Southern undead gentleman: Rathbone stars in the 'Twilight' franchise as Jasper, a vampire from the Old South
Q: What has the Twilight experience been like?
A: It's definitely been this kind of amazing roller coaster. … I remember first getting on this ride, we didn't really know what to expect … Now, four years later, it's been amazing looking back at it. It's one of those things where you never really knew where you were going, but now you get here and you look back at the ride, and you're like, "That was quite an interesting trip."
Q: How did you get into acting?
A: When I was about 13 years old, my family moved to Midland, Texas, and my older sisters had been doing theater, and I was having trouble making friends … My parents were like, "Why don't you do theater with your sisters?" … I built sets, I did lighting, and once I saw that all the other guys in the theater troupe, the actors, were getting more attention from the girls, I was tempted to try out for the next production. I did, and I got the role of Doody in the musical Grease. For that, I had to learn how to sing and dance and play guitar. Ever since then, I just kind of fell in love with all the arts.
Q: How did youland the role in Twilight?
A: It was just like any other job. The audition location was close to where I was living at the time, so I walked there with my guitar, waited in the lobby just strumming away. I met Catherine (Hardwicke, the director), and her and I just really hit it off right off the bat. Then when she offered me the role, I was like, "Cool, man." It was just another job, just like a normal gig.
Q: What was it like to see Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) marry in Breaking Dawn?
A: Amazing. I guess I'm a sucker for weddings. I think they're beautiful. Over the course of filming Twilight, I've actually missed a lot of my cousins' weddings. So for me to finally see the marriage of these two characters that have become so real, it really felt like your family is getting married. It was one of those moments as an actor where everything else falls away, and you don't even feel like you have to act.
Q: What's your biggest passion: acting or music?
A: I have to say entertainment and art is my biggest passion in this life. It's impossible to say whether music or acting has a greater impact on me, because without one or the other, I wouldn't be complete as an artist.
Twitter questions from readers:
@TwilighterAngel: Do you think there's any personality differences from your character in Twilight and you?
The main difference would be that Jasper's a vampire and I'm a human being. That would be numero uno! But, honestly, other than that, we don't have too many differences. We're both Southerners, we both really respect that Southern way of life. I always say Jasper was saved by love. If it wasn't for Alice (Ashley Greene), he would have no purpose; he would just be wandering the earth as a roving vampire. And, as an artist and an entertainer, I honestly believe that we break everything in life down to fear and love. If you can hopefully disregard fear as much as possible, then you can focus on love.
@irinarahale What aspect do you admire about Jasper and if you could have one of his features (immortality, strength, speed) in real life what would it be?
I admire his tenacity to cling to a lifestyle that he's not comfortable with because it's the right thing to do. … It's often easier to give in to the darkness than it is to uphold the light. Even though he really does screw up in New Moon and nearly kill Bella, it's still that desire to be good. The only feature I can really think that I might want is something that, to a certain degree, I feel every artist has, which is the ability to influence people's emotions. With Jasper, it's as easy as a flick of the wrist or a raise of the eyebrow or just a thought. That's his special ability, but with the artist, it's the same thing.
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