BOP Interview - The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower and author Cassandra Clare
By Ryan Mazie
August 19, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Set in New York City, Lily Collins (Mirror, Mirror, The Blind Side) stars as Clary, a seemingly normal girl who becomes a supernatural heroine. After witnessing a murder no one else can see, she discovers she is a part of a secret cadre of Shadowhunters; a group of half-humans/half-angels who ward away demons from the world they are invisible to.
With over 20 million copies in print worldwide, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones seems to be as close to a “sure thing” hit as you can get in Hollywood. In fact, a sequel is already in pre-production months before the first hits movie screens and IMAX on August 21st. For further ammunition, Jamie Campbell Bower, who has appeared in two of the biggest young adult book-to-film successes to date (Twilight and Harry Potter), is the male lead.
On the Philadelphia stop on their mall tour, I had the opportunity to interview with stars Collins, Bower, and the series author Cassandra Clare.
Before coming here I tweeted about interviewing all of you and my notifications just exploded. People are very passionately excited about this movie. For each of you, what was the book-to-film adaptation where you said, “I hope they don’t mess this up”?
Cassandra Clare: [Without hesitation] Lord of the Rings. They are my favorite books. Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne are producers on Lord of the Rings, which is kind of why I sold them the rights to Mortal Instruments, because they did a great job and know fantasy.
Lily Collins: Harry Potter all the way. I wanted to be Hermione so bad. But it was perfectly cast, everything about it; the depth of it, the feel of it, the production value, the magic. Everything to me was exactly how I planned it in my own head and I can watch them over and over again.
Jamie Campell Bower: And for our generation, that was awesome, because we got to see a complete progression of not only the writing possibilities, but also the special effects. I remember when the first movie came out; I thought that was the fucking coolest thing I ever saw in my life. And now I sit there watching the first movie to the last movie and they have done so much it’s insane. I suppose that’s very cool for our generation to grow up with. My adaptation would have been Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. It’s a seminal novel. I love Salinger. I was very much into Wordsworth and romanticism and all of that stuff and then I read On the Road and it was insane. So when they made the movie I was like, “I really want to be a part of this” or “I hope that they do well” and it killed it. It was an awesome film.
Cassandra, how hands on were you with the adaptation?
CC: They definitely invited me to be a part of the process; to be very hands on with the casting. I had a veto vote, which is very unusual, I could say “No” to actors and what not. I was very involved with the production side and look of the movie. I was somewhat involved with the screenplay, but less so than the other aspects of the film. So I do feel like I know the film pretty intimately and they certainly invited me to be a part of it much more than they were required to. I had no legal role as regards to the movie. I’m not a producer.
When the casting was initially announced, there was some controversy over who was going to play Jace.
JCB: Obviously, the reaction when I was cast was somewhat negative. I’m aware of that. And when I say somewhat, I mean incredibly. But I think there is always going to be a preconceived notion of a literary character that people will have in their minds and not going to live up to everyone’s expectations. I think [Robert Pattinson] suffered the same thing with Twilight. Perhaps not as much as me, because Rob was beautiful at the time and I look like I had ate a thousand burgers (laughs). I guess now I am seeing that what I have really been able to do on this mall tour is show the people that we’re fans of Cassie’s book before we made the movie and that means something to them. And I’ve worked my fucking ass off on this. I put 120% into everything that I do and I really respect the fans and I really, really respect the people that employ me. It’s my job. I’m not going to be one of those people that sit there. I guess I’ve seen a more positive reaction lately; we’ll see when the movie opens.
LC: That’s partly what I’m most excited about. I met Jamie years ago at a Potter premiere. He was sitting in front of me and I said something about his hair not being washed (laughs). I followed his career and when I was cast as Clary and we were talking about [casting for Jace], he immediately came to mind. I put him down as one of the top people I wanted to read with and I didn’t know they already auditioned him... He came in and I saw the chemistry right away even before we started reading the lines. He just embodies all of the characteristics Jace had. When the negative press came out, it was hard to read for me as well, because I saw something so different in him. I just knew it and felt it. It’s been really cool for me to see everyone’s reactions turning.
Lily and Jamie, you both have a fair amount of experience in the fantasy genre. What is your attraction to it?
LC: I always say that I feel like I live a fantasy in my own head anyway (laughs). I grew up in the English countryside running around in the garden pretending that there were fairies. I always pretend that I’m in another world. Not because I want to avoid reality, but because I think sometimes it’s nice to escape for a bit so you can appreciate your reality that much more. It’s not fantasy that I love as much as the characters that embody that world. Snow White embodied pure innocence, but such a strong drive to fulfill her destiny. Clary is the same, but in a different time and place. So I think it is these strong females.
JCB: You have to look at it in two ways. The movie industry is struggling right now, to be perfectly honest, and any studio has to be aware of the fact that they have to make money…. So a book series with 22 million copies sold worldwide is dope for a film company; that’s amazing. And then you have to look at the fact that fantasy and fairies and the underworld, why is that interesting to a modern audience? People have been interested in that for histories. It’s why the Greeks wrote about the underworld. It’s why the Victorians wrote about fairies. It’s why Shakespeare wrote Midsummer Night’s Dream. We’ve been afraid of the unknown, but incredibly interested in it. So what has drawn me to it? I suppose the industry. But above anything I’m stoked to be a part of something I love. The reason I did Twilight was because I wanted to play Edward Cullen; I thought it was a great story. When they came around to do movie two and asked if I wanted to be a part of it, I said, “Of course I’d love to be a part of it in any shape or form.”
“Would you like to play a vampire that’s English with long hair and red eyes?”
“Yeah! Of course! I’d love to play a bad guy!”
With Potter they asked, “Would you like to jump out a window and be part of the series?”
I was like, “Yes! Of course! I can jump so well.”
Then they asked if I wanted a stunt guy for the jump and I was like, “Absolutely not or I wouldn’t be in the movie” (laughs).
Unlike some of the more recent films of the genre, a girl is truly put in the role of the hero. Cassandra, when writing the initial novel, was it an easy sell?
CC: I felt like people needed stronger female characters and I was unsure while writing the book if I could have a successful franchise that was centered around a girl. This was before Twilight came out. The biggest thing in children’s literature was Harry Potter and then Percy Jackson, both of which are great but very boy-centered. I wanted to do an epic, coming-of-age story about good and evil, but I wanted to do it with a girl at the center, which is something I didn’t have growing up. When I first went to sell it, again, before Twilight, I was told, “Teenagers don’t want to read about vampires and werewolves (laughs)." So that got proven wrong later, but I already sold my books at that point. And when I went to sell the movie rights, I got told, “People don’t want to see movies about girls. Would you sell the rights if they flipped the gender and made Clary a boy” and I was like, “Absolutely not.”
LC: I’d be down to play a guy, too.
JCB: I just want to say I agree, being a strong woman myself.
LC: In the next movie I can play Jace and you can play Clary.
JCB: Damn right.