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Interview
The stars of the scortching-hot franchise gather to dish about the new Twilight movie, Oprah, their diverging careers, and (yes) their intense feelings for each other.
by Nicole Sperling
Kristen Stewart comes bearing a gift. The actress — who’s gangly,
strikingly beautiful, and still only 20 despite having made movies for
nearly a decade — has baked her interviewer a little loquat pie, which
she carries in a mini-aluminum tin, like one you’d find in a child’s
Easy-Bake oven set. Stewart and costars Taylor Lautner, 18, and Robert
Pattinson, 24, have gathered to talk about Eclipse, which opens June 30
and is, of course, the third installment in the phenomenally successful
Twilight saga. The movie, rated PG-13 and directed by David Slade, finds
Jacob (Lautner) and his werewolf pals joining forces with Edward
(Pattinson) and his vampire clan to defend Bella (Stewart) against an
army of new vampires. At the moment, however, no one wants to talk about
the movie — the darkest and most compelling of the franchise so far.
They just want to try the pie, which features fruit from Stewart’s own
backyard. “It’s not warm and there’s no ice cream, and those are
really the two things that would make it exceptional,” she says. “But
it will be fine.”
When Twilight hit theaters a year and a half ago, Stewart never would
have baked something for a reporter. Back then, she was a nervous
18-year-old who fretted over every syllable that escaped her lips and
seemed terrified of the publicity circuit. Today, Stewart and her
costars exude considerably more confidence. The last two Twilight movies
have earned more than $1 billion worldwide and supercharged their
careers. Stewart is about to shoot an adaption of a Jack Kerouac;s ‘On
the Road’, Lautner’s embarking on John Singleton’s action thriller
‘Abduction’, and Pattinson’s starring alongside Reese Witherspoon as a
veterinarian in a traveling circus in ‘Water for Elephants’. The actors
make an extremely tight trio: honest, protective of each other, and
warmly familial. In person, as on screen, Pattinson and Lautner’s mutual
affection for Stewart is the tie that binds.
-How do you think Eclipse ranks against the other two films?
Taylor Lautner: It is definitely my favorite.
Robert Pattinson: I don’t like it as much. {Laughs} Could you
imagine if I meant that?
Kristen Stewart: It’s always hard because you’re so close to it. I
run this really intense list of, like, checks and balances to make sure
everything has come across. But I know I pulled less of my hair out
{watching} it.
-Speaking of your hair, you definitely don’t play with yours as much
in this movie.
Stewart: {Laughs} No, because it’s not my hair.
Lautner: Nope, it was a wig.
Stewart: I’m just going to be really honest right now: Yeah, I
finally dropped my tic.
-The emotional scenes in Eclipse really play well, I think.
Stewart: This is the first time that Bella actually indulges
Jacob and sees that there are two very desireable paths ahead of her and
not just one. It takes kissing him to see that.
Lautner: {To Pattinson} Are you lifting weights?
Stewart: Actually, he has been.
Lautner: Seriously, he was just {flexing}, and the bicep was
bulging.
-Is this to compensate for everyone talking about Taylor’s body so
much?
Pattinson: It is a desperate attempt. I’ve got body dysmorphia. I
am stuck with my belly.
-One scene fans have been dying to see takes place in the tent during
the snowstorm. Jacob warms up Bella with his body because Edward is
cold-blooded and can’t do it himself.
Lautner: The tent scene is probably my favorite, because it’s the
first time Edward and Jacob are actually able to connect and understand
each other.
-How many takes did you go through to get that scene?
Lautner: Two days originally to film it, and then a full day of
reshoots.
-Why?
Pattinson: [The director] wanted it to be more erotic. Seriously.
Stewart: It’s true. In the book there’s a serious sexual tension.
As I’m sleeping, Jacob is staring over my vulnerable body, and he’s
naked in this f- - -ing sleeping bag because you heat up faster that
way, and Jacob and Edward are leveling with each other.
-Taylor, you and Rob have some pretty serious confrontations in this
movie.
Lautner: Some of those scenes were pretty hard for me. I think we
ruined a couple of takes in front of the house and in the tent. It’s
just, I don’t know, I have a hard time looking at him…
Stewart: Ha! “I have such a hard time looking at him”!
