'Twilight' star talks about movie's twists
BY MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
Thursday, November 15, 2012
When “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” came to a close last November, it was Michael Sheen’s character who had the last word in the movie.
“They have something I want,” said Aro, the powder-faced, bug-eyed leader of the Volturi (think of them as the vampire world’s disciplinary committee) that Sheen plays, issuing a nasty little cliffhanger that leads to Friday’s release of “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” the fifth and final film in the “Twilight” series.
“It’s time for the big, cataclysmic face-off between the Cullen family and the way they live their lives as vampires and the Volturi as the lawmakers,” Sheen said in a recent telephone interview talking about the inevitable showdown.
“What I think is really exciting for the fans is that even if they’ve read the books, there are some big surprises which I think will leave some people literally screaming in the theater,” he said of the finale. “Breaking Dawn — Part 2” wraps up the teen-sensation stories on film of Bella, who in the last picture married her vampire crush, Edward, and gave birth to their child in a dramatic climax.
Sheen sank his teeth into selling the film’s surprises and praising the way in which director Bill Condon has adapted to some twists not seen in the novels.
“There should be screaming, and there should be crying, and some people may not believe their eyes at what they see happening,” Sheen said with a grin obvious from over the phone. “And this time it won’t be for someone taking their top off.”
The honeymoon that he references from the last film is over, and with “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” so is the series of movies based on Stephenie Meyer’s novels that have energized young female fan bases every year since 2008.
Sheen will miss the friends he’s made making the films; his teen daughter will simply miss the stories.
“Stephenie very cleverly found a way to deal with the problems of young girls growing into young women, and the idea of people who are feeling certain things, like young men struggling with certain appetites,” he said. “There is an element of danger and romance to the stories, which are a metaphor for the maturing process and controlling those urges.
“My 13-year-old has gotten a lot out of these films, and Bella’s journey has been a sort of a helpful and reassuring guide in that process. Millions of young women feel the same way, I think.”
Female fans go gaga for “Twilight’s” young stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart. Sheen draws little attention by comparison.
“Nobody chases me because no one has ever recognized me from the ‘Twilight’ films” and the heavy makeup, he said.
“If I’m clean-shaven, people tend to recognize me as Tony Blair from ‘The Queen,’ or as David Frost from ‘Frost/Nixon.’ If I have a beard, they tend to recognize me for ‘Underworld’ or ‘Midnight in Paris.’ So I have my bearded career and my unbearded career.”
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” marks the end of Sheen’s career with blood-red eyes and what appears to be a wicked vampire mullet.
Associated Images:
Michael Sheen back in 2009. Photo courtesy of Summit Entertainment
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