Nineteen-year-old Canadian-born actress, Kirsten Prout, can next be seen in the third installment of the highly popular vampire franchise The Twilight Saga in Twilight: Eclipse (June 30, 2010). In the movie Kirsten will play the small supporting but pivotal role of “Vampire Lucy.” In the film, her character is seen in flashbacks and gives insight into the back story of “Jasper” (Jackson Rathbone) and how he was created. The film is directed by David Slade (30 Days of Night) and stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner and is currently in production in Vancouver. Kirsten’s previously been known for her work on both the film Elektra, as Abby Miller, and TV show, Kyle XY, as Amanda Bloom. I had the chance to interview her about her role in Eclipse and the entire Twilight experience, including being recognized by a fan for something she hadn’t even done yet.
David Oliver: Congratulations on landing the role of Lucy in the upcoming Twilight: Eclipse. Can you tell us about her?
Kirsten Prout: To get Lucy was an absolute shock. It was so exciting because the entire Twilight culture is so interesting because we have so many fans. So getting the part was a real honor for me. [Lucy’s] a vampire, she’s with Maria when Jasper becomes a vampire. The part of the movie it occurs in is when Jasper was still a soldier. Essentially he sees these three women walking. And it’s Catalina and I…and we’re walking through the desert and we look vulnerable because back in the day, women were always chaperoned. And Jasper, being the gentleman that he is, comes up and yeah, he gets a surprise. And that’s all I can really tell you. But yeah, it’s a fun part, very predatory…it was great playing a vampire because I love shows like True Blood and…back in the day, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
David Oliver: Were you a fan of the books before you got the part?
Kirsten Prout: Yeah, I read them all. My sister, who’s not a big reader, was sitting on the couch one day and could not put this book down. And I was like, “What are you reading?” And she said Twilight. And I said, “Really?” And I was fascinated by the fact that she was into this book when she’s never usually into books. I borrowed that copy from her and I read it in a day. I actually read every single book in a day.
David Oliver: Does your character transition into the next book (Breaking Dawn)?
Kirsten Prout: No, I don’t think so. Lucy…she has…
David Oliver: She has an untimely occurrence.
Kirsten Prout: Yeah. She’s a bad guy and bad guys have to meet their maker at some point.
David Oliver: I’m sure you’ve got a fan base already with your work on Kyle XY. Do you think you prepared for the potential fan onslaught of becoming part of the Twilight saga?
Kirsten Prout: Oh my gosh, I’ve already kind of, it’s strange because I’m not used to being recognized from anything except Elektra and Kyle XY, right? And I was at the Gap, I was just at the till and I actually had a woman recognize me as Lucy. Even though the film hasn’t come out yet. That’s how extensive the fans are, the network for fans. She looked at me and said, “You’re Lucy.” And I thought she was mistaking me for one of her friends.
David Oliver: That’s a little freaky to get recognized for something that you haven’t even done yet.
Kirsten Prout: Exactly. It’s very strange.
David Oliver: Was she like, “Oh, you should come meet my friends; we’ll go out drinking…you should meet my vampire coven! It’ll be great!”
Kirsten Prout: Yeah, well, she wasn’t wearing fangs or anything.
David Oliver: Do you get caught up in any of the other young adult franchises like 90210 or Vampire Diaries, etc.?
Kirsten Prout: No, I don’t watch either show. The shows I usually watch are Dexter, True Blood…I watch Bones. I don’t watch 90210, Melrose Place. I’m an absolute freak over True Blood, actually. Before I got this part, I was like, “I want to play a vampire” when the show first came on because it’s sooo well-written. And one of my girlfriends and I would have a True Blood night. You know, we’d sit on the couch, order some sushi or something. It was like a tradition with us. I’m a big fan of True Blood for sure.
David Oliver: You were part of the cast of Kyle XY, which recently wrapped production this year after a three-year run. Were you good with how the show ended or did you feel there were still stories to tell?
Kirsten Prout: Oh man, in my opinion, the show ended like, it was like reading a book and tearing out the last few pages. Unfortunately, the show ended on a cliffhanger…sometimes that’s just the way TV works. You don’t realize you’re giving it a cliffhanger for next season and then when the show ends, you’re left with a cliffhanger. I loved doing the show and I loved the run of the show and I put so much into it. And it’s sad that you won’t get that resolution. But I think we gave it a really good run and it was a great show to work on.
David Oliver: You had some television work prior to getting Elektra when you were 13. Do you see that film as the big jumping off point for your career?
