbia University, where she spent her free time modeling. She had done periodic shoots for T.J. Maxx in Massachusetts, but in New York the work got more serious. “It was wonderful. I went to Europe and traveled a ton. I did a lot of catalogs - Esprit and Polo Ralph Lauren. I worked for the Gap and Levi’s. The clients that really keep you going are, like, Macy’s and Target.’’

By her last year at Columbia, Jones had turned her attention from theater to screen. She moved to Los Angeles and picked up roles in small movies, often playing Native Americans (Jones is part Chickasaw and Choctaw). Eventually she was cast as Dr. Kaya Montoya in the 2008 season of “ER.’’

After landing the “Twilight’’ role last year, Jones was required to keep the news a secret for a month. “Twilight’’ information “goes viral’’ quickly, she explains, and Summit Entertainment wanted to keep “Eclipse’’ casting under wraps. There was also the practical matter of becoming involved with a film series that had already made millions of dollars. “It got very business-y very quickly. Before you negotiate a deal like that, you want to have certain people in place, none of which I had.’’

As soon as Jones was allowed to disclose that she had been chosen to join one of the most popular franchises in history, she did do some private, low-key celebrating. She went to New York to see old friends. “The people that are closest to me, who I’ve known my whole life,’’ Jones says. “My best friends in this world to this day are my best friends from high school.’’

Penny Wells, Jones’s mother, says she isn’t surprised that her daughter won the role of a tortured werewolf. Wells, the national executive director of Students Against Destructive Decisions, says her daughter has always been focused on the human mind and what fuels emotions. “She is a very serious person,’’ Wells says. “She’s very interested in what makes the world tick.’’

During her intense three weeks of shooting for “Eclipse’’ last fall, Jones was exposed to the world of big-budget movies and life as a Hollywood A-lister. She was surrounded by the franchise’s big names - Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner - who, at the time, were coping with their new international fame while trying to work.

“I really am in awe of [their] ability to handle all of that,’’ Jones says. “It’s their job, and they treat it as their job. For whatever reason - and Taylor is 17 years old - they understand that. They’re so committed.’’

Then there was Meyer, the author who Jones describes as an integral part of all decisions made on set. “She’s kind of got this sort of God aura about her,’’ Jones says. “She lives up to it. She’s very anchored. She’s just this incredible authority and presence.’’

The work in “Eclipse’’ was far more physical than Jones thought it would be. There were fight scenes - and she was the only woman wolf joining in on the action. She quickly found that she could lean on her wolf friends for support.

“I feel very close to most of them - to the wolf pack, for sure,’’ she says. “They sort of feel like an insta-family. In a way, the whole cast does because it’s such a unique experience.’’

Chaske Spencer, who plays Leah’s ex-love Sam in the films, said the feeling was mutual. He speaks of her lovingly and says it was nice to have a woman on the set with the pack. “She’s my girl,’’ he says, laughing. “She’s a tough chick. She can hang with the boys.’’

When Jones returned to Los Angeles from “Twilight’’ land last fall, she was right back to work, taking on a role in the complex Richard Montoya play “Palestine, New Mexico.’’ The project had her back to reality and in constant rehearsals. “I come to find out, these theater people do not give a crap about ‘Twilight’ - which is kind of a thorn in my side,’’ she says, laughing.

But soon Jones will be back with her supernatural friends. “Eclipse’’ doesn’t come out for five more months, but Jones has been warned that publicity starts soon. She’s trying to get herself ready for the madness - mall tours, meet-and-greets, and the obsessed, self-described “Twi’’-hards, who will be watching - and blogging - as she brings their Leah to life. Then there’s the fourth and final installment, “Breaking Dawn,’’ which Meyer has confirmed might be split into two movies filmed over the next few years.

The madness of it all hit Jones when she attended “The Twilight Saga: New Moon’’ premiere in November with her “Eclipse’’ castmates. Her character hadn’t yet been introduced in the films, so she was unrecognizable to the thousands of fans who lined up to get a quick glimpse of Pattinson, Lautner, Stewart, and the others.

