She had only a few minutes to spare before she went back to work in the mixing booth, putting the finishing touches on what is likely to be her biggest project to date. But no pressure.
Not that Twilight director and McAllen native Catherine Hardwicke is any stranger to pressure. Just about a year and 10 months ago, she scrapped the first draft of the vampire flick's script and started from scratch. She couldn't have lead dame Bella as a track star and F.B.I agents on jet skis. No, it had to be like the book, complete with an awkwardly charming heroine and heartfelt love story about a vampire who falls for a mortal.
Now, the movie is made and in theaters today, and the McAllen High School graduate is as cool as the Valley summers are hot - or at least that's how she claimed she would be about one month ago via phone.
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING OF THE INTERVIEW
LEARN MORE ABOUT CATHERINE HARDWICKE AND HER DAYS IN MCALLEN
Calm and free-spirited as her demeanor might be, she's a perfectionist at heart. Just before she began flying the globe with her band of soon-to-be-mega-star teen cast pimping the movie's release, Hardwicke was on the couch in the editing room, "crying as I did the final mix because of this thing I wish I could have done but we didn't have the money for." She fretted over every cut, every missed opportunity for a cool angle and every decision.
But she dwelled for a good reason. This is her moment. An impressive list of medium hits is already attached to her name, but this is the one that could make a career most directors never see, acclaim that new Los Angeles residents stepping off the plane can only dream of and a chance that even a young, ambitious Hardwicke never would have expected when she left South Texas in the 80's.
In this exclusive interview, Hardwicke talks about living up to expectations, casting and her hopes for the most anticipated movie of the year.
Did you know how big the fan following was for this movie when you signed on?
"The book was popular but there were only two out in the series at that time, Twilight and New Moon, so it wasn't as huge as it is now. Even in the last month, it's just grown exponentially, like the following. So I knew people loved it but it wasn't big and it wasn't quite as crazy as it is now."
When you realized that there might be buzz, did that add a little pressure to make it even better since you knew fans were expecting greatness?
"My last movie was based on another popular book, The Bible, so that had some pressure, too. (laughs) So I've always felt a little bit of pressure. My other two movies were based on real people who were alive and worked on the movie with me so I had to live up to them. So, you know, I've always felt like I've got to do the most excellent job that I could possibly do. But in this case, we were would be up on a mountain top, in the middle of Oregon, in the middle of winter, we were just freezing and shivering like in the middle of the night. And we would see these people out there, fans, that had driven from two states to be there watching and I'm like ‘Oh man, I better do a good job. Even if I'm about to freeze and I want to give up, no. I have to make this movie good so they can be happy, too.'
I read that even your mom wanted you to cast the perfect Edward. How did you know when you had the right cast?
When we had Robert Pattinson, he flew over from London to audition for this part on his own dime. He slept on his agent's couch and he came over to my house and we did a rehearsal, an audition, with Kristen (Stewart) who was already cast. And I watched Kristen and Rob together and their chemistry was very strong and they definitely were intrigued and fascinated with each other. You could just get this magical feeling. So then I knew, ‘OK, that's it.'
So you used your director's instinct for that one.
Yea. And then you watched how they work together and how did Kristen feel about him. And then we filmed it and then we watched the tapes back and you think Rob didn't really look how he does now. We kind of transformed him, haircut, dentist, work out 5 hours a day, that kind of thing (laughs). Learn to play baseball, learn to drive a car. You know, you have to take a British pub kid and turn him into a superstar vampire. ... He's got the bones and the brains and the heart and all the emotional elements you need. You know, he was right there with his torture, angst-ridden vampire.
What do you hope fans walk away with after the movie?
I hope they really feel like they disappeared into the book and the book just comes alive for the hour and 45 minutes. I hope that they just don't go for the ride and feel what Bella is feeling and what Edwards is feeling. It's got a lot of super strong connection, like Romeo and Juliet, where you feel like these two people should be together against all the odds. It also has a lot of action and adventure where you'll hopefully be scared for them, too.
What are you going to do the night the film comes out?
I don't know. Sometimes you try and go to the movie theaters and see if people show up but I hadn't thought about that.
Hear Catherine talk about filming challenges, making hard choices as a director and how she chooses projects in the full recorded interview at themonitor.com
