Home Media Magazine Interview
A dozen children gathered around a TV at Children’s Hospital Los
Angeles March 1, watching a Blu-ray Disc of The Twilight Saga: Breaking
Dawn — Part 2, a day before it’s released to the public.
Keaira Lomas-Lee, 13, was answering trivia questions about the
“Twilight” franchise before the movie began, smiling wide after getting
one of the questions right. Her smile got a lot bigger when “Twilight”
star Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen) walked through the door.
“What are you guys watching?” he joked, as Elizabeth Reaser (Esme
Cullen), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale) and Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale)
followed him through the door.
“Can we just sit down and watch all the extras together? I haven’t seen them yet,” Facinelli said.
“Have you guys seen all the movies?” Reaser asked. Most had.
The stars spent a solid half hour signing DVDs, T-shirts and tote
bags, before taking pictures with the kids. Facinelli walked the kids
through some of the copious bonuses Summit and Lionsgate included on the
DVD and Blu-ray. The four then visited sick children in their rooms.
“I was surprised when they came [in],” Lomas-Lee said, as she looked
through the autographed goods she was given. Asked what she planned to
do with her signed DVD, she replied: “I’m going to keep mine!”
It’s always nice to see stars give back. And before “The Twilight
Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2” is released on DVD at midnight on March 2,
stars from the film surprised kids at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on
Friday.
Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, and Jackson Rathbone
all popped in to surprise kids who just thought they were getting a
special screening of the film. The “Twilight” stars passed out signed
DVDs, posed for pictures, and spent time talking with many families
inside the hospital.
“When we were filming [Breaking Dawn] we went and gave our time at
the Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge and it feels good to be able to
give back,” Facinelli told omg! during his visit. “I know a lot of these
kids are going through a hard time and anything you can do to put a
smile on their face or make their day better, gives them positive energy
and keep fighting the good fight to get better.”
Facinelli lit up the room by telling a few jokes to the patients and
explained what went into filming some of the difficult scenes like the
big showdown at the end. (Did you know they had to film with cardboard
werewolfs?)
“If we can come down here and give them a DVD and make them feel
special, we want to do that,” Reed told omg!, adding that it was a
no-brainer to stop by.
Rathbone agreed: “We want them to just be in the moment and have them try to forget about anything that’s bad.”
One 19-year-old patient, Elain, seemed to make a lasting impression on the cast.
“Elain was so smart — and not just because I was her favorite
character,” laughed Reaser. “No, she was a real fan of Esme and she said
I was the best mom, which I just felt to be really touching,
flattering, and the sweetest thing someone can say. All of the kids were
hilarious!”
“I think initially the kids were a little afraid to talk to me
because Rosalie is so mean!” joked Reed after chatting with the group of
teenagers. “After 10 minutes in there one of the girls, Elain, was
like, ‘Hey you seem really nice! So Rosalie likes Bella, right?’”
“It’s so sweet, I love when people say that,” she continued. “I love
that moment of recognition where they realize I’m not the character.”
“I just realized it last week!” Rathbone chimed in.
“That’s because I stopped wearing my blonde wig to your house when I come over!” quipped Reed.
For two stars, the visit to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles struck close to home.
“My middle daughter was here for four weeks, she had a fever of
unknown origin, and the care they gave her, the doctors — you could tell
it’s a really good hospital,” Facinelli shared with omg!. “But they
need funds and they need participation and they need people to commit
not just with money, but with time.”
Rathbone — who welcomed his first son this past summer — echoed similar sentiments.
“Being here definitely hits home in a way that is greater than it
used to be,” he said. “It always hits you on a primal level, but now I
feel a little more for the parents than perhaps I understood before.”
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