“After doing the press line, I was starving. And there were 30,000 fans in Westwood. People had been camping out for five days or so. I just started to walk through the fans to the California Pizza Kitchen. And as I started doing that, one of the actors who is also in the wolf pack, Alex Meraz, he was on his way in to do the press line, so we passed each other. And when the fans saw him, they went absolutely insane. And just standing there next to him, there’s this sense of, ‘This is probably going to be what’s in store.’ ’’

Source

January 23, 2010

Howard Shore to score ‘Twilight: Eclipse”


Howard Shore is on board to compose the original score for the third film in the Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Temple Hill Entertainment today confirmed to MovieScore Magazine that the Lord of the Rings composer is going to write the music for the film, following in the footsteps of Carter Burwell (who scored the first film in 2008) and Alexandre Desplat (who wrote the music for the second, New Moon). Shore has begun work, spotting the movie, this week.

Howard Shore is, of course, best known for the Tolkien trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson, an epic work that is currently touring the world in concert form, performed live to projection. Shore also recently rescored the Mel Gibson action thriller Edge of Darkness for Warner Bros, replacing John Corigliano. This film is opening in the US next week.

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January 22, 2010

Director David Slade Tweets Eclipse Trailer and Update

Twilight Saga: Eclipse Director David Slade posted an updates on Eclipse and though he wants to release an Eclipse Trailer it's still up to Summit Entertainment decision.

January 20, 2010

Justin Chon Video Interview

Wired.com interviews Justin Chon which he speaks out about domestic violence and about the upcoming Eclipse movie and more.

David Slade Tweet: Eclipse Nearly Finished Editing

Eclipse director David_A_Slade posted a tweet saying that the Eclipse editing is almost finished.

"New Year’s gift was cancelled. Out of my hands unfortunately. I tried. On another note our edit is driving towards the finish line…"
11:58 AM Jan 13th from web

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January 15, 2010

Bryce Dallas Howard On Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Actress Bryce Dallas Howard talks about Eclipse director David Slade and replacing Rachelle Lefevre as the character of villain vampire Victoria.

January 9, 2010

Xavier Samuel in Short Film Drowning to Play At Festival

Xavier Samuel plays newborn vampire Riley in Twilight Saga:Eclipse made a short film called Drowning, an entry at the Flickerfest Film Festival.


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January 7, 2010

Leaked 'Eclipse' Script Is Reportedly An Early Version


Document apparently belonging to 'Twilight' star Jackson Rathbone hit the Internet Tuesday.
An early version of the "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" screenplay that belonged to star Jackson Rathbone leaked online on Tuesday. Sources reportedly confirmed to both Deadline Hollywood and EW.com that the PDF file making the rounds on the Internet is real, but it was not the version used to film the third movie in the vampire saga.

Summit has not provided any further information about the leak, how the script was lost in the first place or how anyone got their hands on the script, which is watermarked with Rathbone's name across each page. A rep for Rathbone hadn't gotten back to MTV News at press time regarding any further information about the found script.

According to the first page, posted on Zap2It.com's Dish Rag blog, this version of the script has the movie opening with Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) turning Riley (Xavier Samuel) into a member of the vampire army she's raising in order to go after Bella (Kristen Stewart). "Eclipse" wrapped up shooting back in October and is currently in post-production before its June release.

This isn't the first time a copy of a "Twilight" script has been lost and then recovered. Last May, beauty-salon owner Casey Ray found a script for "New Moon" in the trash outside a hotel in St. Louis. Rather than profit from her discovery, Ray later returned it to the studio.

It was believed that "Twilight" star Anna Kendrick was the one who lost the script, since she was in St. Louis shooting "Up in the Air" and staying at the hotel where it was found. A rep for the actress said Kendrick would never leave scripts lying around for anyone to find.

Source

January 6, 2010

'Eclipse' Screening Rumors Aren't True, Studio Says


A studio rep tells MTV News there were no previews of the third 'Twilight Saga' film over the weekend.
After news spread that Summit Entertainment was holding "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" test screenings over the weekend, testimonials began to appear online from fans who had the chance to see the flick. The only problem? There was no test screening, so the testimonials were anything but accurate.

A source close to the "Eclipse" production told GossipCop.com that rumors of the screening are "absolutely not true." Also, any testimonials being published online on sites like Alex's Memories are equally untrue. The source said specifics around any trailers and screenings for the flick have yet to be announced.

"There is absolutely no merit to this claim," a Summit Entertainment rep confirmed to MTV News about reports of the screenings. "We noticed it over the holiday on multiple message boards and sites, and it appears that some of this was spam."

