Q&A with Gil Brimingham & Tinsel Korey

From Blog.SeattlePI.com:
I sat with Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 stars Gil Brimingham and Tinsel Korey to talk about their experience making the films, music in film, and fandom.

Did you know about the Twilight stories before you were cast in the film?

Gil Brimingham: I wasn’t’ familiar with Twilight before being cast for it. I was told that there was a big fan base for the books. It wasn’t until I got cast and they made the announcement that my webmaster called saying, “What’s going on? Your website crashed. You had over 11,000 hits in two hours”. I said these people are really loyal. This could be something.

Tinsel Korey: I had no idea. I didn’t know anything about the franchise. My little sister wanted to know if I wanted to watch Twilight. I said what’s Twilight? {little kid voice} It’s like Harry Potter in love. When the audition came out I really wanted to get the role for her because she was a fan.

How has your life been different since the Twilight movies? Has it been crazy?

TK: I normally don’t get recognized because [Emily] has a big scar on the side of her face. The main thing is the travel. The crazy parts are the premiers or when people camp out. Those fan experiences is when it gets a little intense.

GB: Or when your friends become celebrities because they’re friends with us. I think that’s funny. Parents become very popular with their teenagers. For the most part we are pleasantly surprised when people ask for a picture, autograph, or say I love your work.

Was there a point where you realized fans were going to react that way?

GB: For me, there’s the cliché trappings of Hollywood. You don’t want your ego to get so invested in the fame part. Joe Pesci said, “You’re nobody until a lot of people tell you you’re somebody, but don’t believe them.” You just have to take it with a grain of salt. You have to know the reasons you are doing what you do is your creative expression, your art, and you’re just pleased people like it.

What was your experience on set for Breaking Dawn Part 1?

GB: It was like old family getting together. This is the fourth movie for me. Of course security is much more heightened. The expectation is probably about the same. I think it’s familiar ground and being able to share this with the only other people that understand what it really feels like.

TK: I don’t even think we [points to Gil] even had a scene together. My scene was on the beach. Originally Gil was supposed to be in that scene but they were like “How does he get his wheelchair down in the sand?” so that wasn’t going to work [laughs]. The traveling with everybody, and that last road trip- it was beautiful sendoff for my last film in the franchise.

Do you have a favorite scene in Breaking Dawn?

TK: It’s when they’re doing the toast at the wedding. I wasn’t expecting there to be humor in Breaking Dawn, but there’s a lot of it and you get to see that in the toast. Especially when Charlie is addressing Bella. That whole part of the movie was hilarious.

GB: Doing take after take at the beginning of the movie when Jacob takes his shirt off in the rain. He’s got the wedding invitation and is finding out that Bella’s going to go through with it. That was fun.

TK: But it made it on the trailer. Now you’re famous

GB: The wedding was pretty special. It was a little bit of the last hoorah. Having all the actors there in one of the biggest most anticipated scenes for a lot of the fans. It was good spending a week doing that and seeing how it turned out.

How many takes did you do?

GB: In the rain, 4 or 5. The funny thing was they had a rain tower so we produced our own rain. Every time I rolled out, I had to go back in and dry my hair so it didn’t look like I was coming out of my house wet. The minute we finished the scene the skies opened up and the real rain came. I just had to laugh.

The Twilight movies really touch its fan base. Why do you think that is?

GB: It’s all about the memories you have of love. Even for the older fans, it’s so easy for them to go back and remember their first love and the emotional turmoil they were going through. The movies heighten themselves just as the story is building up. When it came to Breaking Dawn, it was the culmination of this love affair.

TK: It was that turning point, especially for the Team Edwards, who have been waiting for that moment for Bella to choose Edward. For girls, who doesn’t love a wedding scene. Also for new life with Renesmee. I also thought there was a lot of action. For people who like vampires, in Breaking Dawn it gets a lot more gruesome and I think vampire fans enjoy that.

So both of you have a music background.

GB: Yes! We collaborated as of this morning [laughs]

TK: I was going to play a song that I released on iTunes, and I tuned my guitar funny. We started playing these riffs and somebody said, wouldn’t it be funny if you did a Breaking Dawn song. We just went with it. I have an improv background and we created this whole Breaking Dawn Buy it On DVD song.

There’s always a connection between music and film. Its always interested me.

TK: Look at New Moon. That scene when Bella’s depressed. In the book it’s just really dry and I was thinking how are they going to play that out. In the movie, just that song “Possibilities” going around just heightened the mood of that scene so much. The scene wouldn’t have been the same without that song being a part of that emotion.

Not only has the Twilight series been a different look at vampires, it’s been a different take on werewolves too. Especially the cultural aspect they put into the film.

GB: That was my favorite part. They tied it into them being heroes. It wasn’t a gratuitous thing to be this transforming monster. They didn’t make them as monsters, they made them protectors of the land. It was a great way to honor the culture in a supernatural kind of way.

TK: They’re kind of not really werewolves. I always struggle with that term for the wolfpack. They’re shape-shifters who turn into actual wolves. That’s a completely different take on that genre.

The Twilight movies aren’t your traditional movies. It’s a mix of vampires, werevoles, and a love story. Somehow it all works well together. People love it.

TK: The fans really feel a part of it. They’ve helped make this franchise what it is. Without the fans, this movie wouldn’t the phenomenon that it is so they’re invested. You see Justin Bieber fans really invested in him because they’ve been with him from the beginning all the way to the top. That’s what our fans have done for the films. They feel connected and a part of it as well.

I see that fandom when I go to comic-con,

GB: You feel part ownership

TK: Even the Twilight conventions that we do. We’re just the bonus. They’re happy to make friends with someone else who connects with something. The amount of people that have come together and built friendships because of these movies is incredible.

Have you met any crazy fans?

TK: Not crazy. I battle with this term. I think they’re just passionate. They just love the films.

GB: In a time where it’s hard for people to just have hope. It’s worth investing so much of yourself into it. This thing is safe for them and it seems real. It’s the emotional element. The dynamics between the love story is real. These emotions are experienced by almost everybody.

Would you do another Twilight film?

GB: Definitely. I think it lends itself to so many other side stories. There addressed in the book, but there are so many different directions it could go. Everybody is really focused on the love triangle.

What would be interesting is your characters back story,

GB: He has a back story alright. He’s the lineage. The history of where he came from and why is it that he never transformed. The truce that was made with his ancestry and how this peaceful existence was even possible until Bella came into town. The humans messed it up [laughs].

TK: I would love to see the story before Emily has the scar. Meeting Sam, Sam still being in a relationship with Leah, them imprinting, and what that felt like. I thought that was such a great story but we didn’t have a chance to tell it.