Lautner: {Laughs} I wasn’t finished. He and I were thisclose to
each other — we are literally, like, an inch away — and we’re screaming
at each other.
Stewart: And about to kiss…
Lautner: A couple of moments it felt like that.
Pattinson: Every single time we had to do a threatening thing to
each other — for one thing, you always have your shirt off, and so in
the tent scene I literally grabbed your breast. And it’s very difficult
to remain in the moment. Also, in that tent scene, I can’t really get
over the fact that the word thought sounds like fart.
Stewart: The word thought does not sound like fart.
Pattinson: It does.
Stewart: Maybe because you are an English person.
Pattinson: The opening line of that scene is “Can you at least
keep your farts to yourself?” I couldn’t quite get over that.
-Taylor, you worked so hard to get the body for New Moon. Can you
ever let it go? Are we ever going to see a paparazzi shot of you eating a
dozen doughnuts?
Lautner: Yeah, hand me some of that pir. I will eat that right
now.
Pattinson: I will eat the container.
Lautner: I cheat all the time. I’ve got to be a lot more strict
while we’re actually filming, or when a photo shoot is coming up, but
I’ll eat some ice cream, some cake.
-Rob, what’s the secret to not having to take your shirt off?
Pattinson: Don’t work out. I just kept telling everyone why I
needed to take my shirt off in a scene, and everyone else had to think
of reasons why I shouldn’t. “No, I don’t think so — Edward is much more
chaste than that.”
Stewart: “He is modest. He is much more modest.”
Pattinson: Then I’d say, “No, seriously — I would like to wear a
really tight tank top and have my belly come out of the bottom. And have
some sweat on it, too.”
-Would you guys want to star in a big franchise again?
Stewart: I would have to love it like this.
Pattinson: It is just the promotion part, which is the hardest
part. When you see your face on, like, toilet paper and stuff, that’s
when you know you have to negotiate the water very carefully afterwards.
-Have you guys become more savvy in terms of how your face and your
persona are represented out there?
Stewart: Well, you don’t have a lot of control over your persona.
Trust me, I’ve had a massive amount of experience with that one.
-Interviews have always been fraught for you. What helps?
Pattinson: Knowing that it doesn’t really matter.
Stewart: And knowing that most people don’t give a f—.
Pattinson: I would do TV interviews and I would be terrified,
thinking that every single word would be judged. And it’s really just,
like, maybe two people on the Internet who are actually judging. The
rest of the people are just watching, thinking, Oh, God, boring. You
realize the {key to} marketing is just having your face everywhere, and
that’s it. It doesn’t matter what you say.
Stewart: Just plaster it up. Every movie that has the home page
at MySpace opens at number one. Every. Single. Movie. Because it’s just
there all the time. It is in everybody’s face.
-So do you feel more at peace about being in the spotlight these
days?
Stewart: I just feel more comfortable, more myself, and I feel
less bare. I feel much more like nobody can take anything from me.
Before, I felt literally like my chest was cracked open and people could
just reach in and examine and pick at anything they wanted, and it just
freaked me right out.
-You got a lot of criticism recently for comparing the intrusiveness
of the paparazzi to rape. The comment got blown out of proportion very
quickly, and you apologized.
Stewart: I’m so sensitive about stuff like that. That is the one
subject that means a lot to me. I made one movie directly concerning it,
and I made another one where my character has a horrible history of
rape. I talked to a lot of people about it. I used the wrong word. I
should have said “violated.” But I’m young and emotional. It’s just the
way it goes sometimes. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I just feel
like people got so excited once they saw that it was me. It was like,
“Sweet! Let’s get her!” And then for the people to exploit it under the
guise of being morally upstanding is disgusting — and it embarrassed me
because I was a part of it.
-Did you see it all unfold and then think, I have to issue an
apology?
Stewart: No, I was in Korea when it all got bad. My publicist
called me and said RAINN had issued this terrible statement.
Pattinson: Who’s Rain?
Stewart: You know, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
Lautner: I thought you were talking about Rain, that Korean star,
or something. I was like, What did they do? They sicced Rain on you?
The Ninja Assassin?!
Pattinson: None of those associations came out and gave a
statement [criticizing Kristen] without being called upon by the media
first — who were doing it specifically to get hits on their websites.
