EXCLUSIVE: From the Set of “The Roommate”

TeenHollywood was invited to the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California to watch the filming of the upcoming psychological thriller movie The Roommate starring “Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly of “Friday Night Lights” and Cam Gigandet of the first Twilight movie.

What if you went off to college and your roomie was….. well, a psycho chick from hell!? We watched a scene in which Minka’s character Sara is freaked after a confrontation with, not-quite-normal roomie Rebecca, played by Leighton. The girls are both in casual tank tops and sweats.

Minka told us that, as a kid and teen she moved a lot, always in new towns and schools dealing with new kids. She wanted to make every girl she met her sister. Maybe that's why she is getting along so well with Leighton. Hey, as young teens, they made a Clearasil commercial together in South Africa! Let’s get some more “Roommate” dish….

TeenHollywood: Minka, what does your character Sara initially think of your roommate Rebecca when she first meets her?

Minka: She thinks what I think most girls think of their potential friends, especially when you're in a roommate situation, you hope for the best and you think the best until proven wrong.

TeenHollywood: At what point in the story do things so south for them?

Minka: There are suspicions. Maybe halfway through the movie you start to see little revelations of 'oddness' [she laughs].

TeenHollywood: Have you been in the situation of having a roommate from hell?

Minka: No, can't say I've had this experience before.

TeenHollywood: When you first read the script, did you want to audition for the other, crazy roommate part or the part you got?

Minka: Of course, everyone always wants the juiciest role but it's up to you to make whichever role you get the best you can so I was very pleased with the role I was given and grateful to even have the job.

TeenHollywood: What is it like working with Danish director Christian Christiansen? This is his first job in the states.

Minka: Working with Christian is great. He knows exactly what he wants and has a very specific vision. He's able to articulate that to you which is very helpful and, also, he's very technical which I love. Even when it comes to looking a certain way or blinking at a certain time, he knows every moment that he wants and you couldn't ask for a better situation I think. I love that because I just completely trust him and feel totally safe.

TeenHollywood: We're hearing a lot of suggestions from you while shooting today. Is that something he's open to?

Minka: Yeah, that's also what's great about him too is he trusts us as much as we trust him and it's a collaborative thing so we all come up with our ideas and we're all able to make suggestions and give opinions and whether they work or not comes out at the end of the discussion but, always, at the end, everyone's happy.

TeenHollywood: We just saw you taking him aside. What was that about?

Minka: Just then, we came up with a little idea. He wasn't sure it was going to work but we did it and it worked great. Now we're all excited because we came up with something new. There's always something happening and evolving in the story and in the scenes that you don't necessarily read or see when you read the script. So it's really fun.

TeenHollywood: You and Leighton seem to be joking around on set and getting along great. Had you met or worked together before?

Minka: Yeah. Actually we worked together six years ago. We went to South Africa together and did a Clearasil commercial and have sort of championed each other on over the years and been really proud to see each other grow and now we're doing this thing together. It's just really funny how life works. It's great. I couldn't ask for a better opposite. I just love working with her and she's so much a pro. And, just the depth she's bringing to this character I couldn't imagine anyone doing better. She's fantastic.

TeenHollywood: Do you have an opinion on teens and college-age kids in TV shows? How they are portrayed?

Minka: I think that our audience, our younger generation is ready to evolve and think a little bit when they watch TV and have a larger vocabulary when they watch TV. I think we can assume our young men and women are a little bit more intelligent than just boys and girls dating and cheating. Let's feed them a little bit! I learned so much on “Friday Night Lights”. It’s why I’m here now. It’s my baby.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a favorite film in the horror or psychological thriller genre that you liked?

Minka: Well, I think that 28 Days Later was done really well. It's been a long time since a movie has actually scared me but that really got to me. I really enjoyed that. I also loved [Hitchcock's] The Birds. That was pretty creepy. I don't really like birds and I thought /Psycho/ was really, really good.

TeenHollywood: I think they are re-making The Birds with Naomi Watts in the lead.

