Peter Facinelli is the protective patriarch of the Cullen vampires in 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'
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If vampire family values exist, then they are embodied by the Cullen clan in the "Twilight" series. No one in the Cullen family is related, but instead they are all linked by a close bond of friendship, love and their status as vampires. Leading the clan are Dr. Carlisle Cullen (played by Peter Facinelli) and his wife, Esme (played by Elizabeth Reaser), who are the adoptive parents of Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson); Rosalie Hale (played by Nikki Reed); Emmett Cullen (played by Kellan Lutz), Rosalie’s husband; Jasper Hale (played by Jackson Rathbone); and Alice Cullen (played by Ashley Greene), Jasper’s wife.
In "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (the third movie in the series), the Cullen family has come to terms with the fact that Edward has fallen in love with the human Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart). When they find out that Bella is the target of evil vampires who want to kill her, the Cullens join forces with a pack of werewolves to protect Bella. Here’s what Facinelli, Reaser, Greene, Reed, Lutz, and Rathbone had to say at the "Eclipse" press junket in Los Angeles.
Why has the "Twilight" series become such a phenomenon?
Greene: I think it has something for everyone. If you don’t get it in one film, you’ll get it in the next. But there are so many universal themes in this story. You’ve got love, loss and revenge. You have some really important decisions that you see Bella have to go through. You see people come together with arch enemies for the better good of our family. I think there’s a little something for everybody.
Lutz: Ashley hit the nail on the head. It’s really cool, especially for me, coming from a big family. I have a sister who’s getting into the high-school issues with life. You have a lot of decisions, from boyfriends to schools to choosing a college major and stuff like that. And it’s really interesting to see how she’s developed from a bright woman reading this books, knowing that you don’t have to be peer-pressured into situations. You can wait with your boyfriend, and take things slow and learn who they are, and learn more about yourself. It’s really encouraging.
I’m glad that not only that she likes it, but by the spread of word of mouth, she got her friends reading it. I think it’s a great time in our culture to have these books around. Instead of having the parents tell you what’s right and wrong and to do this a certain way, they can find it out for themselves. It’s a great resource.
Facinelli: You have the vampire folklore, which is always interesting, and then you mix it with a love story. That’s a timeless tale: the "Romeo and Juliet" story. What I liked about it is that somewhere along the line, Hollywood made vampire movies horror movies. And so when my agents called me and said, "Do you want to do this vampire movie called ‘Twilight’?" I said, "No." And then I read the books and I fell in love with them.
Reaser: You said, "No"?
Facinelli: I did, because I was thinking bats and caves and blood and guts and gore. But this ["Twilight" series] is a throwback to what vampire movies originated from. It’s mysterious and sensual and sexy, and you mix that with this love story, and it’s a really appealing story.
Reed: I think a lot of the themes are universal, in that everybody likes to imagine this ideal love or this ideal relationship that, in a sense, can never really exist, not because Edward is a vampire, but it represents all first relationships, where you want to dive in head-first and nothing else matters. And after that one ends — which for most of us, it does — you never get that again, because you’re just too aware of what the reality is. I think people eat up these ["Twilight"] books, because we all kind of want that again.
After you’ve been hurt, it’s harder to go back to that "I will die for you" mentality when you’re in love …
Reed: [She laughs] Yeah. "You go die!"
Reaser: For me, going into this world — I don’t know if it’s supernatural or unnatural — but this secret, mysterious world of vampires I know obviously is not real, but when it’s done right and you believe you can make that leap in your imagination, there’s something really captivating about it. It’s just captured my imagination ever since I was a kid.
Facinelli: I think it’s interesting how it has this multi-generational appeal. You have mothers and daughters bonding over this book — and grandmothers and moms and daughters. I’ve met fans from 5 years old up to 80. And it’s not just women. You have the guys coming out, because they like the action stuff, too. And as much as they don’t want to admit it, [the guys] like the love stories, too. And then you have the boyfriend and girlfriends seeing the movie, dads taking their daughters, moms taking their daughters. It has a little bit of everything for everybody.
Jackson, since Jasper’s back story is shown in "Eclipse," can you talk about that?
Rathbone: it was exciting to play Jasper’s back story. I get to wear the Civil War regalia and ride the horse. The first scene that we filmed in "Eclipse" was [Jasper] as a human getting changed into a vampire. That was exciting in and of itself: playing a vampire for the first two films and then I finally get to show myself as a human.
What do you think about the Cullen family being non-traditional family that isn’t related to each other?
Rathbone: I think Alice and Jasper were the only Cullen family members who weren’t directly or indirectly turned [into vampires] Carlisle, per se. And it’s interesting when they come together. Alice really saves Jasper from his old life. And she sees this vision of a family forming. And she brings us over there.
Facinelli: I think it’s really interesting why [Carlisle Cullen] chose these specific people.
Reed: Why did you choose me?
Facinelli: Well, you were lying in the gutter. And you were pretty. It’s true, why he chose these people. It’s like forming this and this group of people he hand-picked to be his family. That means a lot to him. I think I struggle as Carlisle, in that in some ways I feel like I gave them a gift — and in some ways that wasn’t my gift to give. I know some of the characters struggle with that — that they didn’t have a choice in it. Rosalie didn’t have a choice. And Edward’s not that happy, because he didn’t have a choice.
So I struggled with that guilt as Carlisle: "Did I do the right thing?" But I think fathers, as a patriarch, they make decisions, and sometimes they struggle with, "I tried to do the right thing. Was it right? I’m not quite sure." There’s something to be said about that. As perfect as these characters seem to be, there are character flaws. And if I have to say what my character flaw is [as Carlisle Cullen], he hand-picked these characters, but he did it … without giving them a choice. That’s something he has to struggle with.
