Jackson Rathbone Interview

ShockTillYouDrop has a new interview with Jackson on the set of M. Night Shyamalan’s next movie The Last Airbender.

Before trying to get more details about the sequel New Moon out of the young actor, we asked Rathbone to talk about the experience of making the first film before things got so crazy. “The first film, it was one of Summit’s first films. I think it was actually the second films they produced, the first being ‘Never Back Down.’ It felt like a bigger budget indie film. We were all kind of making this movie together, and the way Catherine Hardwicke directs, it’s really a fun vibe that was on set. It was a little stressful because as we kept filming, the press kept getting more of it and the fans kept being more into it. All these websites started popping up, and all these things. It was amazing. It was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is going to be something else!’ We started making this movie and people are already loving it and it’s not even out yet. It has six months to come out and they’re already lining up in the movie theaters. That was an experience in and of itself. I wasn’t really prepared for it, but I was really thankful for it, because they’re so supportive of what we do. As an actor, you need an audience.”

He then talked about the major differences with the production on the sequel. “We have a bigger budget, we have a little more pressure to keep that feeling going, but the nice thing is that you’re delving more into the story now with ‘New Moon,” he said. “As the films progress, you get deeper into the lore and they mythical world you’re establishing with the werewolves and get more into what the werewolf society and legacy is. It keeps getting deeper.”

We wondered if he noticed a big difference with the vibe on set having a new director with Chris Weitz replacing Hardwicke and with the added pressure of making a sequel to such a big hit. “Whenever we got back to film ‘New Moon,’ the first day I was back, all the cast was hanging out in Peter Facinelli’s room and it was just like a family reunion. It was like we’d been away for a month; it didn’t seem like a year. It was just really nice to kind of get back together and have that family environment. In terms of having a new director, nothing really changed too much. It was just a different subtle vibe, because the director manages the energy on set. It was great. We all wanted to come together and make another great piece of art for the fans. It’s really about what they want to see, because they’re the ones buying the tickets.”
He did say that the recent trailer didn’t show the entire scene of him getting thrown into the piano, but that he did get to do a lot more of his own stunts in the movie. “That’s only the beginning of it. They didn’t show the entire thing. It’s gonna be a really action-packed movie.”
Once he’s done making both movies, Rathbone is also producing his first movie called Girlfriend, which will be directed by newcomer Justin Lerner, who has had a couple shorts at Sundance, as well as recording a new album with his band 100 Monkeys.