P: The first Twilight movie was a teenaged love story, the second a love triangle and the third, looked almost like a war movie. How would you describe Breaking Dawn?
K: It’s more a family drama. Contrary to the previous films, everybody is united in this one. The beginning of the movie sets up a ton that literally departs from the other movies, which in my opinion was what the saga truly needed. It’s fun, it’s light, we finally see the characters happy. Of course, it doesn’t last long…
P: I admit I have a soft spot for the first movie. I felt like the next two were just there to stretch the story in vain.
I understand and I agree, the first one had something. It was original and stands out by itself. I felt like the book was well represented, that Stephenie’s hand was visible. It’s the peak of the story we tried to build for 3 movies. It’s the grand finale with all the excitement that goes with it.
P: I read that Stephenie Meyer wrote the grand lines of the fourth book right after the first one, which could explain this ‘padding’ side of the second and third book.
I didn’t know about that. But it’s true that it wouldn’t be absurd in the sense that we could go directly from book one to the wedding in the fourth. At the same time, I remember Stephenie was writing the fourth book while we were filming Twilight. When I think back to that period of time, it seems so crazy to me. Nobody knew anybody, we were all different. I can see us again, actors, directors, screenwriters, going up to each other and said sort of shyly ‘Hello everyone.’ Now that we’re all so close, it feels weird.
P: You were 17 when you filmed the first movie. How did those 4 years of filming the saga changed you?
When you spend time on a project that asks for so much work, you have to feel invested; ready to defend it with your body and soul. That’s how I feel for all my movies. Twilight helped me share this passion with a bigger audience. Like everyone who reaches this level of fame, the saga is criticized a lot, but I realized that it only made me want to defend it even more. This experience helped me open up. When I was younger I felt things more strongly but I wasn’t always able to put it into words. I made tons of progress. In this field, every new project shapes you, helps you fight against your inhibitions little by little. I was a teenager when I started and I think you get better as you learn to know yourself, to make your body your own. It’s after you gain this control over yourself that you’re able to lose it when a scene demands it. Like every movie, Twilight made me grow up, maybe a bit faster than the other ones.
P: Between two movies, you filmed The Runaways and in Welcome to the Rileys. Strong and independent characters…
It wasn’t a conscious choice. Seeing as I’m a natural introvert, I guess I have to compensate by playing those kind of roles. But I’m really not against the idea of playing more weak and vulnerable characters. It would be fascinating.
P: That’s good, or Hollywood wouldn’t have loads of jobs to offer you..
K: It’s true that those characters are pretty rare. You’d notice that one way or another, on screen, a woman always needs a man’s help before the end of the movie. We also have to be adorable at all costs et the viewer needs to love us. I don’t think I’m ready to play those kind of roles, but I’m fascinated by actors that can play characters that are so unappealing.
P: How long did the shooting of both movies last?
K: Six months and two weeks of rehearsals.
P: Did some days seem long on the filming of Breaking Dawn?
K: It was repetitive sometimes to such an extent I felt like I was filming again scenes from the previous movies. It doesn’t mean they’re not crucial to the story but some days I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Especially when we had to stay quite some times in a house in Louisiana, Baton Rouge. We filmed all the inside scenes before going outdoors. It was intimate scenes with lots of feelings, dialogues; we filmed them all one by one endlessly. I thought it would never end, especially when you, like me, are used to independent movies that are made in 5 minutes.
Then we left for Canada, where it was freezing. Instead of being happy to finally be outside, we were dying to go back inside to get warm. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Even when we filmed the honeymoon scene in Brazil it was raining season.
P: How was Bill Condon as the captain?
K: I adore Bill. He’s someone that gets you involved in his creative process. He’s always willing to listen and he’s honnest about it. I mixed in with directors who say to be very open, and encourage you to make suggestions but actually can’t give a rat’s ass about it. Bill wasn’t like that. I felt like he was really involved in the project, where others would only be there to cash in on the success of the movie. At Comic Con, I made a joke: ‘Look we have a big time director!’ I’m really happy that Twilight is attracting this kind of talent today.
P: What were the key moments of filming for you?
K: The ones the fans are waiting for the most: the wedding, the first love scene, the birth scene. To finally put them on tape was cathartic.
P: And the last day?
K: It was two days, actually. The one where we finished shotting the wedding with the whole crew, this one I was excepting. I knew everybody would go home without really realising how important this moment was, and then the next day the end of it all would hit us. Later, we met at St Thomas, in the Carribean islands, to do over a scene we sort of screwed up in Brazil. It was only Rob and I, which made the moment even more special. We were on the beach, looking at the sun rising. I grabbed Wick Godfrey, the producer who was with us since the beggining of the saga, and threw him in the water. It was perfect and everything you could expect from a moment like this one.
Source / Translation
