Jackson talk Eclipse!
Jackson Rathbone, who plays Jasper, sat down with FearNet to discuss The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which opens June 30th. Jackson talks about Jasper's back-story, horse back riding, and working with the different directors. He also mentions a Jasper/Alice kiss! :)
So, Jasper Hale finally gets his moment to shine in Eclipse…
I don't sparkle like a diamond in Eclipse, but Jasper gets to come out a little bit and do what he loves to do, which is to fight. To get in the middle of it all. It's interesting, because filming Twilight and New Moon I was showing the darker side of Jasper; he seems withdrawn, like a pariah almost. In Eclipse you can see why -- his back story is the reason for the way he holds himself, the way he's kind of afraid of his own instincts.
Is it then gratifying to be able to tell Jasper's story more fully?
It is! I get to go back in time and show Jasper when he was a human in the Civil War era, and when he gets turned, what his life is like. It was a pleasure. It was fun. I got to ride a horse again; I haven't been on a horse in like three years so that was pretty exciting.
Did you ride horses for fun, or did you learn for a particular role?
Just for fun. I'm from the South; we tend to ride.
Oh, right. You all have horses, don't you?
Everybody in the South has a horse, didn't you hear? [Laughs]
Speaking of the South, we hear Jasper's drawl really come out more at times during Eclipse.
Yeah, at certain times -- it's one of those things, with Twilight and New Moon there was limited dialogue, and I kind of wanted to keep it to the way I would assume Jasper would carry himself at school, or around a new acquaintance such as Bella, where he wouldn't reveal himself and would keep his accent in check. He's already suspicious looking enough at high school to have a Southern accent in Washington. So the more relaxed and comfortable Jasper is, his accent comes out. That's usually how I find most people's accents come out, when they're a little more comfortable and in a natural environment, and Jasper's natural environment is… warfare.
That's not the only perceivable change in Jasper in Eclipse -- the way he carries himself once the threat of Victoria's newborn army is known, he's like a battlefield general preparing for war.
Yup, that's another thing I was working on with David Slade. One of the things I tried to do in Twilight was to be more of an old school gentleman, the way Jasper carries himself. Very upright and proper, if you will. With the actual warfare on the rise, and having to step back into his old commanding shoes, it was even more upright and more commanding in body presence. It was fun to try to work with that.
What kind of notes did David Slade give you on Jasper in Eclipse that differed from the approaches Chris Weitz and Catherine Hardwicke took?
It was definitely interesting going from director to director. I loved working with Catherine Hardwicke, I loved working with Chris Weitz, and David Slade has added another texture to the franchise. It's great, because it keeps each film fresh with a new vision, so to speak. He definitely had some great insights into all of our characters, coming from an outsider's point of view. One of the things we talked about was the reversion back to Jasper's old self; at the same time, he's accepting Bella at this point in the story. In New Moon he kind of does it at the end of the film; his way of apologizing is saying how he wishes he didn't have the need to kill her. With this third film, he's finally kind of warming up to Bella and stands up to save her along with the rest of the Cullens. What was also interesting were the natural family dynamics that arise because Jasper and Alice are pretty much the only ones not turned directly or indirectly by Carlisle, and I think that's a large part of the family dynamic that separates Jasper from the rest of the group. He feels a little more separate; he feels like he doesn't need a father figure, per say, as does Edward. It was nice to have that chemistry and that play, and to talk with David about all of these ideas.
Going back to David Slade, one of the most stylistically striking and frightening scenes is Bella's nightmare, in which she sees the similarity between Maria and Victoria and then wakes up as Jasper turns and comes directly for her.
It's kind of funny to film something like that. I've found, especially from working on Dread and other horror and action films, that what seems like the most intense moments in the film are the most fun during filming, or something funny happens during filming. It's odd because it's almost a situational oxymoron. Here you are, attacking this girl and it's supposed to be a scary moment in the film, but in actuality you're just growling and lunging at a camera. It's just funny! As soon as David said, 'Cut!' I burst out laughing.
There's another moment Jasper fans will love, and that is when they get to see Jasper and Alice kiss…
It's a really nice moment in Eclipse, where we get to talk about Jasper and Alice's history together. Well, the sad truth of it is, I actually paid Melissa Rosenberg -- I'm not going to say how much, but I paid her quite a large sum of money -- to write in a kiss between Jasper and Alice. I don't want to reveal too much but it's a nice moment. I'll just say I paid off the screenwriter to get that kiss.
{Via FearNet}