Minka: Really? Cool!

TeenHollywood: Do you have a certain dream role that you are dying to play?

Minka: I don't think so. I just like to stay open to whatever comes to me as opposed to having a one track mind as to one role that I want to play. That's the beauty of what we do is just being able to throw ourselves into completely different characters and characters that we never knew existed. It's not every day I walk around thinking of having a roommate that would completely obsess over me and try and look like me and kill me.

TeenHollywood: I’d sure hope not! Here comes Christian. Let’s ask him to set the scene for us today. [We say bye to Minka as she is called back to set for lighting checks]. Okay, Christian, set us straight. What is this movie about and what are you shooting today?

Christian: This takes place at the dorm on a big college campus and it's about one girl who moves into this dorm room and gets a roommate. Not one that she chooses because that's the rules. You never choose your own roommate. What happens if you get a roommate that's really freaky? Sara comes from DesMoines. She's a country girl coming to the big city. She's into fashion. Rebecca is her roommate and she's quite different. She's a rich girl from Pasadena and also is very passionate about art but she's drawing and doing sculptures.

They become friends and it's nice but Rebecca is a little obsessive about her new friend and things turn bad. That's where we are right now; in the second half of the film. The scene we're doing today, for Leighton's character, is, if you want something from someone, it might be a good idea if they feel badly for you. That's what she's working on.

TeenHollywood: What did Minka and Leighton bring to their roles that made you cast them?

Christian: We wanted Sara to be an all-American, likeable character and I knew Minka from 'Friday Night Lights' and I think she was wonderful in that show. She's really sweet and she's a great contrast to what Leighton is bringing to the movie. We know Leighton from 'Gossip Girl' where she is kind of the bad girl, most of the time anyway. We wanted to bring that in. We wanted to bring some of those qualities. No doubt people are going to see something quite different from her. Leighton's whole approach to the role is amazing. She's done research on people with this disorder. She could be bi-polar or a sociopath. Probably somewhere between. Sara notices something is wrong but a little too late!

Here comes Cam. Let’s check out what he has to say about who he plays in The Roommate. Cam is in long-sleeved shirt and jeans and his hair is very spiked up blonde. He came in just to talk to us since he isn’t shooting today.

TeenHollywood: Can you tell us a bit about your character in this film?

Cam: I play Minka's boyfriend. I also go to the college and, towards the end, I help her deal with her little situation.

TeenHollywood: So, it's not a love triangle between the three of you then?

Cam: No. There's no love for Leighton [laughs].

TeenHollywood: Is there any chance of you using any of your action/martial arts training in this?

Cam: I try. I do try. I try to save the day but I think I fall short.

TeenHollywood: Your character is in a band. Are you a music student?

Cam: No. I'm just in a band and going to college. It's not a good band. I obviously haven't been studying.

TeenHollywood: You are the drummer so did you have to learn to play the drums?

Cam: No. I have absolutely no musical talent. But, I took some drum lessons and, hopefully, it fools everyone. It's very difficult. But, it's a not so great band so it balances out well.

TeenHollywood: How did the project come to you? When did you sign on?

Cam: Not too early. I think Minka was after me. But, I was attached just a few weeks before they started so it was a short pre-production for me. There wasn't a lot of time for drum lessons. I just met Clint [Clinton R. Culpepper, President] at Screen Gems, just a general meeting and he offered it.

TeenHollywood: What's it like working with Christian your Danish director?

Cam: He's great. He knows what he's doing and we have a blast and I trust him. I think we all do. It's a good work environment.

TeenHollywood: What is it about this particular character that made you want to play him?

Cam: I guess, when I thought about it, it wasn't so much the character as it was just the story in general. I think it's a story that's relatable to a lot of people right now and, aside from that, it was the cast. I love these two girls and they're kind of amazing. They just make it fun. I've worked with Minka a lot on this movie and she just brings an entirely different vibe to the set. As soon as steps on set it just changes everything.

