Interview: Christopher Heyerdahl Talks ‘Hell On Wheels’ and Acting in 2 TV Shows at the Same Time

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:01 — 17.9MB)

Christopher Heyerdahl had a great 2011.

He started it filming the last of the Twilight movies where he plays the vampire Marcus, one of the leaders of the Volturi coven. He then went off film season 2 of the SyFy hit, Sanctuary, where he starred as 2 characters (one has since been killed off). If that wasn’t enough, during filming, he got word that he booked yet another part as ‘The Swede’ in AMC’s Hell on Wheels.

Thanks to some creative scheduling, he would film Sanctuary in Vancouver, leave set and rush to the airport. At 6am the next day, he’d be sitting in hair and make-up in Calgary ready to film Hell on Wheels.

Just the normal life of a busy actor.

And, it was just announced that Heyerdahl would join the cast of True Blood for it’s upcoming season. Looks like Christopher’s 2012 might be as hectic as his last. 

I talked to Christopher about Hell on Wheels and how he got the part, working two jobs at once and more!

For the full interview (including Twilight questions), click the audio link above or download it from iTunes 

You had a great 2011 with Hell on Wheels, Sanctuary and Twilight. Has that been the best year career-wise, so far?

Christopher Heyerdahl: Well, yeah.  I guess it has been the best year so far in as much as I’m alive and well, and I’m working.  What other actor doesn’t want’ that?  It has been pretty intense. 

I mean, I started off the year doing Twilight. I got to go to New Orleans. It was a great way to start the year and then Sanctuary got renewed which is always a tenuous thing with a show that’s privately funded and within maybe two months into doing Sanctuary, I got The Swede on Hell on Wheels. 

Chad Oakes and George Horie, Chad is with Hell and George is with Sanctuary.  The two of them got together and said, “We can make this work” because it was a crazy scheduling, scheduling that I think any producer just wouldn’t normally not want to invite into their daily routine because I was getting on a plane pretty much every night after work, flying off to Calgary or vice versa, coming back to Vancouver in order to do each show.  It was crazy for them and that was a blast for me.  Read more

Trailer: ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1: Bella and Edward, plus those they love, must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by a marriage, honeymoon, and the tumultuous birth of a child… which brings an unforeseen and shocking development for Jacob Black.

Director: Bill Condon
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Peter Facinelli, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser

In Theaters: November 18th, 2011

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Peter Facinelli Discusses the Difference Between Acting for Film and Television

Peter Facinelli is currently playing two very different types of doctors; Dr. Fitch ‘Coop’ Cooper on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and vampire-turned-doctor Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight franchise.

The roles themselves are diverse, but Facinelli also notices major differences between acting for film and acting for the small screen.

He told the Los Angeles Times that television is not nearly as finite and cut and dry as film, saying, “In television you don’t really know where you’re going to be in Episode 7. It keeps it fresh in the sense that you only know what your character is going to do that week, and you’re not exactly sure how it will develop.”

With Nurse Jackie, he says that “It’s kind of fun for me because sometimes I’ll pick the writer’s brain and what’s going on with Coop for the season and they have a rough idea. They don’t really like to tell us, but sometimes they’ll spill some info — it’s almost like going to a medium and they’re telling you your future. But things can change. They’ll throw you a curveball. It keeps you on your toes.”

“Winter’s Bone” Oscar Nominee Jennifer Lawrence could have been a “badass” Bella

20-year-old Best Actress Oscar nominee, Jennifer Lawrence recalls growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, where her dad owned a construction company and her mom ran a summer camp.  Her family had land and horses, she loved to fish and was a total tomboy: field hockey, softball, basketball on an all-boys team. “I was so dykey,” she says. The actress now lives in Los Angeles, but “little redneck things still come out, like I’m attracted to my brother. Stuff like that.”

Lawrence was 14, when she admits she ”dragged” her mom to New York for auditions, including one for the role of Bella in “Twilight”. And she would have been perfect for the part, if Bella were a badass, instead of a frightened waif. She now views losing out on that part as a great thing, because the role she did get was in “Winter’s Bone”, a role she has received glowing reviews for : she is both harrowing and tender as the 17-year-old daughter of an Ozarks meth-cooker who’s fighting to take care of her little brother and sister.

While prepping for the part, Lawrence learned how to shoot a gun and field-dress squirrels. She ­already knew how to chop wood: “I went through a wood-chopping phase when I was nine or 10.” Has she been preparing an Oscar speech?  ”I have been practicing my losing face.”

