By Andrew Warrick
On Saturday morning, The Cullens, the most famous vampire family of all time, took C2E2 by storm. Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Cullen), and Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen) answered questions from a packed hall of thrilled fans.
“We all didn’t really expect it to be the crazy thing that it became,” Rathbone began, saying the saga’s success was fan-fueled.
“It’s really incredible,” Greene agreed. “When we were in Twilight, we were so grateful and we were surrounded by so much love and support, but to see it… still, to this day, be relevant and see that people are still watching it. They’re introducing it to their kids, which is like a crazy thing to say… we were able to be a part of something that pretty much no one gets to experience and it’s just, it’s amazing.”
Conversation turned next to the actors’ current projects. Greene appears in the recent Netflix release Aftermath, Rathbone has an upcoming supernatural World War II film called Warhunt, and Lutz is in the TV show FBI.
The panel then opened up for fan questions.
On the twist in Breaking Dawn: Part 2’s climax, Green explained that “it’s so hard when you come from something that has been a book previously to be able to surprise people… [and] people get quite upset and that’s what we kind of experienced in the theater… you saw people shocked, and you saw people go through, like, stages of grief… they were like super sad and then they were like really angry… and then they were relieved when they realized we pulled one over on them… I thought it was really brilliant.”
“Yeah,” Rathbone seconded, remembering “the LA theater and the big premiere… the first death happens and then it’s just ‘NO!’… these shrieks, and everybody’s screaming and then finally when, you know Alice comes out… holding his head you know, showing the vision… I think some fainting happened… You know, it was incredible.”
Rathbone’s favorite scenes to film were “the action sequences in Eclipse… I got to go ride a horse in Canada and pretend it was Texas… I got to go into the backstory, so that was a lot of fun for me.” Lutz enjoyed the “action stuff” as well. The iconic baseball scene in Twilight holds a special place in Greene’s heart: “I don’t think any of us could have predicted it coming out as well as it did.”
On another special ability Emmett could have had, on top of super strength, Lutz responded “isn’t bringing humor the best ability?” but admitted that seeing the future like Alice “would have been fun.”
Green said Aro is the character she relates to the most, because she is “dead inside.” “No,” she continued. “I’ve always kind of related to Alice…. I love her so much… I still kind of try to model my life off the kind of optimism and positivity that she has.”
As a new father- “It’s just so much fun. And I’m really, really grateful”- Lutz relates to Doctor Carlisle, admiring his “ability to just be compassionate and sensitive.”
The cast agreed that the saga’s biggest challenge was dressing like vampires in the freezing cold. Rathbone remembered being told not to breathe in one scene, because the vapor would have to be taken out with CGI. Lutz looked back on “one scene where I had to wrestle a Wolf and… he knocked me into the river. And when you’re up there in Canada in the winter, in a river that is icy… I had to do multiple takes. That was not fun. It was really hard.” Lutz also remembered the intense vampire makeup, getting it on the couch, on the set, and on his clothes.
Rathbone spoke about what was deemed “Cat Training,” after director Catherine Hardwicke, where the cast practiced moving around like cats to appear vampiric. Rathbone remembered thinking “this is insane. Are we really going to be moving like this?”
Rathbone’s favorite novel was Eclipse. Greene chose Twilight. Lutz admitted that, initially, he “didn’t really understand” the Twilight script, but When he read the books- “I’ve never read so many books so fast”- he became hooked. His favorites are Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun, because of Emmett’s comedic lines in both.
The actors spoke on what they learned filming the Twilight Saga. Greene discovered how, even if the audition process can seem “ridiculous,” everything in an audition has a point. Rathbone learned to trust his instincts, while honoring the books, because “we’re all unique.” Lutz figured out how to alter his character, movie to movie, based on what the fans “really loved.”
The panel ended with Rathbone, Greene, and Lutz urging the importance of mental health in this tumultuous time. “Remain hopeful,” Greene said.
“Look around… You’re all part of the community.” Rathbone told the crowd. “And hopefully if you take away anything from it is, you know, be blessed.”
“This is a community right here,” Lutz said. “Be quick to listen, slow to speak and just listen to people’s hearts and allow your heart to be open.”
Miss any of our previous C2E2 ’21 coverage? Find it all here!