TeenHollywood: Did you work with Cuddles the kitten?

Cam: No, unfortunately. I was on set that day and it is a fascinating little kitten. It is kind of adorable but they probably wouldn't want me touching the kitten. I might break something [he laughs].

TeenHollywood: What's next after this?

Cam: I'm in Priest here at Sony. That one's a big movie. Paul Bettany and I are fighting vampire like creatures to be exact.

TeenHollywood: Had you read the graphic novel it's based on?

Cam: No. I hadn't even known about it until after I auditioned. Now, looking at both the script and the comic book, they're related but I don't know if it's based on it entirely. Personally, I like the script better.

TeenHollywood: You are sort of a sheriff called Hicks in it?

Cam: Yeah.

TeenHollywood: You say vampire-like creatures? So they are not really vampires?

Cam: They are I guess. If you wanted to call them something, they would be vampires but not in the terms that we think vampires are. They don't like sun and that's kind of the main similarity. Other than that they don't look like humans and they move differently. When people think of vampires now, they think of Twilight but it's not like that.

TeenHollywood: What's it like going from vampire to vampire hunter?

Cam: It's going to be a change from Twilight. This character in Priest is obviously very different but he's also very normal and he has a lot to prove. It'll be a nice change of pace.

Here comes Leighton and we hear she’s only got a teeny bit of time between set ups to chat. Let’s get going! Her character has been having a crying jag meltdown all day after an injury.. tough to shoot…over and over.

TeenHollywood: You and Minka met over a Clearasil commercial in South Africa? I gather this wasn't recently.

Leighton: Oh, no! I met her when I was 16 years old. There were doing a couple of commercials in South Africa for Clearasil and we went. She was in one where she played a waitress and I was in one where I'm this girl who goes to a party and uses the product and everything turns out great!

TeenHollywood: If it were only that easy! So you were friends.

Leighton: Oh yeah.

TeenHollywood: Your character Rebecca in this film has some sort of strange psychological disorder and you did some research into it. Can you talk about that? She kind of wants to be or thinks she is her roommate?

Leighton: Well it's a character disorder which I guess is kind of the same thing but it's all neurological but it can be helped I think. I talked to a couple of doctors about it and people who specialize in character disorders like that but nothing is set in stone so it's really hard to say exactly what goes into being that kind of person.

I was asking a doctor, 'well, what happened to her do you think? Was she abused or something?' And he's like 'no, not necessarily. Nobody had to have any kind of horrible past or anything. Somebody from a terrible family could grow up great and vice-versa'. In her case, she does come from what seems like a pretty good family. She just has this issue. It could be actually genetic, an imbalance in chemicals or whatever.

TeenHollywood: So there's not any sort of inciting incident to set her off in the story?

Leighton: No. It's basically that she's on medication and she stops taking it. When you stop taking a psychotic medication, you become psychotic. That's what happens. I think she views Sara as her only source for love and that's what starts to get her very paranoid and I guess frustrated and, eventually violent. Other people and things are threatening her existence in her mind, because they're threatening her friendship with Sara. So, anybody that gets in the way of that love, is getting in the way of her life basically.

TeenHollywood: Then they’d better watch out! Does Cam's character get in the way or does she like him?

Leighton: No. She doesn't like anybody but Sara so Cam's getting in the way and Sara's other friends are getting in the way. A lot of people and a lot of things.

TeenHollywood: In one of the scenes we saw today, Sara is trying to get a look at what is inside your character's sketch pad. Sooo, what is in there?

Leighton: I don't think it's that she's hiding it. But, let's just say that everything she does is a little bit odd so if Sara were to see it, it would definitely threaten their friendship.

TeenHollywood: She'd notice something is weird about it?

Leighton: Yeah [she grins].

TeenHollywood: We saw you as a funny baby sitter in Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

Leighton: Yeah. It was really fun and funny and they're very open and awesome. So that was very inspiring and cool but just so different. It's nice to have variety I think and do comedy but this film is good. It's very challenging.