14 DAY TRIAL // British actor Michael Sheen has starred in vampire films before (“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”), but, until recently, he’s mostly focused on what may be deemed “serious” roles, including one as Tony Blair in the TV production “The Deal.” With “New Moon,” where Sheen plays Aro, the actor got the chance to be a part of something bigger than life and, at the same time, truly fantastic, the Twilight universe, he tells the Daily Mail.
As all the other members of the cast, Sheen too has read all four “Twilight” books penned by Stephenie Meyers. Still, he wouldn’t see himself as the biggest fans of the novels, since that title would go to the ten-year-old daughter he has with actress Kate Beckinsale. In fact, the actor says, seeing how Lily reacted to the books and the story in them was how he came to realize that the films were very well targeted.
“That made it more exciting. The Twilight series has a lot of teenage girl fans. But I think that’s mainly for Robert [Pattinson], not me!” Sheen tells the Mail. However, being targeted at teens doesn’t mean the franchise (and, implicitly, “New Moon”) doesn’t also have a rougher, darker edge to it. For instance, Aro in the film was inspired from Child Catcher in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
“There’s that sense of pure menace in the Child Catcher, which is why he’s had such a huge impact. I’ve even got the same long black hair in the film!” Sheen explains.
As for his co-star, actor Robert Pattinson, even Sheen admits that sometimes things tend to get a bit too crazy. As a matter of fact, the star says, if he were to switch places with Pattinson, he wouldn’t be sure he could cope with all the pressure, both from the media and the community of fans.
Having to deal with this kind of exposure at any age, let alone in your 20s as Pattinson is, can be extremely difficult, the veteran actor adds. “I don’t know how he copes with it all. I know I couldn’t at his age, or even now for that matter.” Sheen explains.
The latest, extended trailer for “New Moon” premiered on Sunday at the MTV 2009 Video Music Awards. Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner took the stage to introduce it, to the screams of joy of the entire audience. See here for more on that.