I know that you'll all be heartbroken to hear that I was not able to make it in the actual Hall H panel for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2 at San Diego Comic-Con this year. However, the reason for that is that I was attending the pre-panel press conference with the cast getting far more information about the new film and the actors' various end-of-an-era memories about being a part of both Comic-Con for the the last four years and on the receiving end of so much fan love. I've been at every TWILIGHT-related Comic-Con event since the first film showed up and caused such a ferver that is visibly shook those on that first panel.
I kind of miss the time of that first Hall H appearance, because the team handling the TWILIGHT players didn't quite know what they had on their hands. As a result, the cast, director Catherine Hardwicke, and author Stephenie Meyer were a bit more accessible. After that first insane panel, I got to talk to Hardwicke and star Kristen Stewart; I even had an informal chat with Robert Pattinson, while we were both hanging around waiting for our next respective interviews. But after that 2008 event, everything changed, and I never got to talk to another member of the TWILIGHT creative team again at Coimc-Con. (I have interviewed several cast members over the years as part of press tours that passed through Chicago.)
The press conferences that I've attended have been a mixed bag of terrible questions and nervous answers from a fairly likable cast and crew. But this year's BREAKING DAWN, PART 2 was far more loose, funny, informative, and useful. To close out the franchise, far more of the cast was brought in (including the always-entertaining Peter Facinelli and Elizabeth Reaser (it's no coincidence that the older cast members seemed much more comfortable in front of a roomful of journalists).
The press conference was actually divided into two discussions. The first was with the "Cullen clan" and included Facinelli, Reaser, Kelan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, and Ashley Greene, who made the point that Comic-Con marked, in her mind, the beginning of the end of her TWILIGHT experience (with the various November premieres and press junkets still to come). Photos come courtesy of my constant Comic-Con sidekick Gavin "Malone" Stokes.
Other highlights included:
-- Reaser said she never knew exactly when other cast members' last days of shooting would be because of the second unit filming. "One day after a sceen, they told Peter and I we were wrapped and we were stunned. We started screaming, laughing, hugging, and saying 'What do we do now?'"
-- Lutz said doing scenes with Stewart where they fight was something he's been waiting to do since the beginning of the series. To see her transform from human to vampire Bella was something he loved.
-- Reaser said for her, the shooting the first film was her favorite experience and the most fun. "We had no idea what we were doing. We were just this little vampire movie shooting in Portland, and there was bad behavior from everyone."
-- Rathbone said he loved the long Cullen family shoots in the beginning, and they would get to hang out and bond because each scene would take two days just to get the coverage they needed.
-- Facinelli said the first film was hard to shoot but that he loved being together. There was a lot of rehearsal which resulted in the family member getting to know each other. "I remember we spent a lot of time together, and one day we went to warehouse to play baseball indoors. It was great bonding." He alos mentioned that over the years at Comic-Con, he has seen the same fans every year. "We've grown with you for four years."
-- Reed talked about how some of the cast went to see front-of-the-line fans the night before. "There's a different energy this time from fans, a different appreciation. And it's great seeing familiar faces in the crowd." She added that she's only now beginning to recognize how unique and special this experience is. "Capturing someone's attention for more than five seconds is nearly impossible these days, so to sustain something for this many years is extraordinary."
-- Of the upcoming film, Reaser said there are some scenes with she and Facinelli that is scary and heightened, but she couldn't talk about specifics. One of the most interesting aspects of the new film for fans will be seeing the international vampires, she believes.
-- Rathbone talked about director Bill Condon as being a calm, collected, composed force on set. "It felt effortless to work with him, and he let us try new things." Facinelli added that Condon never raised his voice once, and how he had an energy everybody feels. "He's such a great actor's director and cares about what you think. Even in the middle of all of this chaos, he'll still take time to talk about your scene and what your character is going through. Reaser believes that hiring these serious filmmakers on these films has elevated the movies. "They each have a specific vision and have taken this story to another level."
-- Green admitted that getting to play Alice as a friend, upbeat is paid off for her by getting to see her act like a real vampire with an edge in last film. Reaser added that the new story have forced a different lifestyle for her character, who is the ultimate pacifist, who never wants to fight. "Bella puts family in situation that forces her to be a powerhouse, fighting for her family and lifestyle. She has to betray her sense of self to protect the family. Lutz joked that his character doesn't have many lines, but his influence on Bella is by being protective. "He has fun with Bella. It's been fun to add to him with each movie. He brings humor. Reed added, "We don't always get a chance to portray every aspect of these characters, and that has been a challenge, since the nature of the movie focuses on the love story. Audience gets to route for Rosie more in BREAKING DAWN."
