BEVERLY HILLS – Our day of “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” press conferences has already included Bill Condon, Michael Sheen (no live-blog, because I’m a man, not a machine)
Up next on the dais…
10:53 a.m. Stephenie gets the first question. Who is closest to how she imagined things? “I think Lee Pace, actually, stood out as somebody who was so fan as somebody who stood out and looked the part,” Meyer says. “They did a really good job of matching the descriptions.”
10:55 a.m. How did they respond to seeing the new vampire effects? “I really liked the way Bill handled her shield. I thought that was a subtle effect, but it visually represented what we needed it to represent,” Godfrey says. “I was so impressed with her,” Meyer says of watching Kristen Stewart play Vamp Bella even without the effects.
10:56 a.m. “This was just a way of making visual what some of the other characters might have been seeing. It does feel very surprising,” Meyer says of the new scene. “That was one of my most fond memories,” Rosenberg says of the big new scene that was about making a cinematic ending without violating the ending of the book. They were at a steakhouse, incidentally.
10:58 p.m. “I’m just more creative at night,” Meyer says of her current creative process.
11:00 a.m. “Pretty much everything’s tongue-in-cheek in my head,” Meyer says of the humor. “The characters lent themselves to that,” Rosenberg says. “He’s got some good comedy in him. I love watching him when he does funny,” Meyer says of Taylor Lautner.
11 a.m. “We looked at younger actresses, but you needed this person who could have meaningful conversations with her parents,” Meyer says of the treatment of Renesmee. They did performance capture and deaged Mackenzie and other wacky stuff, but once they found Foy, they knew they were good.
11:03 a.m. “Sometimes ideas feel like they were already there and you’re just discovering them,” Meyer says of the dream that set this franchise going. “It was a really great summer, probably one of the best summers of my life,” she recalls. She remembers writing the story immediately because she was worried she’d forget, because her kids were babies then and she wasn’t sleeping much.
11:04 a.m. Is there any downside to being a vampire in this universe? Meyer says that Edward doesn’t think he deserves happiness and he’s seen examples of new vampire not being happy with it and he wonders if he’s now a villain by definition. “For him, he’s a very cautious person and becoming a vampire is forever,” she says of Edward. Meyer says that’s the drawback for her now, because permanence is scare. “Vampirism for me was a way to live in fantasy,” she says of the metaphor. “Superpowers with a cost,” she says.
11:06 a.m. The last day of shooting was in St. Thomas. They hung out on the island after shooting completed. “There were just a few of us and we all got to hang out,” Meyer says, adding, “All movies should end in St. Thomas.”
11:06 a.m. “I had planned out where it would go for a couple more books, so I know exactly what would happen,” Meyer says of the future for the series. “Maybe someday I’ll write it out just for myself,” Meyer says. She worries, though, that the actors are in her head when she thinks of the character. “I’m not into permanence,” she repeats regarding revisiting the characters again.
11:08 a.m. For people who had never been parents, they were impressive,” Meyer says of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. “She was such a protective, all-consuming mother,” Meyer says of K-Stew’s approach, while she praises Robert for being funny and playful with Mackenzie. “She was very easy to love,” Meyer adds.
11:09 a.m. Would Meyer let other authors play in her universe? “I’m a hands-on mom and these characters really do feel like my kids in some way,” she says. She’s seen other people’s versions of how the characters speak and act and, “It just doesn’t seem right.” But she adds, “In 10 years? Who knows?”
11:10 a.m. Godfrey doesn’t want to talk about future project, but he’s always looking for other opportunities with the cast.
11:10 a.m. Godfrey doesn’t want to talk about future projects, but he’s always looking for other opportunities with the cast.
11:11 a.m. Last question is about the character of Alistair, played by Joe Anderson. “I followed the guide of the book,” Rosenberg says of her approach. “He’s a great counterbalance,” she says of the naysayer character. “He’s certain it will end badly. And as played by Joe Anderson, the character’s delicious,” she says.
That’s all for this one… Back in a few…