INTERVIEW: The Cullens: Still "Good" in "Eclipse"

In addition to R-Patz' Edward, there is his "family" and they are edgy, unique and a kick to watch. There's sweet, adorable see-the-future" Alice (Ashley Greene), her beau, quick-to-pounce Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), the so-not-Bella's BFF Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and "mom" Esme (Elizabeth Reaser) and "dad" Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) (Emmett.. Kellan Lutz wasn't at our interview).

We got to hang out with the Cullens recently and found them to be a real "family" of actors now going into their fourth and fifth Twilight Saga films. Peter, like his sexy "dad" figure, takes charge, wifie Elizabeth comes up with a few comments and the "kids" hold their own. Let's dish......

TeenHollywood: Let's go way out there and ask you, if a teen hasn't been a fan of the books or films, why should they go see "Eclipse"?  It is being hailed as the best of the films so far.. but beyond that?

Ashley: I think because this one has something for everyone. This whole film is leading up to this battle. There’s a lot of action in this film. There’s a love triangle that’s been formed, that only thickens in this one. You get a little bit of everything, to heighten extremes.
 
Jackson: Definitely. They told us that, in the third film of the Twilight franchise, the guys would get to have a lot more action and a lot more visceral vampire action, which is one of those things I think people are really going to dig. It’s what makes the darker side of the myth of the vampire world more exciting. I think it’s going to explode on the screen nicely.
 
Elizabeth: I’m a fan of (our director) David Slade and I think it’s worth it just to see how dynamic what he’s done is, from the very first moment with Xavier Samuel (who plays newborn vampire Riley). Seeing all these new characters or actors being introduced, like Xavier and Bryce (Dallas Howard as Victoria) is so wonderful. You get to see their back stories. There’s so many amazing characters to follow that you can’t not get hooked.
 
Nikki: I think it deals with universal topics, and not only this really intense, “I would do anything, and literally die for you,” kind of love that we’ve all felt, at one point or another. With this film in particular, you get to learn a little bit more about some of the characters, like Rosalie and Jasper (he makes a "yay" gesture). When you’re dealing with a screenplay, you really have to focus on what’s important, which is the love triangle. The rest of us feel like we’re screaming and clawing to show something.
 
Peter: I think that there’s a misconception with Twilight that it’s just for pre-teen and teenage girls, and that guys won’t want to go see it. When New Moon came out, it had more action and guys responded to that, although they didn’t really want to admit it. It’s like driving around, singing and listening to Barry Manilow in your car, belting it out loud, and then someone pulls up next to you and you pretend like you’re not.

Now, with Eclipse, the action has gotten even greater. For me, as a male, it’s my favorite book because I love the all the action, yet you still have this love triangle that’s heated up even more. It hits on a lot of different things. It has themes of vengeance, which are universal. You have themes of alliances being formed between two different families, or mortal enemies that are teaming up for a common good, which is a great universal message.

This has a family that you can relate to, in the sense that they’re bonded and joined up for a common good, with the action and the love story. It’s got a lot of things going on for a lot of different people. I’ve had fans that are six years old, up to 80. I’m hoping that they enjoy it. It’s my favorite book, and I enjoyed it.
 
TeenHollywood: This is a family that rallies around one particular human girl. What is your interpretation of their reasons?
 
Nikki: Rosalie hates it. Actually, I think it says a lot about Rosalie that she’s willing to contribute. It’s really funny, speaking from our characters perspective, because we are such a family and we actually all love each other. We don’t fight, and that’s just the truth, as boring as it is. I think it says a lot that, when it comes down it, the family is really willing to step up. Whatever makes us hesitant is put aside because we all come together. We are a family.
 
Elizabeth: Edward has been alone for so many years.
 
Peter: We just want Edward to be happy. As a family and as a unit, we just want him to be happy.
 
Elizabeth: We’re so isolated, even as a family. We have each other, but we’re very isolated, and there’s only so much room for intimacy and connection, in all of our lives. We all have a partner, and Edward doesn’t. For him to find that partner, after all these years, it’s as important to us as it is to him.
 
Jackson: It’s got a “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” vibe. In a real family circumstance, you have your family members and relatives who bring something to the table, that maybe you don’t necessarily like or are confused by. Everyone reacts differently. Jasper wants to kill Bella. It’s his natural reaction. If your loved one loves something, you have to love it too. You have to support it. As much as it causes you pain, if it causes them love, it’s worth it.
 
Peter: I think everyone has had a family member that someone’s dating and you’re like, “Okay, if that family member loves them, then I need to love them too.” It’s another thing that’s relatable. If you strip away the vampires, there’s a lot of human elements you can relate to, that being one of them.
 
TeenHollywood: Peter, you are sort of the knight in shining armor vampire. How did you get around so quickly to save everybody?
 
Peter: Vampire speed. It’s interesting that you would say “knight in shining armor.” It’s a matter of perspective because I sometimes feel like my Cullen kids don’t appreciate me. (they all look like "awwww").  If you look at it from our side, Carlisle saved them, but if you look at it from a different point of view, it was kind of a selfish act, in the sense that they didn’t have a choice in the matter.

