When Booboo Stewart passed through Cleveland earlier this week, the nominal reason was to talk about The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1.
The movie, in which Stewart plays the shape-shifting werewolf Seth, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, so you can expect gatherings of young fans outside some stores — including selected Target locations — tonight. But while Stewart talked about the Twilight movie series (which he joined in the third film, Eclipse), the 18-year-old also discussed martial arts (which he began when he was 3 years old), making music (with his sister Fivel and in the Disney-made group T-Squad); White Frog, an intriguing independent film in which he plays a young man with Asperger’s; and writing a comic book, the-not yet-published Millennium Man.
The Twilight connection has opened new doors, he said. After all, it marked a huge leap in visibility for all its performers. The enormously successful films were inspired by the bestselling books by Stephenie Meyer, in which the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner) both seek the love of the human Bella (Kristen Stewart, no relation).
“The fans are incredible,” said Booboo (his real name is Nils Allan Stewart Jr.). “They are so supportive of everything you do. … It’s so amazing that people have found something they are so into. And it’s getting people to read books.”
Including Stewart.
“When I thought I might have had an audition, I started reading the books. … By the time I got the part, because they’re so long, I finally finished them,” he said with a laugh. “I read the Bible and comic books and that’s pretty much it. I’m not an avid book reader, so it took a while.”
When he came into an established franchise and cast, he said, “Everyone just kind of came together, and it was a warm and welcoming set. The hardest thing was there are so many cast members in the Twilight series, it was hard to remember everyone’s names. … Especially when we were filming Breaking Dawn [with both films shot back to back] … in the second movie, there’s a lot of characters.”
Fans of the series divide between Team Jacob and Team Edward, but Stewart did not take a side. Even though Seth is in a group with Jacob, Stewart said, “He’s like the only person in the whole series who gets along with everybody. Doesn’t matter if you’re a werewolf — shape-shifter, I should say — or vampire or a human.”
Asked if he’d like to see a “next generation” movie dealing more with characters like his, Stewart said, “I hope they don’t overdo it. That would be the mistake films make, to try to make too many sequels. This [Breaking Dawn] is where the book ends. So unless she wants to write a new book, and it does well, then they could turn it into a movie.”
But he does think it was smart to break the book into two movies — “because it was such a big book” — and that the break at a pivotal plot point is just right. “Even though you know it’s coming, it’s still like a surprise in a way, because Bill Condon is such an amazing director,” he said. “He loves directing movies. He loves the process. He takes his time with everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got one line or just standing in the background. He really takes his time with everybody, and I like that a lot.”
While the movie has its share of special effects, the only one Stewart had to do was provide a voice for Seth when he was in his wolf form. “We got to do weird voices — to mix our regular voice with a lower version of our voice, and a growling version of our voice. I felt so stupid! They were like, now, say your lines with a really deep voice. … And they had a guy there who was showing us how to do [snarls].”
Stewart’s participation in Twilight will end this fall when the final movie premieres. Since the last movies were shot almost a year ago, the whole experience is feeling like a distant memory. “Seeing Eclipse, I look so much younger,” he said, “My voice is so much higher. I didn’t even realize it until I saw it again.”
But there are other things down the road; he has finished high school and is deferring college to concentrate on performing. He and Fivel perform together and have an album due out later this year; they will also be guests on a couple of March shows during the DigiTour showcasing famous YouTube acts. White Frog is starting to hit the festival circuit. And he loves the idea of taking on new acting roles. “Why would you want to play the same character in every movie you do? That’s kind of boring,” he said.
He loves the opportunities movies provide. “I just like being on the set, even when I’m not working,” he said. His favorite actor is Jim Caviezel, his favorite movie Goodfellas; he took up martial arts after a break when he saw the martial-arts epic Ip Man. He streams movies on Netflix but then buys the DVD or Blu-ray so he can look at all the behind-the-scenes extras.
“Eventually I want to venture off into directing,” he said. “But I love acting. Acting is my favorite thing. If I had to choose one [career], it would definitely be an actor, and that would lead into directing down the line.”
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