The fictional testimonials had fans gushing over the third film in the "Twilight Saga." Recently, the stars have said they can't wait for Twilighters to see the film, set to open in June. " 'Eclipse' was my favorite book, so it was a lot of fun filming," Taylor Lautner told MTV News in November at the New York screening of "New Moon." "My favorite scene in the entire series is the tent scene, where the three of us [Jacob, Bella and Edward] are together. And it's gonna be really fun. There's a lot of comedy in 'Eclipse.' "

Robert Pattinson was looking forward to the film's darker undertones: "I think Bella's little bit of treachery in the third one will be ... a good scene."

Meanwhile, the actors' shared onscreen love, Kristen Stewart, said she can't wait to see Jacob and Edward fight over her. "I'm looking forward to seeing the love triangle actually becoming a problem," she said. "We of innocently touch on it in 'New Moon,' but it actually becomes something that is very, very real."

Source

Exclusive Interview: Kirsten Prout is Lucy in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE


Nineteen-year-old Canadian born actress Kirsten Prout has been making a name for herself in film and television, since getting bitten by the acting but at the very young age of two. After her feature film debut in 2005 as Abby, sidekick to Jennifer Garner's character in the superhero flick Elektra, she went on to play Amanda, the girl-next-door love interest for Kyle on the ABC Family drama Kyle XY.

This June, Kirsten Prout will be in her most visible project to date, as vampire Lucy in the highly anticipated The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. In the third installment of the popular film franchise, her character is seen in flashbacks that give insight into the backstory of Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and how he was created.

In this exclusive interview, the rising star talked to IESB about the experience of playing her darkest role yet, in such a high-profile film.

IESB: What initially drew you to acting? Since you were so young when you started, were you even aware of what you were doing?

Kirsten: When I was younger, I used to watch television and Disney movies, and that kind of thing, and it started out as just wanting to play characters and just a love of story. I had a very active imagination. I was making requests to my parents, not necessarily to get into film or television, but to play characters. And my mom, for a long time, understandably didn't want to expose her child to an industry with so much rejection. So for years, I would just keep asking and asking, and eventually I figured out that I could actually make a career of it and it was called being an actress.

Finally, when I was 10 years old, she let me go to my first audition because she thought I'd just get it out of my system. She thought I'd just go and nothing would happen, and I'd just give up on it. So, I went to auditions and I actually started doing well. It was something that I really loved to do. As soon as I started working on television, in shows and playing characters, I just knew that's what I had to do. I was never a commercial kid. I told my mother and my agent, when I was 11 years old and so pretentious, "Yeah, I think I'm going to pass on doing commercials." I was always just in it because I love storytelling and I love getting into the mind-set of different characters. It just snowballed from there.

IESB: Was there something specific that made you realize acting could be a career?

Kirsten: I knew that I wanted to be a Disney princess, or experiencing the life of someone on a television show that I loved. I just realized that actors are the people that did that, and therefore I should become an actor to do it. I was pretty young when I decided that it was what I wanted to do and that it's what I love.

Q: How did you get involved with The Twilight Saga: Eclipse? Was it just a regular audition?

Kirsten: Yeah, it was just a regular audition. I had just come off of two films, and it was after Kyle XY, which was a television show I worked on for three years. I had been working on it for so long and, before that, I hadn't taken a real break because I had been working steadily since I was 10 years old. So, at the end of Kyle XY, which also happen to coincide with the end of my high school career, I decided to go off to University and leave the industry. I went for a year to McGill University and I majored in English literature, and I took all my advanced classes that I prepared for in high school, and I had a great time there. I got straight A's and was on the honor roll. But then, when I came back to Vancouver during the summer, I went for an audition because it was what I was used to doing, and I booked it. And then, I booked something right after that was a mini-series that would shoot into the school year. So, at that point, I decided to put off going back to University.

I had just come off of two shows and, in between filming them, I had gone for Eclipse. I read for a different vampire, called Bree, who is a brunette with short, short hair that is 13 years old and completely not me, but I went for the audition just because it was a big project. I can tell you that I've never felt that level of nervousness in an audition room, in my whole career. I had read the books, but it hadn't really sunk in what a huge phenomenon Twilight was. I went into it and it was an important audition, but I wasn't really nervous. I was just focusing on my work, but a lot of people were just so stressed out. I went to the audition room, and then I heard back about the audition that I was wrong for the character, but they wanted me to come back for another vampire that was essentially the same size role and everything, except she had long blonde hair, was extremely pale and was older. So I went in, did one audition and a week later, I got a call and then showed up on set. It was pretty rapid. I only had one audition for it because I'd already auditioned for another character and they'd seen what I could do.

