Nikki Reed – Taking the Lead

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  I was on a television show called “The O.C.” for the beginning of the year, the first six months of the year.  Before that I finished a film called Cherry Crush, which is actually going to come out in the fall.  It’s got a wonderful cast and I’m very proud of it.  Then I did a movie called American Gun, which should be opening in the next few weeks.  It’s produced by Forest Whitaker and it’s about the proliferation of guns in America with a bunch of specific stories that play in towns around the country.  I also did a movie called Mini’s First Time with Alec Baldwin that Kevin Spacey produced.  I played Mini and that’s opening July 14th in New York and LA.  I’m going to the Minneapolis Film Festival tomorrow for a week, so there’s that. 

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise for Mini’s First Time and about your character?

A.  It’s a black comedy, so hopefully people will get the humor and understand that a lot of times in film what people have to do to send a strong message is make it funny so people can sit through it.  Because, if you actually said everything point blank that was going on with this character, no one would be laughing or sitting in the theater.  So, Mini comes from a very troubled placed.  Her mother is an alcoholic and a drug addict. Basically, it’s the theory of a human being raised without any sort of affection.  I did a lot of research at the time, especially serial killers and murders – not that’s what Mini is – but a lot of times people grow up and they don’t have those fundamental traits that parents give them.  It really messes with their emotions and their ability to feel consequences or feel empathy.  That’s pretty much the theory about who Mini is, she was raised with no love, no affection and no attention.  So, she has this theory of firsts, she wants to do everything once.  I think that she’s replacing all of that love that she didn’t get with adrenaline, almost like trying match that feeling.  So, it’s all about pushing the limits and pushing her parents, whose going to turn their head and care about what she’s doing.  She has an affair with her step father because they both have that one thing in common, they live with this absolutely wretched woman, Diane, who is played by Carrie-Anne Moss.  I know it sounds awful but they end up killing her mother, but it’s all done in a sort of funny manner, if that helps.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  Well, whenever you hear that Kevin Spacey is producing a project and he is going to be very in touch and work closely with that project, it is kind of like it doesn’t matter what it is, right after that you’re very interested.  I sat down with the writer-director and my first question was “Where did this come from?”  You start having fun with directors, you have to feel like you can relate to them or at least be on the same level in terms of understanding the project and the material.  You have to be sort of one with it; and he was.  Then, I sat down with Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti, who produced it as well, who is fantastic.  I just kind of loved the idea of playing a character that was so different than myself, it’s actually the opposite.  I grew up with very little money but with a mother who always over loved and was overly affectionate with my brother and I.  So, I just thought that was something I could not relate to at all with where she was coming from, but it was something that I wanted to play.

Q.  How was getting to work with director Nick Guthe on the film?

A.  It was great, sometimes, not that you have to be careful, but people tend to get nervous when they’re working with first time writer-directors.  Because, we’ve all had our share of bad experiences when you work with someone who is too close to the material and can’t really pull themselves away.  Nick was so willing to collaborate, which I think all actors hope for. We want to be directed by someone who has a strong vision, which he did.  But, he was also open to rehearsals, which I love.  Letting the actors play with the material a little bit and find what’s most comfortable.  There were certainly some things I found in the script that originally I couldn’t do because I was sixteen when we shot it, even though I was playing eighteen.  He was very willing to make sure that I was comfortable with what I was doing and those are all things that are really important to me.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from working on Mini’s First Time?

A.  So many, I don’t even know where to start.  First, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a film, even in Thirteen, that I was in every single scene of the movie.  There has to be at least a scene that I wasn’t in.  But, there was a lot of pressure that I put on myself because I was trying to carry this film.  I was working with very seasoned, respected actors so there were just so many fun things that we got to do.  We got to shut down Sunset Boulevard, which is such a big deal, on a Saturday night and I got to drive this insanely fast Mercedes and a BMW at ninety miles an hour.  I did my own driving stunts, which was super fun.  We got to all the way out to the desert and I got to drive like a hundred miles an hour.  I don’t know if I’m supposed to be saying this actually, that could be very illegal.  They did these awesome helicopter shots, just some really fun stuff.  We shot in Los Angeles but they recreated a lot of other places.  They recreated this Mexican resort but it was way up in Malibu. 

Q.  You’ll be attending the Solstice Film Festival coming up.  What are you most looking forward to there?

A.  We’re leaving tomorrow, I love festivals. My first experience was with Thirteen at Sundance and I guess I really am blessed because with Thirteen I had a really amazing experience.  Going to Tribeca (Film Festival) for Mini and now going to this, they’re honoring me with a very special award.  I love being around festivals, I love being around people who are into new films and can appreciate them.  You meet a lot of young, up and coming directors who are usually there with their first films.  There are several things that I want to do in my life and directing is one of them, one of the many things.  So, I get to see what that process is like and hopefully one day I’ll be able to be in their shoes at festivals for my first film.

Q.  The film already premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.  What kind of reviews is it getting?

A.  For the most part pretty good.  I think that the most important thing to remember is, whether or not people are saying good or bad things about a film, it’s obviously their opinion if that’s what they want to speak about it.  So, I would rather have a whole bunch of controversial reviews then have a whole bunch of reviews of “Yeah, that was fine.”  I was very nervous when I went to Tribeca because I had never seen the film with an audience before and I didn’t know if people were going to laugh.  I don’t know if I’m very funny, but I was supposed to be funny.  So, I think that it was pretty well received, but it’s hard humor to get.

Q.  Why should viewers take the time to check out Mini’s First Time?

A.  I think that people like to see films that speak about things that we don’t normally want to talk about.  I think that’s the best answer that I can give for that. Because, one of the reasons why I love independent films so much is because they don’t shy away from anything.  You can either be upset with all of the stuff that Mini does in the film or you can try and understand where it came from, which is what I did.  That’s why I did the film originally.  You don’t have to be able to relate to every single thing, but I am sure there is at least one element in the film, whether it is how she was raised or the decisions that she made or acting out, I am sure they can relate to something.

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  I am taking Samba lessons and learning how to dance.  One of my best friends that I grew up with, who is way more intelligent than I am because she’s going to Yale, she is in town for the summer before she leaves for Russia to study abroad.  So, she’s staying with me right now and we’re just having a blast going to jewelry stores and going to the beach, just doing all kinds of fun stuff.  I want to travel a little bit if I have time off after I do press for Mini.  I am doing another film, they told me I can’t speak about it yet, I’m shooting another film in September.  Hopefully in the month of August I can travel, I really want to go to Spain.  I have some friends there and I can hang out. 

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  I think I just want to say thank you to everyone that is appreciating my work and the path that I’m going with my work.  I do a lot of films that no one will ever see, most of them won’t be out in movie theaters, or they are independent films that are really controversial.  I just want to be respected in all areas.  With my next script I am trying to get made, I hope that people will continue to be open minded.  I had a really hard time for a while, they put me into this category of the Thirteen girl and that’s so not who I am.  I actually mentor a group of girls and it’s really nice to hear from those people that they can see me in a different light.