Ashley Greene didn’t even have a script to work off of to prepare for her audition for the role of Alice in Twilight. And Greene wasn’t familiar with Stephenie Meyer’s book before hearing about the role. However, she quickly picked up a copy of Twilight in order to get up to speed on all things Alice. “There was no script and there wasn’t really a breakdown,” explained Greene at the film’s LA press junket.
“There was like, ‘Oh, vampire, blah, blah, blah.’ I was like, ‘That doesn’t tell me anything,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s a book.’ And so of course I ran out and got it, but I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, you know? It’s like, ‘What is this?’ And then the first 10 pages you’re like, ‘Oh…’ By the time you know it, you’ve been reading for 10 hours and you’re done with the book.”
It’s not just a vampire story. It is a love story and it’s about a close-knit family. Is that what appealed to you?
Ashley Greene: “Yes, it has that. Of course you’re just in love with Edward and there’s that fantasy with that perfect guy that doesn’t exist except in books and on film. And yes, it was such an interesting story. It’s these loving vampires who supposed to be these awful creatures usually in most movies that you see with the fangs. We got to be these kind of like beautiful beings and there were no fangs and it was kind of real – it brought more of a real life element to it, I think, and it was much easier. And that’s what Peter [Facinelli] was saying is that it was nice because we got to explore the humanity part of the vampires, which I don’t think people had really done before.”
Twilight fans love Alice and she’s even the favorite character of some Twilighters. So, are you feeling any extra weight on your shoulders?
Ashley Greene: “Now the weight is off, I think, because my reps and Stephenie [Meyer] and everyone has seen the film and they’re happy with it. So at this point I’m just kind of riding the excitement wave of having it come out and all of my friends seeing it and the whole world and all the Twilight fans. But originally, it’s a little of both things. It was nice because I was lucky enough that everyone, character-wise Alice is so likeable so they already loved her as a character.
And I got a pretty good response as far as playing the character and a lot of people weren’t so lucky. And after the transformations, I think, they got a better response, but before it was kind of tough when it was like, ‘These people hate me.’ So, you know, on that end it was positive. On the other end, expectations… You know, people love Alice and so I waned to make sure people still loved Alice after I portrayed her.”
Playing a character who can see the future, you don’t have to do anything physically to show that so how do you get into that aspect of the character?
Ashley Greene: Mine was actually intricately creating the scene in my mind. You don’t fake something like that. You really need to really be going through it and emotionally and mentally seeing it. And that’s what I did. Earlier somebody asked me how I portrayed it and I said, ‘I really don’t know what they’re going to choose.’ Because there’s a couple of takes where we would add some kind of things in there and then a couple where it was just kind of this blank stare. I’ve yet to see it but I’m hoping that through my eyes I kind of portray it.”
Why haven’t you seen the film yet?
Ashley Greene: “I’ve been working and I can’t really complain about working but I’m like, ‘Oh I want to see it!’ Everyone’s talking about it and but I won’t see it until the premiere. But it’s cool though because I’m bringing my mom, my dad and my brother, and so I’ll be able to kind of go through that with them, so that’ll be fun.”
Did they read the books too so they know what you’re doing?
Ashley Greene: “I think my brother’s starting the first one. He bought a Twilight T-shirt though which was adorable. He’s older than me, but my brother’s one of my very good friends and we’re a year and a half apart. We have a lot to talk about now. Before I think when I was a teenager it was really, ‘Whatever.’ But yeah, I talk to my brother. He’s actually interested in acting a little bit and so it’s really cool to see his little sister go through what I’m going through.”
What are you going through? How have you been with crowds of Twilight fans? How’s that affected you personally?
Ashley Greene: “You know, I’m on cloud nine.”
It’s not too overwhelming?
Ashley Greene: “I came home from working because I’d been in Louisiana and I’d just come home, and I haven’t seen billboards and stuff and I’m like seeing all this stuff. I’m just like, ‘This is real,’ you know? Like this is really happening and this is what you want, this is what you strived for. And I have these fans who just love me and it’s a great feeling. It’s amazing. And so, no, I’m embracing it. I’m happy with it.”
“It was nerve-racking whenever I wanted to make sure that they liked me and I didn’t disappoint them, but I’m fairly confident that they’re going to like the film. Stephenie, I talked to today, really liked it so that kind of helped. She went with her friends and she said they responded well to me. So that kind of took a little off. So now I’m just kind of riding this wave of euphoria. You know, we had this little MTV Spoiler thing last night and a lot of fans were there and to actually get to interact and meet and talk to these people who just are so passionate about it, it’s really cool.”
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