IESB: Had you seen Twilight before auditioning?

Kirsten: Yeah, I had. I was very familiar with the franchise, just because my younger sister was reading the books. I was curious about what she was reading because she was just going through them like nothing. I was like, "What is that?" And she said, "It's Twilight. It's a vampire romance." And I was like, "Oh, that sounds kind of cool." I started reading it and I just shot through it. It was very readable stuff. And I'd seen the movie because everyone's seen it.

IESB: What can you say about your character in Eclipse? How does she fit into the story?

Kirsten: Without revealing too much, Lucy is one of the vampires that turns Jasper, played by Jackson Rathbone. Jasper gets turned while he is an officer, and I'm one of the vampires that causes Jasper to be turned during his military career. Lucy appears to be an innocent little victim, and then she turns into something a lot more sinister.

IESB: Is Lucy the darkest character you've ever played?

Kirsten: I've always been on the good side. I've never played a villain, in my entire career. I'm the girl next door, or the girl who helps out, or the girl that makes an innocent escape. For once, I got to look all innocent and have that angelic quality, and then, all of a sudden, turn into something really dark. That was fun for me. That was the first villain that I've ever played.

IESB: Did you do anything to get to know Jackson before filming, or did you just click right away?

Kirsten: We actually got along really well. We met in the make-up trailer, during the make-up testing, before filming even started. When I first got the part, they had to figure out whether they had to airbrush you, which in my case they didn't really because I'm already pale enough. But, they take a look at you, and design your hair and the hair pieces you're going to wear, and all that. So, I met Jackson when he was getting his hair done. He was getting his hair dyed by the on-set stylist, and he was getting weird patterns shaved into it underneath, which was kind of funny.

IESB: Playing a vampire, were you at all disappointed that you weren't going to get to wear fangs?

Kirsten: When I was reading the books, I was very surprised that there weren't fangs. The vampires in the Twilight Saga don't have fangs. We sparkle. No, I wasn't disappointed. The thing is, a lot of the actors that have been hired have very nice teeth that are very noticeable. They've picked people with teeth that stand out. It's more threatening. You notice that there's something different about that person's teeth, but it's not fangs. It's not obvious. You don't know you're going to get bitten. I was not disappointed. When someone tells you you're going to be a vampire in Twilight, the reaction is not disappointment. I've had to deal with prosthetic teeth and it's not fun.

IESB: How secretive were they with you, when you were auditioning? Did you get to read actual scenes?

Kirsten: No. The technique that they used for the audition was that they made the scenes exact transcripts from the book. It was very strange to audition with them because they were written to be read and they weren't adapted yet. They didn't give the screenplay out. So, the audition side was just reading a page of Twilight and reading the lines that were interspersed between the descriptions. That's what it was like. They could never distribute that. Even when I got the job, the secrecy was so high in the Twilight world.

IESB: While you were shooting, did you have any experiences with the paparazzi?

Kirsten: Oh, yeah. The first day that Jackson came into work, he almost tripped on the stairs, coming out of his house, because there were so many photographers that he couldn't even see. The circus around all the trailers and everything was crazy. They had giant black dividers to keep paparazzi out. On the first day, they took down all the signage and blocked everything out. All the actors had to wear bathrobes to cover their wardrobe in between scenes. It was really intense.

I was born and raised in Vancouver, and I've done a lot of film work in Vancouver. I worked with Jennifer Garner on Elektra and there was a lot of paparazzi on that as well. But, Vancouver has changed a lot since Twilight. It's changed the whole media culture there. We didn't used to have paparazzi. You'd get five, tops. And then, on Twilight, all of a sudden it was like, "Where did all these photographers come from?" They were hiding everywhere. There were hundreds, just waiting. It's part of the whole phenomenon of Twilight. You have to just take it as it comes because it's just nuts.

IESB: How was David Slade, as a director? Had you been familiar with any of his previous work?

