Jackson Interview with USA Today

'Twilight' star Rathbone aims to influence fans' emotions

Twilight: Breaking Dawn star Jackson Rathbone, 26, is a man of the world, but like his vampire alter ego, Jasper, his roots are planted firmly in the South. He chats with USA TODAY about his Southern sensibility, his dedication to the arts and answers fans' Twitter questions.

Q: What has the Twilight experience been like?

A: It's definitely been this kind of amazing roller coaster. … I remember first getting on this ride, we didn't really know what to expect. But then when it started going, we saw everything pop off in terms of fan sites, and media notice. It started getting kind of stalker-ish. People knocking on hotel room doors, and everything, and that was all within the first month and a half. We were young; we didn't really know what we were getting into. Now, four years later, it's been amazing looking back at it. It's one of those things where you never really knew where you were going, but now you get here and you look back at the ride and you're like, "That was quite an interesting trip."

Q: How did you get into acting?

A: When I was about 13 years old, my family moved to Midland, Texas, and my older sisters had been doing theater and I was having trouble making friends. I was in sixth grade and kind of at that age where people are hitting puberty and everybody's kind of weird with one another. My parents were like, "Why don't you do theater with your sisters?" I got involved and I did behind-the-scenes work. I built sets, I did lighting and once I saw that all the other guys in the theater troupe, the actors, were getting more attention from the girls, I was tempted to try out for the next production. I did and I got the role of Doody in the musical Grease. For that, I had to learn how to sing and dance and play guitar. Ever since then, I just kind of fell in love with all the arts.

Q: How did youland the role in Twilight?

A: It was just like any other job. The audition location was very close to where I was living at the time, so I walked there with my guitar, waited in the lobby just strumming away. I met Catherine (Hardwicke, director) and her and I just really hit it off right off the bat. Then when she offered me the role, I was like, "Cool, man." It was just another job; just like a normal gig.

Q: What's your friendship like with your Twilight co-stars?

A: Nikki Reed and I are real close. Ashley (Greene) and I have always been good friends. The last day of filming, we wrapped around 1:30, 2 a.m., and I went back to the hotel for late-night drinks with Peter Facinelli and Elisabeth Reaser. After I had drinks with them, I went out and had 5 a.m. room service and whatever drinks were left with Kellan (Lutz) and Ashley. I've been blessed with an amazing cast.

Q: Were you at Nikki's recent wedding to American Idol alum Paul McDonald?

A: I was. It was a very private affair; very beautiful.

Q: What was it like to see Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) marry in Breaking Dawn?

A: It was amazing. I guess I'm a romantic, and I'm a sucker for weddings. I think they're beautiful. Over the course of filming Twilight, I've actually missed a lot of my cousins' weddings. So for me to finally see the marriage of these two characters, that have become so real, it really felt like your family is getting married. It was one of those moments as an actor where everything else falls away, and you don't even feel like you have to act.

Q: What's your biggest passion: acting or music?

I have to say, entertainment and art is my biggest passion in this life. It's impossible to say whether music or acting has a greater impact on me, because without one or the other, I wouldn't be complete as an artist.

Q: Do you miss the South?

I do. All my family is from Louisiana. Whenever the Rathbone clan came over to the Americas, they settled in Virginia. All my blood's been in the South for hundreds of years, so I definitely consider myself a Southerner - even though I was born in Singapore. I love the people. There's a certain sensibility in the South, where everybody's relaxed and easygoing. … When I was growing up, it was a very small community and everyone kind of knew everything about everyone else. At the end of the day, I think that's really what made that small town work. I really love that sense of community. In my life now, I surround myself with fellow artists, musicians, actors, producers, directors, and those are my closest friends. Those are the people that I live with and those are the people that I hang out with.

Q: Whom do you live with?

A: Some of my bandmates (Rathbone's band is 100 Monkeys) and I live in the same house as well as a producer-engineer, and an actor-director. Basically, we have this arts compound. Ever since I was 18, I always dreamed of having an arts factory, very reminiscent of Andy Warhol, and I honestly feel like I'm 85% there.

Q: There must be plenty of fun things happening in that house.

A: Oh yeah! Every day, somebody's either creating a painting, or writing a script, writing and recording a song. Sometimes, we'll have other bands come in to a record a song with us. Somebody is making a short film. Actually, one of the first things I did when I moved into the house was I built a stage in my living room, complete with a wooden floor and red curtain. It's something that we can always practice on; we can always been onstage. We can always be feeling that excitement of having a stage and being able to perform and entertain.

Twitter questions from readers:

@TwilighterAngel: Do you think there's any personality differences from your character in Twilight and you?

The main difference would be that Jasper's a vampire and I'm a human being. That would be numero uno! But, honestly, other than that, we don't have too many differences. We're both Southerners, we both really respect that southern way of life. I always say Jasper was saved by love. If it wasn't for Alice (Ashley Greene), he would have no purpose; he would just be wandering the earth as a roving vampire. And, as an artist and an entertainer, I honestly believe that we break everything in life down to fear and love. If you can hopefully disregard fear as much as possible, then you can focus on love.

@irinarahale What aspect do you admire about Jasper and if you could have one of his features (immortality, strength, speed) in real life what would it be?

I admire his tenacity to cling to a lifestyle that he's not comfortable with because it's the right thing to do. … It's often easier to give into the darkness than it is to uphold the light. Even though he really does screw up in New Moon and nearly kill Bella, it's still that desire to be good. That desire to do the righteous thing.

The only feature I can really think that I might want is something that, to a certain degree, I feel every artist has, which is the ability to influence people's emotions. With Jasper, it's as easy as a flick of the wrist, or a raise of the eyebrow or just a thought. That's his special ability, but with the artist, it's the same thing. When you're up on stage, or you're creating a film or a song, you really allow the listener, or the viewer, or the participant in the audience to open up themselves to being influenced emotionally.

@EllieMonkey95: Are you excited to play with your band for the first time in England in December this year?

I've played all over the U.S., North America, but I've never played a show in Europe before. I've been over to Europe a lot as a kid; I grew up all over the world . It's always been kind of a dream of mine to be in a travelling band. We have such an amazing fanbase in Europe that we've never been able to play live to. A lot of our fans have actually flown over from Europe to the states and we want to show them the same love.

@PRMonkeyJunkies: What are 100 Monkeys' plans for next year?

On our North American tour, we had a director come and document our tour. We're going to try and put together some sort of new media project with his footage. He'll also be accompanying us to Europe, so we'll be able to add some more footage with that as well. We want to record another album, some singles and then we're really wanting to explore the new media genre. It's kind of where life is right now in terms of the arts.

Source => USA Today / Via => JRathboneFB