To read more of this interview, go to: rollingstone.com

Screenplay: Twilight Eclipse

Want the screenplay to Twilight Eclipse?

Sure you do!

Click here for the script

Director: David Slade

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser

Ashley Greene on “Skateland”, acting and how she got her start

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

Ashley Greene is starring in the new film, Skateland.  It’s a coming of age story that also stars Shiloh Fernandez.

I’d never seen Ashley in anything other than the Twilight films so I was curious to see her in this while I was at SXSW. She plays a totally different character and she was great!

Ashley was incredibly sweet, I loved talking to her and if you’re a young actor you’ll love her answers.

Tell me about Skateland and your character in the film.

Ashley Greene: I play Michelle Burkham, and she is a bit of a love interest, really best friend to Richie Wheeler, and who is [played by] Shiloh Fernandez.  And Brent Burkham [Heath Freeman] is my brother, and we’re all this kind of trio in the film.  And it’s the 1980s small-town Texas.  And basically, it’s kind of this girl and this coming of age film and everyone’s trying to figure out who they are and what they’re doing, and I’m certainly one of those people.  But, I’m also one of the people that pushes Richie to find himself and grasp for higher things and she’s a great character to play.  She’s very vulnerable, very strong.  A lot of emotional ups and downs.

When you first look at a script and decide you want to do the part, how do you go about approaching a role?

Ashley: The first thing is, of course, reading the script and seeing if the script holds my attention and then more importantly, does the character… is it something I haven’t played before, and something that I actually care about and I’m passionate about.  I feel like if you’re reading a script and it doesn’t hold your attention and you don’t care about where these characters are going next and what they’re doing and you don’t care what they’re thinking and how they’re affected, then it really shouldn’t be something you’re doing because never ever doing I want to be in a film where I don’t care.  And so, I think that’s the biggest thing.  I think it’s kind of a gut thing and follow your heart and it works out.

Read more

Screenplay: The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Want the screenplay to The Twilight Saga: New Moon?

Sure you do!

Click here to download the script

This is an actual news article: "How to audition for a vampire role 101"

Have you heard of The Examiner? Its a website where you can write articles and post it on the site, making you look like an expert in a particular field.

Well, some idiot actually wrote this article below. I really hope she was trying to be funny.

From The Examiner:

How To Audition For A Vampire Role 101

It seems these days the key to making a television show or movie work is to have a vampire in the storyline. It worked for True Blood, HBO’s drama with an unorthodox take on vampires in Louisiana. Already in it’s second season, True Blood is currently ranked #6 on Amazon.com’s list of bestselling DVDs . Behind it at #7 is Twilight, a film about young teen girl who falls in love with vampire who is torn by his desire to love her or suck her body dry until it’s devoid of blood. With a storyline like that, it’s no wonder why actors everywhere are lining up to be the next bloodsucking leach du jour.

First there are a few rules.

Men:

1. Show up to the audition dressed up like James Dean – Apparently, the Dracula look is out. In order to be noticed, you have to be cool, aloof, and have an I-don’t-care-what-you-think attitude. You must wear blue jeans, a white tank, and have greasy hair. Otherwise, no one will think you’re taking this vampire thing seriously.

2. Stare into the casting agents eyes like your peering deep into their soul - Male vampires are very intense. They don’t look at you. They look through you as if they can see everything you’ve ever done and ever been and they like it. Think Enrique Iglesias in every video he’s ever been in.
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Stringent Requirements on 'Twilight's Sequel, 'New Moon'

I’ve never heard or seen anything like this before. These New Moon actors actually needed papers of their heritage in order to be cast for the film.

From USA Today:

It took a couple of months and thousands of hopefuls to find a quartet that fits the requirements for New Moon‘s wolf pack.

No. 1 on the list: Native American or First Nation ancestry, because their characters belong to the Quileute tribe, based in La Push, Wash., both in the book and in real life.

“They had to have papers that proved their heritage,” says director Chris Weitz, who was the one who insisted on hiring within the community. “And they had to be in good physical shape.”

The Twilight sequel is filming now, and between takes, the actors usually are working out with barbells, doing push-ups or chowing down on steak, Weitz says. “They went through wolf camp together, and they are in constant training. It paid off as a bonding thing for them and helped them to get to know one another. They drove each other to get more buff.”

No amount of weightlifting, however, would allow them to act out the wolf portion of their performances; the beasts are about the size of horses and race around on all fours.

Want the screenplay to Twilight?

Sure you do! Don’t cost nothin…

Click here for the pdf file.

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