I know there’s at least two of them who are having a difficult time with Carlisle having transformed them. As Carlisle, it is a difficult thing. He goes back and forth between saying, “Well, I tried to do something good there, but I’m not sure if I made the right decision because they didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
 
TeenHollywood: If Stephenie Meyer approved of it and the studio wanted to do it, would you guys be open to exploring your characters more deeply in solo films, or some sort of spin-off?
 
Jackson: Like Twilight: The Musical? Oh, yeah! I’ve got my tap dancing shoes prepared.(laughter).
 
Peter: The Chronicles of Carlisle?
 
Jackson: That’s awesome! As opportunities present themselves, we’ll be on board, or try to figure it out with our schedules and everything. What the Twilight franchise has done for a lot of us is amazing. We have so many fans and such a strong support system. It’s a blessing. I’m just going to keep going, day by day.
 
Peter: The thing that’s fun for us is meeting the fans of the book and the fans of the movies. We’re just as much fans as well. It’s cool for me to be in something that I’m a fan of. I love the books and I love those characters so much. So now, being able to have a say in that character is, for me, pretty cool.
 
TeenHollywood: Does anyone want to talk about what he or she brought to the character that maybe wasn't in the books or scripts?

Peter: I feel like it was our obligation to interpret that character. The books are definitely my starting point. I tried to add different things to make it my own. I’ve added little things, like Carlisle wearing the scarves. That wasn’t in the books. I went to Catherine Hardwicke and I said, “I’d like Carlisle to wear scarves because I think it’s something he would do.” I thought it might be something cool because it could be a piece of fashion that he’s taken through out the years, that’s stayed with him.

I always look at Carlisle like a gentleman, and I thought the scarf thing would make him appear a little more gentlemanly. Then I thought, on a subconscious level, maybe he’s afraid of having his neck exposed because he got bit there. There’s this whole journey of the scarf. When it came to the third film, I said to David Slade, “Look, I like the scarves, but I don’t want them to become like Mickey Mouse ears, where every time you see Carlisle, he’s wearing the scarf.”

Especially going to battle with the scarf would’ve been silly, unless he started using it as a weapon. So I said, “Let’s lose the scarf, but let’s give it a purpose.” There’s a scene where I go to the werewolves and I ask for their help. At that point, I chose to take the scarf off. That’s me basically standing vulnerable in front of them, almost naked in Carlisle’s mind, to ask them for help. From that point on, the scarf’s not there. Maybe in Breaking Dawn, we’ll bring it back.
 
TeenHollywood: Robert Pattinson said he gets into character based on the uncomfortable contacts you guys wear. What gets you into character?
 
Peter: We call the contacts 'hub caps.' It’s like having hub caps in your eyes because they’re really heavy, big discs. The scarf gets me into character.
 
Nikki: There’s such a physical transformation that I go through. I have to put on a wig. It takes quite a few hours. Even though I’m a bit tanner than the rest of these kids, we all have to spray paint our entire bodies because none of us are as pale as a vampire. We get there at four o’clock in the morning for that. You close your eyes and lay back in this chair and, four hours later, you wake up and are actually a different person.
 
Elizabeth: For me, the make-up is a huge part of the process. Also, being on location in these forests and with the weather, it’s like you’re dropped into the world. It’s so specific that it makes you feel different.
 
Jackson: I just start with the boots. I put the boots on and get the walk right, and I’m good. That’s all I need.
 
Ashley: Yeah, agreed. The contacts and being sprayed with the white make-up. It wasn’t necessarily planned, but Alice’s voice is a little higher than mine and she moves a little differently. That always helps, when you’re not moving and talking like yourself. That, coupled with four hours in the chair, definitely has an impact.

Then, being surrounded by a bunch of other vampires helps. We get into this certain mode and world. The affect you have on other people is funny. When you forget what you look like and you have these contacts in, and there’s a little kid that’s walking around set and has never seen vampires walking around, they’re horrified.
 
TeenHollywood: There’s a lot more interaction between the vampires and the werewolves in this movie. As actors, what are you actually reacting to on set. Cut-outs of wolves or....?
 
Jackson: Oh, my god! There was a guy in a green or grey suit. We had to do whole monologues that way.
 
Peter: It was that or the cardboard cut-outs, which makes it a little difficult.
 
Jackson: They’re like, “The wolf is going to be this big" (he raises his hand pretty high into the air).
 
Peter: It’s harder to act when you’re acting off that and you don’t have anything coming back at you.
 
Nikki: Taylor didn’t want Kristen to act off of nothing.
 
Peter: Yes, that was very sweet of him.
 
Nikki: So, he came on set, in a full silver spandex suit. I thought that was very considerate of him.
 
Peter: He dressed up as one of the guys in the green suits with a grey sweatshirt for the green screen. She actually had to cuddle him, but she got to cuddle the real Jacob – Taylor Lautner – which is nice because he didn’t do that for us. That must have helped.
 
TeenHollywood: But that must have looked really funny.. like a spaceman rather than a wolf. What was the battle sequence like, for you having to fight the wolves, when there was nothing there?
 
Peter: Most of the fight sequences we did were with real stunt people – the bad vampires – which helped. They are so good at their jobs that they make us look good. We did fight training for six weeks, and my daughter came down and was watching one of the choreographed fights that I had, then I had her do it. You have this 12-year-old girl throwing this stunt guy across the room. It was kind of fun to watch that. It makes it easier because they’re doing most of the work.