gURL Magazine intervjuar Nikki Reed
Sometimes, don't you look at a pretty gURL that has perfectly shiny hair, flawless skin and gorgeous twinkling eyes and just want to hit her? That's kinda how we felt about Nikki Reed -- until we talked to her. Even after about a decade in Hollywood, the gURL is still totally grounded, and just like one of us.
Nikki, who you probably know from Thirteen and Twilight, is now starring in the intense new flick, The Last Day of Summer, which comes out in September. She claims she's not "intimidatingly beautiful," that guys "don't try to pick me up," and that she's not confident and is often "uncomfortable." Uh, sure. While we can't really say we believe her, we can really say that we relate.
We chatted with perhaps the most humble movie star ever about going through a rough patch as a teen, why the popular crowd is sometimes the wrong crowd, and why it's totally OK to party.
So, we hear DJ Qualls (your co-star) hand-picked you to play Stefanie?
DJ and I have been best friends for I don't even know how long now... since I was a kid! He was actually approached with the script before I was and they asked who he thought should play Stefanie and he said me.
What a great friend! The movie is so intense. Did you sign onto it right away?
There was a bit of resistance at first because I sort of carry around this weird false image that I can only play the hot or intimidatingly beautiful girl, which is just really strange because I'm not intimidatingly beautiful. I think just when you play those characters, people start to see you as that. And so I went in and met with them and they were like, "Oh, she's not that beautiful. We can give her this role."
Ok, Nikki. You're just being humble.
(Laughs). I thought that it was just gonna be an easy breezy situation because DJ and I were so close, but it was really interesting to see how heavy it became just due to the nature of the project and how little time we had [to film it].
You've played a lot of dark, angsty characters in the past, especially in Thirteen.
Yeah. It's really important for me to always try to find something interesting about each character in terms of where they came from and what their family life was.
Speaking of family life, yours was pretty crazy when you were a teen, right?
I definitely went through a rough patch, but I wasn't nearly as destructive as the character that I played in Thirteen. I think for me, growing up fast and living on my own, which is certainly not something for everybody, forced me to grow up and be responsible. I didn't have the opportunity to go out and party like a lot of the young girls in Hollywood that all lived at home with Mommy and Daddy.
What do you mean you grew up fast?
I had to pay bills. I had to support myself. My family didn't have a lot of money, so I had to be the adult for them too.
