Who better to talk about the fans of fanged fiction than the stars on the receiving end of those piercing screams? I caught up with Breaking Dawn – Part 2 vampires Judi Shekoni, Amadou Ly, Patrick Brennan, and Rami Malek at Massive Events‘ last ever Twilight convention, Eternal Twilight 9.
What is it about vampires? Why do they keep sucking us in?
Judi: I don’t think it’s recent, I just think suddenly people have been giving something to the appetite. People have always had a fascination with vampires. I know I had Interview with the Vampire with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. I mean, that movie… ohmygod!
Amadou: I love the fact that the fans are able to relate to the struggles that the characters are trying to overcome, whether it’s Bella having to choose which love life she’ll spend the rest of her life with, or her decision to become a vampire. People identify with struggles.
Judi: I think the appeal of the vampires themselves is that they transcend laws – they can do anything, and they’re not put in a box. They are monsters, they are dangerous, but there’s an underlying freedom and lack of rules that vampires have that I think is enigmatic and draws people in. And vampire powers are not so crazy, everything’s just a bit more than being a human being, so they’re everything a human being secretly wants to be.
Patrick: Yeh, as I get older and I see my face getting older and the lines coming in, this whole idea of staying young and beautiful and in love and all that stuff, for me I guess that’s the appeal. It’s freaky watching yourself age.
Rami: I think it elicits something in our imagination that’s very devilish and dark and something that everyone can kind of… sink their teeth into… *laughs*
Domesticated Monsters 