New Rob & Kristen interview with M Magazine (Austria)

Kristen Stewart: Bella is the heroine

M: The fairytale finally becomes reality. There will be a dream-wedding between Edward and Bella. How do you like this romantic climax?

Kristen: It’s fantastic! The first few movies held so much suspense and drama. The big question was: Will Edward and Bella get together or won’t they? If they do, will that relationship have a chance at succeeding? In Breaking Dawn we get the solution for that dilemma. Bella and Edward demonstrate openly that they do belong together, by marrying. Breaking Dawn starts untypically happy and many think this book is the shallowest part of the series. At least at the beginning.

M: With the wedding, Edward’s and Bella’s happy end would be complete. But everything turns out completely differently than one would think.

Kristen: Yes. Of course it’d be great to end the whole thing with the wedding just that that would be really cheesy. Most importantly because getting married isn’t really the last sep in a relationship. For Edward and Bella a lot of new problems arise. For the first time they have to solve those problems as a married couple and not, like they used to, as a couple or all by themselves. As shallow as Breaking Dawn starts, as dramatically it resumes. That arc of suspence is amazing. We experience a rollercoaster of emotions, from the greatest happiness, to the bitter end. I think the instensity of those emotions is so real in Breaking Dawn. That’s probably why it’s by far my favorite of the Saga.

M: How did you feel in the wedding dress?

Kristen: My weddingdress is a classic dream. Although weddings are nothing I spend much thought on I have to say I was surprised. The wedding dress is breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time graceful. It just underlines the whole nostalgic aspect of this ceremony. You feel the seriousness. At least that’s how I felt.

Be sure to check out the rest of Kristen's interview and also Rob's part after the CUT!

M: Did you have a say in the design?

Kristen: The wedding dress was chosen by a committee. There were a few minor changes, that I insisted upon, but I don’t wanna share what they were.

M: Bella says in Breaking Dawn that, “Marriage is just a piece of paper.” What are your thoughts on that?

Kristen: I’m not really keen on marrying, what doesn’t mean that I disapprove of marriage. It’s just, at the moment, not of importance to me. Wedding and marriage, that is of different importance of everyone. I think that ones point of view on that subject has a lot to do with how one grew up. Marriage can convey something beautiful, but I don’t think that a piece of paper can’t create a bond between two people. I believe that love doesn’t need a formal act, no official confirmation that you love and are loved. What I, myself, can totally imagine is being with someone till the end.

M: Bella and Edward experience their first, great love. How much do you think does one’s first love shape someone?

Kristen: I’d like that answer questioned by Stephenie Meyer. I’d like to know if she described that first love unconsciously that way or if she used it consciously. It’s probably impossible to answer that, especially ever since Twilight became that popular and everyone has something to say about it. To answer the question anyway: I think the whole significance lies in the fact that everyone is convinced that their first love was the greatest in the world. Even more, that something like that hasn’t happened before. But in fact, you just haven’t ever felt anything comparable. Additionally, like it was with Edward and Bella, that first love often starts secretly. The bond exists between the two lovers only. Only the two of them know of that secret. That is the “special something” that, in further consequence, only strengthens the feelings.

M: Twilight is popculture. How do you think about the personal influence Twilight has on people?

Kristen: I think Twilight will be one of those movies that people won’t forget all their life. I hope that Twilight will be more than a vampire movie in the end, but the movie of a strong, female heroine. We get to know Bella as a pragmatic student. A girl, that, in the beginning, doesn’t make the impression that she’ll take central part in this lovestory. Not until the last part, when Bella talks about her experiences, do we get to know a woman that throws caution to the wind.

M: Not Edward or Jacob are the heros, but Bella. What, for you, makes someone a hero?

Kristen: A hero, in my opinion, is someone that is driven by some kind of idea of a better world. But not because of some narcistic self-interest, but because for him or her the ultimate good is the goal. A hero achieves, what an ordinary mortal can’t.

M: Do you know someone that fits that description?

Kristen: Taylor Lautern. I don’t know anyone that is that rational and still so passionate. Would Taylor get into a situation like that: He’d be the cliché version of a hero.

M: Between Edward and Jacob and the Cullens and the Volturi there’s a huge conflict because of Bella. We intially talked about marriage and that it’s not always blissful.

Kristen: Exactly. The conflict arises because of the pregnancy. Edward wants an abortion, Bella wants to keep the baby. Bella said from the start on that she’s ready to give her life in order to save that of her child and she’s even ready for suicide. That total devotion is really cool. During that time we also see Edward’s and Bella’s darker side. While she becomes emotionally vulnerable, he gets angrier.

M: How hard was it for you to relate to all those milestones in Bella’s life?

Kristen: I did my best. I studied every aspect and interpreted every point of view. As an actor I was, on the one hand, looking forward to it, on the other hand it really is very intimidating to have to portray the intensity of those feelings. What I learned was to try and play the part realistically and faithful to reality. A lot I had to ignore, especially the fact that millions of people will see Breaking Dawn in theatres.

