How will civilization sustain itself without a Twilight movie
to look forward to every fall? I for one will miss my annual trip to
the theater each November to watch a Morrissey-looking vampire and
shirtless werewolf fight for the love of an unhappy lesbian. One person
with an even more personal take on the conclusion of the series is X-Men
enthusiast, Civil War buff, and Twilight actor Jackson
Rathbone (he plays Jasper Hale, neither the Morrissey-looking vampire
nor the shirtless werewolf ), whom I spoke to during a recent press
junket. Looking less pale and significantly less blond than he does in
the films (Rathbone had to dye his naturally dark hair blond to match
the character description in the books) the charming Texan talked about
his illustrious ancestry, his action figures and what might be next now
that Breaking Dawn has broken.
It’s been quite a ride since the beginning of the series. Is it hard to say goodbye?
It’s definitely an interesting feeling putting away the boots of a
character you’ve been wearing for so long. I definitely had a wonderful,
kind of intense moment on the last day of filming. We’d filmed for
twelve, thirteen hours. It was cold and raining. It was 3:00am and I was
in my trailer taking off my makeup, and I thought, “Wow, this is the
last time I’m going to do this.” It was nice yet at the same time I’m
like, “Oh, I’m a little bit nostalgic.”
How long did it take to get you into makeup?
It was about forty-five minutes every time. ALthough in Eclipse when they reveal Jasper’s scars, I was in the makeup trailer for almost four hours.
Is there a certain level of relief to have the whiteface period of your career seemingly behind you?
[laughs] So excited for that to be done! They paint your
face white, they paint your hands white, if you touch anything the
makeup is all over the place… it’s done.
Now that you’ve done five makeup-heavy movies, will a character’s makeup needs influence your choice in roles?
I do not envy Rebecca Romijn for her role in X-Men when she
did the Mystique body paint, or Jennifer Lawrence [in the prequel] for
that matter. That seems like hell. But to play a certain role, and it’s
been done wonderful already but… [pauses, smiles] Nightcrawler was always a dream of mine to play, and that’s a lot of makeup right there.
So we all know about “Twihards.” Is your fanboy side X-Men?
Probably. Wait, yes, it is.
So we should put it out there to whoever is casting the
reboot that you’re officially expressing interest in the part of
Nightcrawler?
If they need a Nightcrawler, I think I’d rock that pretty well.
How’s your German accent?
It’s good! Don’t put me on the spot right now.
Nein.
It’s interesting, man. The last couple films, ever since Eclipse, they
kind of wanted me to let go with my Texas accent, have that come out a
little more. I’m from Texas so that’s pretty easy for me, but I’ve been
covering it up for so long that I was always like, “Oh shit.” I mean, I
didn’t want to push it and have it sound so fake like [broad Texan accent] “Well, howdy boys.” So I’d just call my family, talk to my mom a little bit and fall right back in the speech pattern.
Speaking of your family… Your character is a Civil War
soldier and it’s well known that you have some illustrious Civil War
ancestors. Did you research your family’s Civil War past as part of your
character history?
I did actually, you did your homework. I’m related to General Stonewall Jackson.
Of course.
He had a very sad story. He was a very eccentric general. He was like
the Patton of his time, and he was shot by friendly fire because he
would take off and do his own scouting expeditions. He really wanted to
understand the lay of the land and figure it out before he sent his
troops into battle. Then, riding back one night without having told
anyone that he was gone, someone saw him riding back alone and shot him.
Also, there was a General Rathbone who was actually sitting with
Abraham Lincoln in the box when John Wilkes Booth came and shot him.
Oh my god.
Right?
My homework did not uncover that exciting fact.
It’s a little farther off [in the family tree], it’s hard to find.
Apparently, when John Wilkes Booth shot [Lincoln] and tried to run out,
he turned around and General Rathbone was there to stop him. He stabs my
distant relative in the leg, but couldn’t get out so he had to jump
over the balcony. That’s how he broke his leg and you know, eventually,
you know…
So your ancestor, by blocking the box exit, sort of aided the
capture of Booth by making him jump the balcony where he broke his leg.
