Attack of the
New Moon Volturi Twins!
by Lynn Barker
 She can glance your way and cause you excruciating pain! He can numb your senses until you feel nothing. Nice combo! The Twilight saga's witchy, centuries-old vamp twins Jane (Dakota Fanning) and Alec (Cameron Bright) pop up in New Moon as they confront Bella, Edward and Alice in the Italian Volturi stronghold.
With a lot of experience when they were child actors, 15-year-old Dakota (Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte’s Web, Hounddog and The Secret Life of Bees) and cute 16-year-old Cameron (Godsend, Birth, Running Scared, Ultraviolet, X-Men: The Last Stand) play the dreaded Volturi guards complete with fun and flashy hooded capes and glowing blood-red eyes!
We cornered the duo (yikes, are we crazy?) in Beverly Hills to learn what was cool about joining the Twilight saga and what awesome powers they would love to have in real life. Are the two teens obsessed with anything in their lives as much as some Twilight fans are hooked on the books and films? Picture Dakota looking hot and "bad girl" in a black leather jacket, skinny jeans and a pair at least 4-inch heels! She also flashed a really large, impressive pewter-looking snake ring that... well snaked around her finger and down her hand. Cameron? Just jeans, casual shirt and... pretty darn cute. Let's talk evil mega-vamps, action figures and Dakota's film with Kristen, The Runaways....
AGW: Dakota, as such a fan of the series, you’ve said in many interviews before that you were really excited about this so what were the highlights of playing Jane and do you get to do more in the next movie?
Dakota: I think the highlight of playing Jane was getting to wear that costume and to have the red contact lenses. I was really excited about that, and getting to play an evil character. The next movie I already finished doing, Eclipse, I'm still not very much in the movie.
AGW: But you come in bigtime in Breaking Dawn. What did you think when you first saw yourself wearing the red contacts?
Dakota: I know! It’s really scary. I think it makes anyone look automatically evil. But yeah, it was really fun. You get used to them after a while. You can see pretty good, but it’s still kind of weird.
AGW: Are you excited about Breaking Dawn?
Dakota: Yeah. We see all of us in that last one. I think it culminates in the final battle which is a really cool scene to read in the book.
AGW: Cameron, can you talk about your character and your relationship to Dakota and your powers?
Cameron: Me and Dakota, we’re the henchmen but it’s kind of funny because Dakota is the most feared out of all the Volturi (Dakota shoots a big grin!) She’s the one with the worst power and everything. For me, as Alec, I’m the only one that isn’t quite afraid of her but I (really) still am. I’m not afraid to say what I want, where everybody else is always kind of watching their words. Felix and Demetri, as soon as they say one thing bad, she just looks at them and they just shut up and don’t say anything.(Dakota shoots us the scary "look") We’re brother and sister. That’s basically about it. That spells it out for you. Luckily, we don’t fight at all or else I’d be in trouble.
AGW: But you are twins, right?
Cameron: I think we’re twins. (to Dakota) Aren’t we?
AGW: Who is minutes older then?
Dakota: We’re like thousands of years old, I guess, so it doesn’t really matter anymore, I suppose.
Cameron: Oh, my special power....I cut off people’s senses.
AGW: What special power would you want in real life?
Cameron: My special power would be to have every special power in the world.
Dakota: For me, my special power is that I can just look at someone and cause them pain. And, if I could have any power, it would be to read people’s thoughts.
AGW: Humm, that might be negative sometimes though. Is it fun to play characters that are so intimidating?
Dakota Fanning: Yes! (big grin and laugh) Yes, It was fun to get to play a feared character, you know, something different than what I’ve done before. And also, she uses her power not for good, which was another thing that was kind of interesting to me.
AGW: Whoever wants to answer this. Have you had to turn down roles or are you getting more roles since you are in the Twilight films and is it tough fitting everything into your schedule now?
Cameron: My schedule definitely filled up with really only the stuff for this movie, like the conventions. I went to Australia and Rome and a couple other people went to Australia and went to Chicago. It was just like doing a bunch of stuff to talk and signing autographs and stuff. To me, that’s amazing. It’s great fun. It gets me out of school! (he laughs). We're just auditioning and waiting.. hire me!