Kirsten: Yeah, I had. He's a great guy because his way of working is so open. He just says, "Do what you do," and lets you play with it. If he has notes, he gives them to you, but he's a very open director. He keeps it light. He loves his job and he's very serious about it. He's a great director.

IESB: What is Seven Deadly Sins and who do you play in that?

Kirsten: I play a character named Miranda. It's a cool concept because each character, and there's seven main character, all have a sin. It's a story that revolves around the sin that we perpetrate and how it changes the plot. It starts off with a very basic high school group of friends, but it slowly unravels. Through envy, sloth and all the sins, it slowly turns into this situation which is very high drama.

It was good to work on a drama and have some gritty material. My sin was envy. My character starts out as a good girl and, throughout the movie, because she's envious, she becomes harder and harder and more deceitful. By the end of the film, she's completely different and she's definitely learned a lesson. I really enjoyed working on that. The actors were just phenomenal. We had a great time together. We filmed in Victoria and all stayed in the same hotel. It was like staying in a sorority and a frat house combined.

IESB: Are you personally more like Miranda in Seven Deadly Sins, or are you more like Amanda from Kyle XY?

Kirsten: Amanda was very sweet and docile, and she didn't have that kick or bite to her. I think I'm more like Miranda because she has a bit of an edge to her and she stands up for herself. She's got more of a strength. I think I'm more like Miranda. I can kick butt when I have to.

IESB: Do you enjoy working in these types of ensembles? As an actor, is that something that you feel helps you learn from the other actors?

Kirsten: Oh, yeah. Also, because I grew up in the film industry, I've been working with people who are older than me, my whole life. Even on Kyle XY, everyone else was hired to be a 17-year-old, and I wasn't even 17 yet. I got hired when I was 14, so I was playing 17 when I was 14. I've always been around people that are older. So when I see a cast, and I'm at that age where I'm around people who are my peers, it's very exciting for me to come onto a set and have that bonding opportunity.

Working with the cast of Twilight, that's so young, and also working with the cast of Seven Deadly Sins, with a lot of up and coming actors who are very seasoned, we're able to learn from each other and everyone understands what you're going through. Everyone is going through the same thing. So, it's great. I look forward to doing it more.

IESB: When you work on projects that are based on novels, like with the Twilight Saga and Seven Deadly Sins, do you like to use that source material, or do you prefer to just stick with what is in the script?

Kirsten: With Twilight, the plot is basically just rearranged to fit a film. I had to read the books because it's so similar and I wanted to get all the subtext of what's been written to learn what the characters were thinking. In the script, you don't get that. In a book, you have someone tell you what everyone's thinking. That was an important tool for me to use. It's far more similar than other projects that I've worked on that have adapted books into screenplays.

Whereas with Seven Deadly Sins, it was a concept that was based on the book, but it's entirely different. The plot is completely different than the books. And, my character is supposed to have a huge nose, be a redhead and be super-gawky. She never makes a transformation into something sexier, which my character does, by the end of the film. She's the dork of the entire story. If I had read the books before auditioning, I would have totally had a different way of going into the audition room. But, I was told that, because the concept was taken from the books, but it was so different, that I shouldn't even read them. So going into it, I prepared for the role without reading about the other characters. Of course, I read the books after I had the part and I read the script and understood the concept, just to get a taste for it and to get into the author's mind. I just read it for fun. Honestly, it was so different. Some of the characters are similar, but my character was completely taken out and changed to fit the new plot

IESB: What was the experience of making Meteor Storm like?

Kirsten: It's about the end of the world. To be honest, I had just come out of University and I was looking for something that I had never done before, that was so nuts and crazy. I just wanted to get back into the industry, get back on a set and just do something that was completely different. I read Meteor Storm and it was just fun. It will have a cult audience of people who are into apocalyptic films. It was so much fun to film. I love the two actors that I worked with, Brett Dier and Travis Nelson. They were my age, and we had a great time making the film. But, that said, what I do enjoy more are character studies, more like Seven Deadly Sins or Eclipse, where I can actually get into a stylized character.

IESB: Who do you play in Meteor Storm?

Kirsten: She's just the average teenage girl. The film is about a completely average, normal American family has to cope with an extremely crazy situation. For me, it was just about taking it and stripping it down to the basics. It was about wondering, "How would a normal person naturally react to something that's so unbelievable?" That was a good exercise for me.

IESB: When you make a movie with that type of subject matter, do you try not to think about the reality of something like that ever happening?

