No, “The Host” is not the next “Twilight,” thank you very much. Just ask leading man Max Irons.
“I saw an article in a magazine…’which of these 12 films can be the next ‘Twilight’?'” said Irons, speaking with me alongside co-star Jake Abel at the recent press junket for the forthcoming Stephenie Meyer adaptation. “And it listed 12 films. And the common denominator between them was that they had a young cast, that was it. I think people are more fascinated by the phenomenon that was ‘Twilight,’ but I think the phenomenon of ‘Twilight’ was unique to the books. You know, Robert Pattinson was being chased down the street by gangs of French girls before he even started filming. That hasn’t happened to us.”
Another factor setting the films apart is genre. While the “Twilight” series falls squarely in the fantasy realm (with some light horror elements), “The Host” is a sci-fi movie centering on Melanie (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman whose body is taken over by a parasitic alien named “Wanda.” Nevertheless, Melanie’s consciousness continues to persist, leading to a literal battle of the minds that’s further complicated by the presence of two hunky love interests: Jared (Irons) and Ian (Abel), the latter of whom falls in love with “Wanda” even though she’s an alien living inside the body of Jared’s girlfriend. Got all that?
To watch the rest of the interview, click on the video above.
“The Host” hits theaters this Friday.