AGW: If you really had your Volturi powers, who, on set would you like to use them on?
 Cameron: Humm, one of the random guards standing in the background of the shot.
AGW: Some fans are just obsessed with everything Twilight. Were you obsessed with anything when you were younger or are you now?
Cameron: No, not as much as some of the people I’ve seen with this movie. I like shoes. I guess you could say that, other than that, no, not really.
Dakota: I’m obsessed with baby names, with what people name their children. Just like friends, anybody. I know a lot of people’s baby names (she laughs). But I just love names in general.
AGW: What’s your favorite name and how did this start?
Dakota: There’s too many. I’ve been planning my children’s names since I was like four. I have lists of girls, boys, and I have them from all different ages. It’s really fun.
AGW: Michael Sheen (who plays Volturi Aro) has a daughter with a cat named Clive?
Dakota: Aw, that's cute!
AGW: Dakota, being someone with so much experience in this business, you've worked with many greats. Do you ever get star struck at this point?
Dakota: Well, especially going into this movie with a cast that already knew each other really well because they’ve already done a movie together, you’re always kind of like the new kid coming in, the new person coming on the set, but they were just so nice and so welcoming, and just a really great cast so it was kind of hard to be star struck even though you’re such big fans of them and excited to meet them. Then they’re just so nice and you become friends pretty quick.
AGW: There is a ton of Twilight/New Moon merchandise in the stores. Are you into any of it, Cameron?
Cameron: It was funny because when I showed up (to be in) New Moon, we did the photo session and they were like 'Okay, we just want profile shots.' I was like 'Uh, Alright' and then they were like, 'Yeah, they’re going to be for the doll' and I was like 'Wait a minute, they’re making a doll of me?' and they’re like 'Possibly.'
AGW: And you were stoked about that?
Cameron: For me at least, that’s one of my goals being an actor is to have an action figure with the pull string that says one of your lines. It’s just one of those weird things that I think would be hilarious to have on my bed stand and just have people walk into my room and go, 'Seriously, you’ve got a doll of yourself?' and I’m like, 'Yeah.' But no, it’s pretty crazy. We don’t have Hot Topic back home but we have a different store called Spences and you walk in there and it’s like 'Hey Rob, hey Taylor, how’s it going?' It’s like everywhere is all this stuff.
AGW: Dakota, Michael Sheen was teasing saying his doll from Underworld and his Aro doll fight with your doll from Dreamer (she just laughs). Hey, we know you are a cheerleader and were the homecoming queen at your high school. How do you mesh real high school life with acting?
Dakota: Well, first of all, I’m a junior so you can’t be the queen, but I was a homecoming princess. I thought it was really important to have the high school experience. It was something that I wanted. I think it’s really great to have that balance of like a completely normal life and then a completely abnormal life. I really didn’t see a reason why I wouldn’t be able to do both and I was lucky that I was able to go to a school that lets me leave and everything. I don’t know if there’s a ‘how to’ guide as to how I balance it. It just kind of has happened and I have really great friends and great family and the best of both.
AGW: Very cool! Dakota, you worked with Kristen again in The Runaways. So having worked together already, was it a little bit easier going into that with her after New Moon?
Dakota: Yeah, it was really great making The Runaways with her after New Moon. We became really good friends and really close throughout all the experiences we’ve had this year. I couldn’t ask for a better person to do three movies in a row with than her. It was really good to know each other so we weren’t complete strangers when doing The Runaways.
AGW: Cameron, is it true you didn't even really go to Italy to shoot your part in New Moon?
Cameron: Nope. I didn’t go to Italy. I got to work in Vancouver. Dakota was the one that got to go to Italy. All the interiors were done in beautiful Vancouver. At least we were inside because I’m pretty sure it was raining half the time. No, it was fun. I mean, it was just a hop over a puddle for me because I’m on Vancouver Island. I don’t mind working there at all. I mean, I go there and see friends and all that kind of stuff. It’s great.
pictures
courtesy of and copyright Summit Entertainment, 2009 |