That whole system of Internet journalists, where no one is called to
account, is almost entirely about hate. All these people get away with
doing it because they have no responsibility to anyone. All they need is
to get a salacious headline and people click on it, because it’s easy.
And it’s quite good being part of these Twilight films because you have
to give so many interviews all the time, you can defend yourself. That’s
the only way. All of us stick together, as well. There are so many
little nerds behind their computers, on their little blogs.
Stewart: See, if I said that? Crucifixion. You can say so much
more than me. It’s insane.
Pattinson: That’s not true at all. When did I say anything
{controversial}?
Stewart: You’re really good, but you could say, “I just took a
s*** on the Queen’s face,” and people would be like, “Oh, I love him! I
love him!”
Pattinson: That is so not true.
-Kristen, you obviously feel like you’re under more of a microscope.
Stewart: I’m a girl, and our fan base is primarily other girls. I
would be the same way. I’d be like, “That b—- doesn’t know what she’s
talking about.”
Pattinson: One of the things that really annoys me about the rise
of all these celebreity websites is that anyone who becomes famous —
people are so desperate to prove that {celebrities} are lower than the
average person on the street. Why destroy any hope for anyone else? When
I grew up, looking at movies like ‘One Few Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and
stuff, it made me want to do things. And you don’t want to believe that
someone you admire….
Stewart: ….is an a–hole. Now they can’t wait to call you an a–hole when
you’re not.
Pattinson: And any way that you can promote positivity — I know
it sounds ridiculous — but it’s the best thing you can possibly do.
-Taylor, how do you feel about being in the public eye? You seem
comfortable.
Lautner: I get nervous, for sure.
Stewart: He gets very nervous.
Lautner: Us together — it’s not good.
Stewart: You make me feel a lot better.
Lautner: I’m glad I do.
Stewart: I am so shocked that you get nervous that it instantly
takes mine away.
Lautner: Yeah, it gets your mind off it. Like at the Oscars.
Stewart: We were both so goddamn nervous.
Lautner: I was standing backstage waiting to go out, and I could
feel the veins in my neck just pulsing. I was like, Whoa, I need to
loosen this jacket a little bit.
Stewart: Literally, you are standing there in front of….
Lautner: ….everybody you’ve looked up to your entire life….
Stewart: Your whole life. And they’re looking at you slightly
baffled and saying, ‘What are you doing here?”
-What about when you guys were on Oprah recently? There was a story
all over the place that Oprah talked to you backstage and demanded to
know if you, Kristen and Rob, were a couple. And that you said yes. Did
that really happen?
Stewart: {To Lautner} Did you see my interaction with Oprah
backstage?
Lautner: Yeah. I witnessed it.
Stewart: She glided over to me — and she was strong by the way,
really firm hands — and she said, “How are you?” I said, “Good.” She
said, “Good. Are you nervous?” I said, “Yeah, I am, but I think I’m
okay.” She said, “Good. We’ll have fun.” And then she just walked away.
And that was the most I talked to her backstage.
-You didn’t tell her you were a couple?
Lautner: It never happened.
Stewart: Did {Oprah herself} actually say that? I don’t think she
did. Of course, when we go on Oprah, someone is going to say, “We got
the scoop!” No, sorry, they didn’t. I never told them anything. Why
would I go tell Oprah that?
-Rob and Kristen, you’ve both been making other movies. Being in
Twilight must be a pretty good calling card.
Pattinson: One of the best things is how fast you can get a film
started. I don’t know how much longer it is going to last after the
Twilight films finish, because now you can read a script and get it
greenlit in three months. It’s crazy. It’s like having your own studio.
Stewart: I still can’t get ‘K-11′ made because I’m playing a boy
in it. If I were playing a pretty girl, it would be done already.
Pattinson: How much is the budget? I can get it made. Let me
produce it.
Stewart: Please do. There’s this project that I’ve been talking
about forever, and it just hasn’t gotten off the ground. My mom and her
writing partner wrote a script called ‘K-11′ that takes place in a jail,
and I would play a man. But people don’t want to see Bella doing thta,
so they didn’t want to raise money.