-- When asked where they see their careers 5 or 10 years down the road, Reaser responded, " I hope none of us are on 'Celebrity Rehab.'"
-- When asked what he'd miss about coming back every few months to shoot these movies, Faincelli said, "I'll miss the woods. Is that weird? It's been fun revisiting a role in a film. Usually when you're doing a movie, you put that character on the shelf and don't get to revisit. We tried to explore character a little deeper each time."
The second half of the press conference featured Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, author Meyer, and newcomer Mackenzie Foy, who plays Renesmee (Bella and Edward's rapidly aging daughter), who Jacob imprinted on at the end of the last movie. Again, the mood was reflective, with Stewart leading off the proceedings by admitting, "If you told me tomorrow, we had to reshoot a scene, I would vibrate with happiness. It's a bummer to walk away, but I look on it fondly. I'm so thankful. You start a project to finish it, and this was such a charged experience; that's the only way it feels right and true. If Steph wrote another book, I'd read it immediately. Being a part of this series, affirmed my ideas of why I do what I do. You can connect creatively on a bigger scale. As a person, I can't begin to answer the question of how this experience has changed me. That's so loaded."
-- Meyer was in a slightly apologetic mood for creating characters that made these actors so famous, they are getting an intrusive level of attention. Stewart's reaction to this was basically, "You're ridiculous!"
-- Meyer recalled the first time she met the cast as they were coming from a shoot in costume. "The first time I met them, they were all dressed as my imaginary friends. It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life, but it was so cool to see everything and think, 'This is what they look like. This is real.'" Stewart specifically remembered meeting Lautner for the first time: "You were a kid when I met you, and then after NEW MOON, you weren't a kid any more. Sometimes you meet people in life and say, 'We should make stuff together. We'll do good. Let's use whatever the energy is passing between us.' I got that with both of them."
-- Meyer reiterated something said earlier about the excitement of seeing Stewart as the vampired-out Bella. "Getting to see Bella so powerful was a dream for me." Steward added, "I felt like a sports car ready to get broken in. Those were always my favorite scenes in the book."
-- The group was asked about the growing talk of rebooting the TWILIGHT franchise. Pattinson said he though it would be amazing and that he'd love to see that. "I pity the person who takes over my part. I would probably start a campaign against them," he joked. Stewart added, "At the same time, the reason turning that last page is what it is is because you have a sense that it's done. They can have it. By the end of the movie, it's so satisfying and sweet and ideal; they finally figured it out. Please leave them alone. I'd be open to the idea and be curious to see what it was. Meyer agreed that she pitied the people who attempted to step into these roles; it's not going to go well for them, I imagine.
-- Pattinson asked Meyer if she did write more books in this universe, what would she write about, to which she responded that Bella's story is done. "Back in the day when I thought I would never stop writing about vampires, there was a reason I created Renesmee [points to the totally silent to this point Mackenzie Foy, sitting to her left]. But I'm thinking maybe 20 years down the road." Pattinson joked around about whether Meyer had considered a storyline where Edward and Bella get divorced and go through a MR. & MRS. SMITH breakup, but they can't die.
-- Stewart talked about the end of the film: "We do really cool things with the ending--some people may already know that, which is unfortunate--but I think Bill Condon is the perfect person to direct the last book. He was able to direct very human performances, but now that the humanity in Bella is gone. Her human aspects were something that always rooted the story, and I was worried going in that it would be harder to grasp. Is there going to be something that we can hold onto? And he did it; we did it. Fans should expect a very emotion end, a kind of wrap up. I've seen it four times, and I cry every time."
-- Stewart attempts to answer question about vampire-on-vampire sex scene in BREAKING DAWN, PART 2, while maintaining a PG-13 rating (with a child sitting on the stage near her). "We were supposed to be having mind-boggling, other-worldly sex in the first first film. We tried to keep the first one sweet, and made it about discovery. Nothing about this series is raunchy, but in the second one, we wanted to be animals. We're not humans anymore. We tried, and they told us it was Rated R [laughs]."
-- Meyer was asked about the film adaptation of her 2008 science-fiction novel THE HOST, and whether she's written any more books in that series. "THE HOST was a palate cleanser for me, and do something other than just romantic love. There's nothing coming out in the that series book wise. As far as the movie goes, I'm really excited about it; it's beautiful. I can't wait for people to see it."
And with that my days with the TWILIGHT team is more than likely done forever. So when does that next HUNGER GAMES movie come out…?
