Twilight fans lined up for five days waiting for the premiere of the final film and they’ve stood in line in front of theaters waiting with bated breath for the final installment The Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 to open in theaters. Now that Breaking Dawn Part 2 is upon us, actors Maggie Grace – best known for co-starring with Liam Neeson in his two Taken films and for Lost – and Mia Maestro – best known for her small screen roles in Alias and White Collar – have been on the publicity circuit, talking about playing vampires who may or may not help the Cullen family in their fight against the Volturi.
I had the chance to catch up with these two lovely ladies during the press tour and ask them about the making of one of the most anticipated films of the year.
How did you get the parts of Irina and Carmen?
Maggie Grace: “We auditioned. It was a simple process, really.”
Mia Maestro: “Yeah, we auditioned and then we got the call that we got the parts.”
What’s Carmen and Irina’s relationship to the Cullen family?
Maggie Grace: “The Denali clan are cousins to the Cullens and Irina is, well, some people consider her to be a traitor but I think she’s just really tragically misunderstood. [Laughing devilishly] It’s just a really big misunderstanding.”
Mia Maestro: “Irina really causes a lot of problems in this film.”
Maggie Grace: “Yeah, I cause some trouble in the sisterhood.”
Maggie, you’ve primarily played a sweet, girl-next-door type, even in the Taken films. Did you enjoy playing this devilish character – or misunderstood as you call her?
Maggie Grace: “Yeah, of course. It’s always fun to play the villain.”
Oh so now Irina is a villain! So much for being misunderstood!
Maggie Grace: (Laughing) “The truth comes out!”
Mia, tell me about your character.
Mia Maestro: “My character is Carmen. She is part of the Denali family and we live in Alaska and are the first to realize that Renesmee, Bella and Edward’s daughter, is a strange child but not an immortal child which is something that shouldn’t happen among vampires. It’s not allowed. So we are the first to decide to help the Cullens to protect the child.”
Tell us about making the film and working with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Take us behind the camera and bring us in on the mood and atmosphere on the set.
Mia Maestro: “Oh we had a great time! There were a lot of new actors so it was like being in high school or at a university. There were 35 of us and I think it was fun for the guys who had been doing the saga for a long time to have some new blood and energy on the set.”
Maggie Grace: (Said with a cute smirk) “Yeah, to have some new BLOOD on the set.”
What was the make-up process like in order to become a vampire in the Twilight franchise?
Maggie Grace: “Well, it’s pretty striking to see. I wish I had seen it sooner. I didn’t really see it on camera until the end of filming. It is a striking difference. It’s kind of like acting with a mask. Everything is different through that lens. It exaggerates your features which are so starkly contrasted. The make-up without the lighting is very white, chalky almost.”
Mia Maestro: “Yeah, plus we all had to wear these beautiful, hand-painted contact lenses. You know the vegetarian vampires have the yellow contact lenses like the Cullens and us, and then the other vampires have the red contact lenses. Just by putting them on your eyes how different the emotion that you project to the camera is. It’s really amazing how these little pieces of nothingness can hide your soul from the camera. The moment I put in the contact lenses, that’s when everything came together for me as far as portraying my character.”
Maggie Grace: “Yeah, it’s very alienating.”
How was it working with the special effects and doing the scenes that would be using CGI for the effects later in the film?
Mia Maestro: “It’s always a little disconcerting working with a green screen, but then it just comes off so well. My favorite scene – the confrontation at the end – is really quite outstanding with the lighting, and our director, Bill Condon, what he did is really something the way they recreated the forest. It’s so beautiful.”
Maggie Grace: “I liked the stand-ins for the wolves while we were shooting. They were called the furry balls. Little balls of fur just so the camera could get a sense of what the fur would look like.”
Mia Maestro: “Some were kind of huge.”
Maggie Grace: “Balls covered with fur. (Big smirk) Huge furry balls!”
So I can quote you, right? “Maggie Grace enjoyed working with the large furry balls”.
Maggie Grace: (Laughing) “Yeah sure, my favorite co-star. No, but it was pretty funny.”
Mia Maestro: “Remember, we had cutouts for the werewolves.”
Maggie Grace: “Oh yeah, that was great. They looked more like cows, though. I’m sure there is plenty for the gag reel with actors just cracking up acting opposite a cut-out cow and furry balls.”