Kirsten Prout: Yeah, I’d say that it would be…it was my first brush with having to grow up in the film industry. I started when I was ten years old…and I did it for fun initially. My mom and dad didn’t even want me to go into the industry. But I’ve always had this fascination with storytelling. Finally my mom kind of acquiesced…she gave in. So when I’m 10 years old, I started booking jobs. And it was something that I worked on and had so much fun doing, and I never really grasped the enormity of when you get a movie like Elektra. And I remember I had the same attitude when I went in for Eclipse as I had for Kyle XY: “Maybe they’ll see my tape, they’ll see my work, and I can make an impression for the future.” And I went into that audition for and I had three subsequent callbacks and I was just sort of blown away when I got it because it was a nationwide search. And the same with [Eclipse], I just feel so honored to be chosen. I think Elektra was my first introduction to red carpets, and interviews, and the whole culture of the film industry.
David Oliver: Did you do Comic Con for it? Or have you ever done any kind of convention?
Kirsten Prout: Yeah, for Kyle, definitely for Kyle. We had a junket kind of thing. I would love to go to a Comic Con, but it always works out that I’m working the weekend of, or I have something else going on. But in the future I do hope to make it to some kind of convention. I love them.
David Oliver: Eclipse is shooting in your home town of Vancouver isn’t it?
Kirsten Prout: Yeah. It was really convenient to get the job. My first day of shooting was the first day of production. So it was pretty cool, not having to get on a plane and just getting in the car…which, by the way, it’s so impossible to find that set because of the security. And I’ve been on a lot of film sets, but I’ve never been on one that’s so closed. I mean, it’s crazy, you drive up and there’s no signage to it, because otherwise, paparazzi would get in. There’s like this entire semicircle of…black fabric surrounding all of the set. The paparazzi can’t get in. It’s like a frickin’ fort; and there are two police officers in the front. You walk in and you have to wear a bathrobe over your wardrobe. The security when it comes to paparazzi is really, really intense.
David Oliver: Do you think that you’ll start to have more trouble with the paparazzi once this film comes out and you’ll get recognized even more considering it’s pretty much the hottest thing going for anyone under 20 right now?
Kirsten Prout: Well, I mean, honestly, I hope not. That’s kind of part of the job, part of the game I guess. In a lot of ways though, there are ways to get around the paparazzi…and sometimes, you know, celebrities are asking to be photographed. Like, you go to a certain hotspot, you go to the Ivy for lunch, or you go to certain places, you will get photographed. That’s where the paparazzi are. So it’s all a matter of balancing it out. But in Vancouver, we never used to have paparazzi. It used to be a place where celebrities went.
David Oliver: Yeah, and now everything shoots up in Vancouver.
Kirsten Prout: Everything’s always shot up in Vancouver. We always had lots of productions. I filmed Elektra in Vancouver, we had the Fantastic Four filmed in Vancouver, X-Men, and you know a lot of big movies. We never had problems with paparazzi really.
David Oliver: A lot of your contemporaries, actresses around your age or slightly older, it seems like the only way they can keep their fame going is to end up on TMZ every week or have a wardrobe malfunction or just get out of rehab. I did some looking around and didn’t find anything too scandalous about you. So I’m wondering how it is that you stay out of those negative aspects of the career?
Kirsten Prout: Well…I was raised in a family totally removed from the film industry. And the reason I’m in this industry is not to get attention, I do this work because I love the work and I love being a character and transforming myself. And to me, I’m extremely disinterested to parade around getting wardrobe malfunctions because…I like to stay home, I like to cook, I like to garden and enjoy very much just getting in touch with myself. Because I find that when you give yourself to a character on set, and you’re there all the time and you’re playing that character, sometimes you need to just come home and get in touch with yourself. So I try to connect with the simple things in life, versus “Oh, am I going to drop 2% in popularity on IMDB?” The reason that popularity would be important to me would be to open doors to projects and characters that I really love.
David Oliver: What’s in the future for Kristen Prout? What would you like to say to your fans?
Kirsten Prout: Well, I always keep in very close contact with fans through KyleXY.net. and I’m always talking to them. But I really just feel so lucky to have a wonderful group of people supporting me. And I feel so honored to have the kind of people who e-mail me and write and send me so much love. I’m so appreciative of that. So a message to my fans: Thank you. And in the future for me, I’m just going to go after roles that I love. I love to get into dark stuff. To explore a dark comedy…. So I mean, in the future I hope to just find those projects that make me happy as an artist.
David Oliver: You said that you were a fan of vampire projects. Do you think that by getting Eclipse that will help you to get another vampire role if you would want one or would that be something that you’d want to stay away from?
Kirsten Prout: Vampires are fascinating and, let’s be honest, I’ve got the skin for it. And – told this story so many times before – but the week before I got the part, I was in LA and I bought SPF 70…because I terrified that I was getting so brown. [Later,] I was sitting down for the airbrushing process on set [with the make-up artist], which usually takes a long time and the airbrushing wasn’t working and it turns out that the airbrushing was the same color as my skin. So I think I’ve got the vampire look pretty down.