Exactly. If he could have just run out [of the theater] he could have
gotten away! I did a lot of research on the Civil War. Ever since then
I’ve been dreaming up a Civil War movie of my own because I love the
genre, the timeframe, the sensibilities. There’s a lot of history there
we don’t really know.
What about a Civil War/X-Men crossover? A.K.A. the most amazing post-Twilight project ever?
There you go!
What’s your relationship like with your Jasper Barbie Doll? Or do you prefer for me to refer to it as an “action figure?”
Oh yeah, I don’t care, call it whatever you want. It’s a plastic imitation this big.
Do you think it’s a good likeness?
Eh, I don’t think so…
Do you think the different hair color makes it more Jasper and less Jackson?
I’m actually really colorblind so it’s hard for me to say. I’ve
always been a character actor, so I try not to look like myself in real
life in any of my characters. It’s interesting to have a doll or action
figure made of you. I have it from The Last Airbender too, and now Twilight. I have two action figures; that’s kind of weird.
And if our campaign for you to play Nightcrawler comes to fruition then you’ll have three.
That would be rocking. I could show that one to my son and be like, “Look at Dad!”
Have you already imparted the joys of X-Men to your son?
I mean, yeah, of course. To be honest, The Avengers was probably my favorite movie this year. I mean, aside from…
Right, favorite “superhero” as opposed to “supernatural” movie
Yeah, I love supernatural films, I’ve always loved vampire movies. I remember when I was first signing up to do Twilight, I
was a little nervous about doing the movie because I was like, “I love
vampire movies but these vampires don’t have teeth? I mean, they’re not
killing people. Are people going to like that?” It turned out they do.
Who were your favorite vampires, pre-Twilight?
Pre-Twilight… There’s Dracula 2000 where Dracula
turns out to be Judas from the time of Christ, with Gerard Butler. You
can actually see Gerard Butler’s audition for that role on YouTube.
It’s amazing. It’s fantastic, so physical. I don’t know what he’s doing
but he’s so in it.
Your physicality is so distinct from the other vampires in Twilight. How did you develop the physical persona? Did you have any models or creatures in nature you studied?
In terms of Jasper’s physicality I studied the Alexander Technique
when I was growing up, which teaches you it’s very important to breathe
and keep that flow. A lot of actors hold their breath in weird ways and
your emotions can’t get out, your body can’t work, you can’t focus. So I
tried to put a lot of Jasper’s energy up here in the chest, to lead,
move, and talk from. Very upright. I looked at a lot of Civil War
photographs because there’s no video from back then, and you see all
these generals, lieutenants, and people in the Civil War era standing
very proper, hands behind their backs. It’s the human characteristic
Jasper has held onto and I think a lot of the characters, their humanity
is exaggerated in certain ways when they become a vampire. So I wanted
him to be a little more stiff, very… not regal, but kind of upright and
formal to separate him from the rest of the Cullens. He’s the newest to
that group, having the conflict and really just wanting to… feast. I
tried to make him very feral.
If I had my way from the get-go I would have had Jasper with a beard
just around the edges, very Civil War. I dyed it blond for the screen
tests but Catherine Hardwicke was like, “No, you’re in high school, you
have to be clean-shaven.” I remember when I was in high school I grew a
goatee as soon as I could, which is by the time I was a junior. It’s fun
to grow facial hair and kind of play with it at that age. I studied a
lot of feral children reports about how these kids were sometimes
thought to be raised by dogs or how they communicate. As a child your
brain is a sponge for many years, but after five or six years if you’re
not taught certain things, it’s hard to keep learning if you’re not
already learning. I wanted to have a lot of feral elements to his
movements like a lion about to strike. I wanted Jasper to be a lion.
It looks like we’re out of time, but I’d be remiss if I
didn’t ask you if you have a favorite piece of Twilight merchandise,
doll/action figure aside.
Favorite piece, I don’t know. Can I say my least favorite?
Oh yeah, that’s better.
When I was out filming a different movie, a buddy of mine replaced my
pillow with a Jasper pillow case. So I came home one night really
tired, had a few drinks. and went to bed. Then I woke up the next day,
looked down, and was like “Jasper! What the hell?” Waking up to your own
face on a pillow as Jasper. That was very weird.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part Two opens nationwide on Friday, November 16.
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