M: Do you feel more pressure because of the success of the series?

Kristen: Yes. During the last four years the expectations rose. The pressure increased with every movie that came out. That’s a lot of pressure piles up… [laughs]

M: And how do you feel, now that Twilight is finished?

Kristen: Good. First of all because four years is a long time and it’s kind of cool to see the end of it all. Secondly, I think that each and every Twilight movie is good on its own and that the whole series is a masterpiece.

M: Is there something you’ll miss?

Kristen: Lots. Something like Twilight, that’s every actor’s dream. That happens rarely. What I’m not gonna miss is my colleagues. I shouldn’t talk that much but it’s the truth. We spent so much time together, especially while shooting this and the next movie, that I don’t have a bad conscience when I say that I won’t miss them and it’s good as it is.

M: What question have you refering to the end, been asked the most?

Kristen: Two questions: How do I feel now that it’s over and the second one is in regards to the love scene [it says “my favourite scene” in the german version but I’m just gonna say that that’s an error in translation]. That’s what the journalists as well as the fans want to know the most.

M: And the questions about the vampire baby?

Kristen: Oh, those as well of course. Personally, I don’t think that this pregnany is as crazy as it is often portrayed. It fits perfectly into the plot.

M: One thing about your next movie we know well: the forrest. Because you’ll be playing Snow White und as we know, Snow white lives behind the seven mountains.

Kristen: If you look at it like that, that’s true. Well, maybe there aren’t that many differences between Bella and Snow White. Both are women, that aren’t afraid of anything. At least they choose what they’re afraid of. None of those two makes that decision consciously, it’s more unconsciously and instinctive. Maybe it’s because they tell themselves, “it’s not that bad.” What’s also true is that both Bella and Snow White are the type of women that can channel their fear onto something positive. They are true heroines.

Robert Pattinson: Sex for the first time

M: After hearing from Kristen how she felt about the end of the Saga, the unavoidable question also for you: How did you feel on the last day of shooting?

Robert: To be honest, that day was miserable. We’d been shooting for two weeks, in Canada, in the cold. Then again, the last day in St. Thomas in the Carribean was an absolute dream. That was the only time we were shooting in bright sunset. That was really our really last day of shooting. We shot on the beach and went into the ocean – yeah, that was amazing… [lacht]

M: And how was the mood?

Robert: In Canada we were 120 actors on set, on the last day of shooting. In the Carribean it was just Kristen and I. We finally did all the stuff we couldn’t do during shooting. Sitting by the sea while the sun sets – it was just beautiful, to end it like that.

M: Kristen claims that she isn’t sad that Twilight is over. Do you share her opinion?

Robert: I don’t know. Because we’re constantly promoting the movie and talking about Twilight, everything is still really present for me. Please ask me after the second part has been released, because that’s when Twilight really is over.

M: How do you deal with the hype?

Robert: A little hype doesn’t harm anyone, especially nowadays. I’m more interested in how long the hype will last, to be honest. How will people perceive me a few years from now?

M: How do you see your influence as an element of popculture?

Robert: There certainly is an influence. The amount of vampire movies that came into being after Twilight… that’s how you see that it’s a real phenomenon. None of us ever saw the magnitude Twilight would have coming. The influence on the popculture, the last thing that had such an influence was Harry Potter. The special thing is that, especially in the last books of Twilight, we see the wedding, the honeymoon, the pregnancy and birth in the perspective of a woman.

M: How did you deal with the shooting of the birthing scene?

Robert: That scene was extremely difficult. The movie is PG-13 and the restrictions for that are very strict. No blood can be shown. The birth in the book is described very explicitly

though. The shooting was bizarre, I can’t think of a better description for it. We used ice, cottage cheese and jello – it was disgusting. The baby was just a few weeks old and had to fight its way through that thing, that represented the placenta. It was gross and I just thought, what a horrible introduction into the world of acting. I don’t think the baby will ever want to be an actor.

M: We also see how differently men and women deal with these kinds of problems and situations.

Robert: Absolutely. We have sex for the first time, and the consequence is a pregnancy, which Edward wasn’t expecting at all. Additionally to that, Edward does look like a young man but  he’s probably 105 years old. He hates himself for not thinking for even one single moment that Bella could get pregnant when he sleeps with her. Edward thinks that he poisoned the person he loves more than anything on this world with his thoughtlessness. That fear and that hate directed towards himself are understandable.

M: How did Twilight’s success change you?

Robert: I became an actor coincidentally. I kinda stumbled into it. That’s why, at first, it was more of a experimenting and learning experience. I didn’t have a clue where I’d find myself at the end of the movie. You don’t learn your job overnight and you don’t wake up, being a pro.

M: Were you scared that you’d be remembered as Edward only?

Robert: Yes, of course. But I came to terms with it when I said, I did well as Edward but that’s over now. All I can do is continue to experiment with roles and that’s cool.

Scans and Translation: RKBubbles from Robsteners