Kirsten: I don't really think about the world being destroyed. Sometimes it's fun, just in the creative process. I was in a scene where things were blowing up, and I stopped to think, "If this actually happened in my everyday life, what would my reaction be?" It's very easy, as an actor, to just go, "Oh, my God!," and scream. But, it's the actors that pause and take the time to give that look like, "What the hell is happening!?," that seem more real. That was fun for me to play with.

IESB: Would you consider doing another television series?

Kirsten: Yeah, totally. The thing with my career is that I've never said, "I'm only going to do this. I'm only going to do that." For me, seeing material that I like is the most important part. I look for something that I'm passionate about. If a television series came my way and I read the script and loved it, I would totally do another television series. But, if I read a feature film and I absolutely adored it, I would go for that as well. It's about the character, the story and what I connect with. And, it's about where I am in my career, at that point.

IESB: Where would you like to see your career go next?

Kirsten: I love dramatic roles. I love situational comedy with a darker sense of humor. I love playing those characters that are going through a struggle or something darker. I watched The Road recently, and I'm not saying that I would want something as dark as that, but that was something that showed me how these small choices that you can make, with such high stakes and such drama, that would be the ultimate challenge, as an actor. So, I'd love to do something darker. I've been reading some scripts that are not as bright as Little Miss Sunshine, but they're around that area. It's that humor and that everyday struggle and those weird events that just make you laugh, but are serious, at the same time. I'd love to do something that I could just explore a little more, that's a little more dramatic.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE opens in theaters June 30, 2010

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January 2, 2010

Interview: THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND with Bryce Dallas Howard


The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond is a new drama based on a recently rediscovered original screenpla

By by legendary writer Tennessee Williams. Widely considered the most important American playwright of the post-World War II era, Williams wrote the screenplay at the height of his late-1950's heyday, amid such classic plays-turns-films, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth and Orpheus Descending.

Set in the Roaring Twenties, in the town of Memphis, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond tells the story of Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard), a headstrong young heiress who is bothered by the constraints of proper Southern society and who rebels by asking the impoverished but handsome son of her father's caretaker, Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans), to escort her to the major social events of the season. Although their relationship starts off as purely a business arrangement, Fisher discovers that she really loves Jimmy, but she finds it impossible to earn the affection she tried to buy.

At the film's press day, Bryce Dallas Howard talked about playing the dueling strength and fragility of the quintessential Williams heroine, as well as what it's been like to be a part of the big film franchises, Spider-Man, Terminator and now the Twilight Saga, in which she is taking over the role of vampire villain Victoria in Eclipse, due out in June 2010.

Q: This is a great time in your career, being in such big franchises as Spider-Man, Terminator and the Twilight Saga, and you got to do this recently re-discovered, long-lost Tennessee Williams film. What is this period in your life like right now?

Bryce: I just feel really lucky. To get to originate a Tennessee Williams heroine is not anything that I ever thought to even go for. You don't think that those kinds of roles would ever be available. It was extraordinary. For me, whether or not a film has some kind of massive budget or is an independent film, or however it's getting made, it's always about the filmmaker and, hopefully, being a vessel for the filmmaker's vision. That's what really attracts me to projects.

With this, it was really Tennessee Williams and Jodie, and just her deeply profound understanding of what Williams intended for this piece, and then her own perspective and interpretation of that. It was so exciting to me. I just feel really lucky to have gotten to do this.

Q: Is being a Tennessee Williams heroine a genre unto itself? Did you try to put all of those other characterizations out of your mind while doing this?

Bryce: No. I really valued going through his canon of work and studying the great performances that had already been captured on celluloid and reading about the great theatrical performances because, in my opinion, he was a very singular writer and he had particular themes that it seems he was consistently fascinated by. There's an iconic Williams female character that you see elements of, over and over and over again, which is a woman ahead of her time, who's being suffocated by the world and who's too bright, too clever and too sensitive to really survive and feel grounded. So, to go through and watch Blanche DuBois and Maggie the Cat, who are these really iconic characters that he had created, and steal, to be honest, was something that was helpful to me.

Q: When you were watching those various performances, did you try to mimic the way they spoke at all?

Bryce: No, not that so much. We had this wonderful gentleman, Tim Monich, who was really helpful.

Q: There are a lot of words in this film. What was that like to adapt your acting to that approach?

