Friday, February 14, 2014

10.15 | Teen: Exclusive interview with Zoey about Vampire Academy

It’s not every day that you get to talk to the young woman who’s playing the heroine in one of your fave YA book-to-movie adaptations. But hey, it happened to me as I got to chat with the beautiful Zoey Deutch, who plays lead Rose in Vampire Academy.
Let me preface the Q&A by saying that she is, perhaps, one of the sweetest young acts — if not THE sweetest — I’ve had the chance to interview. And funny, too. (In fact, we should probably be best friends.) She even appreciates the term I only recently learned from @BloodIsFamily, fang-girl. “Fang-girls! I’ve never noticed that; that’s hilarious. That’s so clever. I’m going to start using that,” she says.
Okay, now for the part you’ve all been waiting for. You’ve read our interviews with Dan Waters and Richelle Mead. Now find out what Zoey had to say about Vampire Academy, as well as Comic Con, her co-stars, love and even Halloween!
How was Comic-Con?
Zoey Deutch:
 It was very fun, thank you for asking.
Was it different than when you went for Beautiful Creatures?
Zoey:
 It was and it wasn’t. I think the difference is that I — the biggest difference is that I wasn’t as nervous; I knew what to expect — you know, the fear of the unknown; when you don’t know what’s going on, that’s much more nerve-wracking. So I actually had a really good time. I was with Lucy [Fry] and Dom [Sherwood] and Sami [Gayle], which was a blast.
I actually just finished the Vampire Academy book series. Have you read them?
Zoey:
 I haven’t read all of them, but I kind of made that a conscious decision to do so just because, as annoying as this may sound — I assume as most actors do — I have a fear of anticipation when I’m acting, so when you have the gift of owning perhaps six of your character’s diaries essentially, it can be a little bit over-stimulating, and therefore I might anticipate certain things. So, I’ve made the conscious effort to not, but I’ve read a few and I love them. Which one’s your favorite?
My favorite? Well, I’m very Team Adrian, so my favorite’s the one right before Last Sacrifice I think. So, Spirit Bound?
Zoey:
 Most people I know, their favorite is the second to last.
Yes! Yes, that’s the one. So you gotta get there.
Zoey:
 I know. Hopefully when we do the movie.
I feel like every time I look, VA gets compared to Twilight, but it’s so not the same. Can you briefly explain how you character’s such a bad-ass perhaps in comparison to Bella?
Zoey:
 In no way will I ever talk against or be perhaps upset about it being compared because of the sheer nature of its success; it’s just telling — that people enjoyed it; that people felt something and continued to do so for movies and movies. Now, the only reason I think people get annoyed when it’s compared is because they’re just very different stories. In terms of my character, Rose, I think the biggest difference is that she’s an extremely active person opposed to passive. She doesn’t sit there and wait for things to happen, like perhaps many young adult novel lead characters. Therefore, she’s much more — she’s seeking out information and looking for a solution as opposed to it just coming to her if that makes sense.
I’m assuming there’s probably a great deal of stunt work in the film…
Zoey:
 
Yeah, there was. I trained about 3-4 months before we started shooting, in the gym mostly; fight training as well, which is a lot of boxing and some martial arts. Then, I went to London and we had only two weeks of stunt choreography, which I wish we had more time because, in a lot of ways, that was the most important part of the process. I learned so much. I felt very lucky to have had a dance background because that kind of muscle memory kicks back into gear. It was so much fun for me.
Did you suffer any accidents while training?
Zoey:
 I slightly… I twisted my ankle, I didn’t sprain it. I twisted my ankle actually the same day Cameron Monaghan broke his hand. Separate injuries. But other than that, I was very lucky. Cuts and bruises and whatever, but if I came out of shooting this movie without a few dents and scrapes and all that, I was doing something wrong.
Was your training pretty similar to Danila’s?
Zoey:
 We trained together for a few weeks in LA, but he went back to Russia, and continued his training there. Essentially, we had a very similar diet. And, as opposed to cardio, it was a lot of building muscle as opposed to losing weight. So as much protein as we could possibly consume, as well as a lot of lifting weights, and push-ups, pull-ups…
One of your fans sent us a question and wants to know if he calls you by your Russian nickname, like Dimitri does Rose.
Zoey:
 Oh, actually, he pronounces my name ‘Zoya.’ I love it. It’s really sweet.
Would you date a guy like Dimitri in real life?
Zoey:
 I don’t know. I’d have to cross that bridge when I get there.
Do you lean more toward the mysterious/quiet types, or more humorous?
Zoey:
 I find humor to be the most attractive characteristic, but I certainly won’t cancel anything out, considering when you love someone you love someone, and sometimes you just can’t explain it.
If you could have a bond with anyone from the cast — where you could see everything that he/she saw — who would you want that bond with?
Zoey:
 Hmm… Yes and no to Dom Sherwood. He gets himself into some hilarious situations, so I would just be constantly entertained. It would be a struggle to not intervene and to not embarrass him all the time, but that would be wildly entertaining. I’m gonna get in trouble by him for saying that. :laughs:
Along with bonds, there are also elements in the VA world. Which one would you not mind having in real life?
Zoey: I wouldn’t want any of them. Most stories circle back to the idea that people are happier as humans and they’re not meant to be different in that sense I guess.
You’re actually part of our search for Favorite Celebrity Tweeter (along with the rest of #VAfamily). Who are some of your favorite people to follow on Twitter?
Zoey:
 OMG, Chrissy Teigen, Rob Delaney… Science Porn, National Geographic. I’m a very nerdy tweeter. In terms of people, who else do I love?… I follow a lot of designers. There’s a [Twitter] called @chanelthick, which is hilarious, and the name is, like, ‘k,’ on it and I find it hilarious. It’s just all ridiculous things that 13-year-old [...] girls say that are really embarrassing and hilarious. [Editor's note: Zoey also added that she loves to follow us @teen, too. How cool are we??]
We actually posted a trivia quiz about you. But what’s something that fans probably don’t already know about you?
Zoey:
 I think people know that I love food, but maybe people don’t know that I cook a lot.
And, finally, what are you planning for Halloween?
Zoey:
 That’s a great question. I was just discussing that with people last night. I’m not sure. I think I’m going to a couple of my friends’ shindigs, but the question of all questions — what am I going to dress up as? — that is to be determined. It’s a very high-stakes, pressured question to ask. I love Halloween.
Source: Teen.com

No comments:

Post a Comment