Reed: That’s a very interesting word you just used: perfect. That’s how Rosalie is described a lot of the time, which is very intimidating in itself, but she’s so far from that. And everybody, including me, as these "perfect" fictional characters have these imperfections. It’s nice that those are exposed, and you get to see a different side of them.
Does your "Twilight" fame mean that you have to dodge crazy fans and paparazzi all the time, or do you go in and out of that world?
Rathbone: I think during filming, it became kind of like a game, to figure out the back way out and figure out where we can go.
Greene: Yeah. We’d split up and then all meet together. We’d never go somewhere together.
Rathbone: Just to avoid the paparazzi.
Lutz: I love wearing wigs. Jackson has a [fake] moustache.
So you dress up in disguises?
Lutz: Sometimes.
Greene: We say it’s because of the paparazzi, but really we enjoy it.
Facinelli: I have a hard time saying no. I’ll be at my daughter’s soccer game, and somebody will come over and sign a book, and then all of sudden someone else will see that and they’ll [want me to] sign a book, and then all of a sudden another team comes over and wants to take photos. And then all of a sudden, it turns into an autograph meet-and-greet. And then I’ve got the whole park in front of me. "How can I escape? I don’t want to say no." And my daughter says, "Dad, can you watch me play soccer?" I feel so bad.
Reed: I think there’s different a way you can look at this and spin it … We’re all guilty of saying, "Oh yeah, they’re following us here and chasing us and they’re asking for too many hugs." There’s something really cool about this. I have a 10-year-old brother, and I think he’s the coolest kid in the world, but other kids might not feel that way sometimes just because kids are hard on each other. And when I go to his school and it’s a bunch of 10- or 11-year-olds, they might not know me, but everybody knows what "Twilight" or "Eclipse" or the books are, and it does create a frenzy. And the look on his face and the smile that he gets … it’s so worth it. There’s nothing I can complain about.
Facinelli: We’re all really appreciative of how much the fans have come out for these movies. We have so much fan support. We’re making these movies for them. We hope that they can continue enjoying them.
What can you say about "Eclipse" that takes the "Twilight" saga to the next level? Why should people see "Eclipse"?
Rathbone: You start off with "Twilight," you introduce the vampire world. "New Moon," you introduce the werewolf world. And here in "Eclipse," they [the vampire and werewolf worlds] have to come together, because this newborn vampire army is on the rise in Seattle. The two clans have to band together in order to take it on.
Lutz: I love action movies. I’m a guy’s guy. When I read the books, "Twilight" I was really intrigued with, and I wanted to see where the story went. "New Moon," I was like, "All right, this is getting sappy. I can see where the girls are going to love this one." And quickly, the demographic is growing and growing, and this movie ["Eclipse"] — just seeing the trailers, my guy friends who haven’t seen the first two ["Twilight"] movies, they’re like, "Oh my God! ‘Eclipse’ looks awesome! Look at those fight scenes!" And I think the guys are going to be pulled into this movie. And then the hater Twi-girls who don’t want to jump on the bandwagon, the guys are going to bring their girlfriends to that. It’s just captivating the world, which is really cool to see.
How did deal with doing some of the stunt work in the movie?
Greene: I think we all loved it. We all had so much fun with it. And we kind of goofed around and poked fun at each other, but then … we’re all part of a family, so we’re very comfortable. We got everything out of the way on the first ["Twilight" movie] about being shy around each other and stuff like that, so we were really free to explore this stunt world. We had really great people to work with, and we all wanted to make it the best it could possibly be. I mean, this is really our shot to make this a more adult, hardcore action film. They really gave us some leeway to show what we had, and we actually did a lot of our own stunts.
Are you more comfortable with the body movements that your "Twilight" characters have to have in each movie?
Greene: I think I’m very comfortable with Alice. I think everything’s happened at a great pace, because we just keep building on the foundation that’s already been laid. That’s why hopefully everything keeps getting a little better and a little better, because we’re gaining experience with these characters and becoming very comfortable with them. And we have new directors coming in to help give us an outside perspective and help us explore our characters even more.
Lutz: I think that’s the best part. A lot of actors I know get tired of the characters that they play, because there’s nothing new about them. But with our ["Twilight"] characters, we get to make them our own, in a way, and yet stay true to what ["Twilight" author] Stephenie [Meyer wrote]. We have her as a great resource, but then we can add our own. Like I can add Kellan into Emmett. And then we have directors. David [Slade, director of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"] allowed us to show vampires in a new level, with the technology and the way he wanted to capture the fight sequences and the vampiric speed. It’s really cool. It’s so fresh.
Did you see "Eclipse" as a do-over for anything you wanted to do differently in "New Moon" or "Twilight"?
Rathbone: You want to have a fairly consistent performance. You get to draw a lot from the source material. And also, you really want to build the character; you want to develop it. No one’s ever the same every day. Something new happens ever day. You’re going to be changing and constantly learn, even if you’re immortal. You’re going to constantly learn and constantly adapt, so it was like that with the directors and each script.
Reaser: I’m just so happy to get another shot at it. I think this is a really hard thing as an actor … to be believable to myself, even. So to find a way to make being a vampire and to ground her and care about her and other people, I’m always excited to get another shot at it. The fact that we’re getting these real filmmakers to come in and make these movies is incredible. It’s such an opportunity that I might not have ever had.
Facinelli: I agree. As the doctor, I concur.
Source => Examiner / Via => Kellan Lutz Online
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