Bryce: I come from a little bit of a theatrical background. I started that way. I don't have a tremendous body of work or anything, but I went to drama school. And so, to get to do a piece where the characters get to talk a lot, and that isn't just about the spectacle or the set piece, or is simply visual or movement based. It was really wonderful for me, and juicy and exciting. So, I didn't feel like there needed to be an adaptation to a different kind of style. It's just that the characters are speaking their mind. As opposed to it just being an expression, they're actually saying what's on their mind, and that's something that Tennessee Williams is really famous for. Shakespeare does that and Tennessee Williams does that. You crave that, when you're an actor, for sure.

Q: How did you go about approaching this in such a grounded way?

Bryce: I didn't consciously do that. I was always on set asking for line readings.

Q: What was it like to work with Chris Evans?

Bryce: Chris comes from a theater background as well and he really values rehearsal. It was such a relief to work with him because usually I feel like I'm the one harassing people to do it again, and he was right there. We'd rehearse pretty consistently until four in the morning. It's a very nuanced relationship. There's this shift in dominant-submissive that keeps happening throughout the film. This is Tennessee Williams. We wanted to do our best and give it our best go.

I just felt really lucky to work with him, for that reason. I remember looking on the monitor one day, and I was like, "Oh, my God, he looks like Paul Newman." There's something classic about him. He has this classic, strong, leading man presence, and is just such a wonderful person as well.

Q: What did they doing to your look for Eclipse, since you are stepping in to play an already established character?

Bryce: I'm wearing a wig for that film, so that there's a very grounded visual continuity for the character, which is critical.

Q: Isn't it a bigger role in the third film?

Bryce: Well, as written in the book, Victoria becomes the primary predator of Bella in Eclipse.

Q: You're going to be doing the Clint Eastwood film Hereafter next. What can you say about that?

Bryce: Oh, goodness, that's actually the first question I've had about that. I want to be careful because I haven't spoken to anyone on the film, as far as what I can share. But, it's a Clint Eastwood film, written by Peter Morgan and starring Matt Damon. I play opposite him. It's an incredible story. I'm really going to be totally vague because I don't want to speak out of turn. I just got hired.

Q: With it being a supernatural thriller, isn't that new territory for Clint?

Bryce: Oh, possibly.

Q: Clint Eastwood is an actor who became a director, Jodie Markell is an actor who became a director and you grew up with a father (Ron Howard) who was an actor that became a director. Is there a certain comfort zone, or a certain sense that you can communicate in a different way with a director who has been on your side of the camera?
Bryce: I couldn't answer that, just because I'm not a director. But, working with directors whose history is in performance, I feel like there's a different kind of focus, as opposed to directors who are more prone to being really technically proficient or visual. I feel like there are two schools of both, and a director needs to have both.

Jodie has both, for sure. I felt really, really supported, in terms of my performance. When I had questions or when she was directing me, there was an approach that was coming from a psychological place because she's an actor, and so she knows how to speak that language. Kenneth Branagh was the same way. M. Night Shyamalan is the same way. And, that's highly effective, for a number of reasons.

Q: What is the best advice that your father ever gave you, as an actor, and the best advice he ever gave you, from a directorial standpoint?

Bryce: The best advice he gave me was that, if there was anything else I could do, to do that. You need to not be able to do anything else, to be in this business. If you have other options, in those unemployed moments, those other options will take precedent. From a directorial standpoint, I think it's really Freudian, the amount of trust I have in filmmakers because I have such a trusting relationship with my dad. He's such a mentor to me. He has never let me down, as a person. He just hasn't. And, that's translated for me with filmmakers.

I have an association that director means total authority. Director means they will never let you down. Director means just trust them and fulfill their vision, and know that the story will be told in its best incarnation. I've always felt really lucky to get to work with really great filmmakers. For me, the whole objective is just to hopefully be of service to what they want. In his persona, that's been the advice that he hasn't directly said, but I've understood.

Q: Are you going to come back for Spider-Man 4?

Bryce: I don't know. But, that was always how it was. I'm just really glad that it's going to be Sam [Raimi] and Tobey [Maguire] and Kirsten [Dunst] because they're the epicenter of that franchise. Other than the fact that it's Spider-Man, they're responsible for that. They're incredible and totally dedicated.

THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND opens on December 30th

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