The Movie’s Dramatic Tone
Condon: Because it’s filled with touchstones in this woman’s life—a wedding, a honeymoon night, a pregnancy, a birth scene, and then a death and transformation scene, those are all huge markers in this story, so it felt like a heightened approach seemed right. It needed to have a sweep and not be too ultra-realistic in the approach.
Rosenberg: Stephenie took a very dramatic turn with her storytelling in this book, which was controversial in some ways. This is a very grown-up, adult story. It’s about a marriage and having children. It’s a far cry from the teenage new girl’s first day in school. Then, with Bill Condon coming onboard, I worked very closely with him, and what attracted him to the fourth one was that it’s very much a character drama about examining the complexities of marriage and having a child. He was very interested in the internal workings and peeling back the layers.
Condon: But you’ve got to have humor in these movies just because that’s the thing that makes you feel you can connect to it. Whether it’s the first time you have sex or cringe-worthy wedding toasts, those make you relate to it. With the self-referential thing [like in Eclipse], I thought it was cool in that movie but I think if you push that too far, it can become not corrupted, but not innocent anymore.
Filming a Real-Life Couple (Pattinson and Stewart)
Condon: It was entirely a relief. I can’t imagine doing those scenes with two people who don’t like each other. But did I have to adjust the way they make love to each other? No, it was really good.
Rosenberg: I created the sex scene and then Bill let the actors go, and I don’t think Rob and Kris needed any help with how to perform. [Laughs.]
Condon: Because it’s filled with touchstones in this woman’s life—a wedding, a honeymoon night, a pregnancy, a birth scene, and then a death and transformation scene, those are all huge markers in this story, so it felt like a heightened approach seemed right. It needed to have a sweep and not be too ultra-realistic in the approach.
Rosenberg: Stephenie took a very dramatic turn with her storytelling in this book, which was controversial in some ways. This is a very grown-up, adult story. It’s about a marriage and having children. It’s a far cry from the teenage new girl’s first day in school. Then, with Bill Condon coming onboard, I worked very closely with him, and what attracted him to the fourth one was that it’s very much a character drama about examining the complexities of marriage and having a child. He was very interested in the internal workings and peeling back the layers.
Condon: But you’ve got to have humor in these movies just because that’s the thing that makes you feel you can connect to it. Whether it’s the first time you have sex or cringe-worthy wedding toasts, those make you relate to it. With the self-referential thing [like in Eclipse], I thought it was cool in that movie but I think if you push that too far, it can become not corrupted, but not innocent anymore.
Filming a Real-Life Couple (Pattinson and Stewart)
Condon: It was entirely a relief. I can’t imagine doing those scenes with two people who don’t like each other. But did I have to adjust the way they make love to each other? No, it was really good.
Rosenberg: I created the sex scene and then Bill let the actors go, and I don’t think Rob and Kris needed any help with how to perform. [Laughs.]