-Rob, your movie ‘Remember Me’ came out not long ago. Do you think
it’s unfair when people say, “Remember Me wasn’t a blockbuster,
therefore he can’t do anything besides Edward Cullen?”
Stewart: Like, “The Runaways was an enormous failure,” which it
so wasn’t.
Pattinson: ‘Remember Me’ was the perfect movie to do for such a
short period of time. And I really liked it. I guess maybe it could have
been marketed differently. But I think it did really well for a
small-budget thing.
-Is there freedom in doing a different role from Edward?
Pattinson: Yeah. And I think, Oh, I only have to do my job. I
don’t have to think about how the poster should be.
-Did you find yourself thinking about the poster for Twilight?
Pattinson: Yeah, all the time. No one ever listens to me.
{Laughs} It’s difficult now. On the first one we had so much more
creative input, but now it’s so huge that it’s too big to steer. And if
you want to say “I’m going to steer the whole Twilight machine,” you get
fired. And the other thing is, it’s way too much responsibility. Why
would you ever want that?
-Taylor, you’ve taken advantage of the opportunities that Twilight
has given you. What has this ride been like?
Lautner: This was an amazing platform, and it gives you the
opportunity to be picky and do what you want to do — and that is the
actor’s dream, to be able….
Stewart: …to choose stuff.
Lautner: Yeah, and now I’m choosing projects that I’m extremely
passionate about.
Stewart: {Fondly} You cute-ass motherf—er.
-What are you most excited about?
Lautner: I’d have to say ‘Abduction’, because I start in three
weeks. I play a high school senior who finds a picture of himself on a
missing-persons website and realizes his whole life has been a lie.
-What do you guys think of the career choices Taylor is making?
Stewart: It’s crazy how ambitious he is. I’m so different from
him. We were on the plane and he said, “So what do you think I should do
about this?” And it was concerning his massive movie, and I was like,
“Dude, I don’t make movies like that. I don’t know.”
Lautner: It doesn’t matter. She’s an excellent person to go to
for advice. I probably bug her because I go to her for advice so much.
Stewart: Taylor, I would do anything for you.
Pattinson: Okay, that sounded like the most insincere thing.
Stewart: See, you actually have a real moment and people just
think that you’re lying.
-You guys are about to start shooting the two Breaking Dawn movies
back to back. You signed on to this franchise before Breaking Dawn was
written. When you read it, were you thinking, How is this going to be
turned into a movie?
Stewart: Yeah, definitely. What is Renesmee going to look like?
Is it going to be this little teeth-baby running around? It’s going to
be weird.
Pattinson: {Laughs} “Little teeth-baby.”
Stewart: Yeah, but I think it’s going to be cool. One of the main
objectives of the series is to get Bella to a point where she’s mature
enough to make such a hefty decision, and she goes through a lot. In the
fourth one, she is going to become a wife. She is going to become a
mom. She is going to become an adult and a vampire. To do it so young,
it needs to be believable. So I’m really excited about playing that.
-Some people read Breaking Dawn as very pro-life and Mormon because
Bella decides to have her baby even though it’s endangering her life.
Did any of that bother you when you read the book?
Stewart: No, because it made sense. Not wanting to give up the
baby is about her holding onto that last thing that she would have to
give up if she was not human anymore. Right after she and Edward sleep
with each other for the first time, she says, “Oh, f***, I might want to
be human for a little bit longer.” The baby is just an even more
intense version of that.
Pattinson: I think people make up all these Mormon references
just so they can publish Twilight articles in respectable publications
like the New York Times. Even Stephenie {Meyer} said it doesn’t mean any
of that. It is based on a dream.
-The Breaking Dawn movies are the last in the series. How do you feel
about all of this coming to a conclusion soon?
Stewart: In terms of shooting them, they’re almost done. We’re
going to be done by March.
Lautner: It will be so weird, the last day of filming that last
movie.
Stewart: It will be sad, too. It’s been one of the most crazy,
indulgent experiences as an actor, to be able to follow a character for
this long.
Lautner: I think stopping will be very weird.
Stewart: It will just feel like a chapter has been closed.
Lautner: A big chapter.
Stewart: I’m going to be like, “But wait, there’s this scene…”
Pattinson: {Laughs} “I know how to do the tent scene now! I’m
30!”
