Mundie Moms

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Mortal Instruments Movie Set Visit Exclusive series #5: My OnSet Interview with Lily Collins


I'm wrapping my The Mortal Instruments movie set interview series today with my interview with the lovely Lily Collins. Like I mentioned in my interview with Robbie here, both Lily and Robbie were filming while we were on the set, but that didn't stop her from coming behind the cameras during her brief break to talk to us for a few minutes about her role and the movie. 

Lily Collins is seriously the sweetest person I've yet to meet. She is so incredibly nice, and lovely.From what I saw, and in talking to her, just like the rest of her fellow castmates, Lily Collins knows the character she's playing. I was so excited to see Lily in character. It was a little weird asking Lily questions about Clary when I felt like I was looking at Clary brought to life. Lily in my opinion makes the perfect Clary. I know she's received a lot of flake for her casting of Clary, and all I can say is she is going to wow people. She really gets Clary, and I loved seeing how she brought her to life. It was so surreal for me to see, I can only imagine what it was like for Cassie to see.

I don't think someone else could get Clary the way Lily does. I LOVED getting to see the passion Lily, and the rest of the cast, and all those tied to the movie have for these characters, and for getting this movie right. Sure somethings will be changed, but the characters will ring true to the characters I've fallen in with in the books. If you ever get the chance to meet Lily, do so! You'll know what I'm talking about when I say she is truly the sweetest person. 

Here's what I asked Lily:

What was your first impression of Clary when you read the script or the book?

Oh wow. I think she is just amazing, she is a heroine. But she is a normal girl at the same time and this kind of encompasses another question that maybe one of you have but it goes towards Clary..Is that this whole series is based in this fantasy world yet is still so realistic because it’s based in modern-day New York, in situations that every teenager goes through as well as having this parallel universe and it’s completely fantasy, but it marries the two together so well. I love that Clary lives in our world and also lives in another universe and she goes between the two and she’s fighting these demons of a fantasy world but also demons that every teenage girl goes through and she is able to do so without losing herself completely. I just love the way that she’s comedic and doesn’t take this fantasy world too seriously but knows when to really stay focused. She is such a well-balanced character and she is so much fun to play as well, especially in the version that we are doing, we do play up Cassandra’s comedy because that’s the beauty of the book. You read and you start giggling because they’re really funny and yet there is demons and this fantasy world going on and you’re like this shouldn’t be funny but because you’re not taking it too seriously, you’re able to agree with what’s going on and to actually understand it. That’s what I love most about Clary is that she is able to play that balance…and kick butt. It’s been so fun doing all the action! I was like, “do I get to do all this hanging from a wire and sword fighting?!” I LOVE the action part of it and they’re letting me do as much of it as I can, and that’s really fun.

Other fan site questions for Lily:

What scene were/are you most nervous to shoot when you were cast as Clary?
There are so many intense moments in this, especially in the script, the way that they’ve translated parts of the book that you wanted to, to do it justice. One of the scenes I was most nervous about I think was my first encounter with Jace in the alleyway because I’m doubting everything that I’ve ever known to be what I thought my life was and who I was and I’m confronted with this mysterious person who is both intriguing and extremely frightening at the same time and I have no idea what’s going on. The way that we’re doing this film, it’s really trying to stay true to a realistic sense of the fantasy world, it’s not just taking the book and making a movie version of it, so I wanted to stay as real as possible in the sense of freaking out about “if you found out that your Mom wasn’t your Mom” as opposed to just keeping it that “I’ve got these special powers”, it was really about making the fantasy realistic…so trying to act out being paranoid and intrigued at the same time and threatened but also curious – so many emotions going on at once that a normal typical teenage girl doesn’t have to go through. I was kind of nervous about that, and especially since it was the second day of filming with Jamie, and we were just thrown into it, and it was like “ok, go ahead and have that moment”, so I was nervous about that but again it was the second day and it was really really fun and when you feel it in the moment and then you watch it on playback, you’re like “ok I think everything I wanted was coming out of my eyes” so I am happy with that. But it was really really fun.
What was it like getting to wear the awesome Shadowhunter all-leather outfit for the first time?
It was fun. What I love about this is that you do see this normal Clary, you know, kind of hippie chic artsy girl, wearing boyfriend jeans and Doc Martens, going into this tube top of a dress and then into the Shadowhunter leather gear. When I first saw the outfits on the rack I thought they were Isabelle’s and then they were like “no, no, actually these are yours”. And so, I love it. It’s really fun to be able to have this other persona of Clary brought out in the clothes as well as in her situations and what she’s put through. But I would not wear what I saw in Pandemonium because they really went there, which is great, I mean, it looks beautiful on screen, um, but it’s very edgy and very sexy and very much how it should be in that fantasy world.
If you could create a rune like Clary can, what would you make one for?
I think it’s something that I feel I have but maybe could use a little more in different situations. Determination. I think that sometimes it’s easy to get told “no” and maybe give up right away or be told something that you can’t do something and then take someone’s word for it and not continually try to push forward. So if you had a Determination Rune that when you’re feeling down, you could then use it to encourage you to keep going or go after something that you really want. Just that extra oomph of enthusiasm to keep going.
If there is one word that explains an attribute of your character, but could also be used to describe yourself, what  would that be?
I would say Passionate. Definitely passionate because another thing about Clary that I love so much that I completely feel the same way about with her is that my Mom and I are best friends and so if something were to happen to my Mom, I would do everything in my power to get her back or to find her. I’m so passionate about our relationship and I would do whatever it would take to get back and so I think Clary is passionate about so many things and that translates to any generation. Whether it’s her artwork or family or a guy, or whatever it is, she puts a 100% of her heart and soul into what she does and I’d like to think that I am a very passionate person too.
What do you love most about The Mortal Instruments series?
I have been a huge fantasy fan since I was little. I would read every series of books that involved anything to do with magic or fantasy because I love because I loved disappearing for a little while. But what I love about this is that you can disappear for a while but still feel involved in it because it’s based in reality as well. It’s got this really cool parallel universe going on at the same time as keeping you grounded and, like I said before, Cassandra includes humor into it so it’s not this dark story taking itself so seriously that you kind of just play it off as a series of books, you actually become invested in the story, you laugh along with it, you side with the characters. And at the end of the day, yes it’s a fantasy series, but it’s got so much realness to it that you can get involved in the story and not just reading about these fantastical creatures that are unbelievable. And Harald has taken that kind of feeling of the series and brought it to the movie where we’re not relying on CGI in order to convey the scariness of a situation or the fact that people are actually demons. It only enhances the movie because he’s made it so character-based and emotionally-driven and that’s how the book has already made as well, incredibly emotionally driven and the characters is what sells the story not necessarily the fantasy world itself. I think no matter what generation you are you can always associate yourself with a character and an emotion as opposed to a fantasy world.
Were you familiar with the series before you acquired the role?
I was and that’s what made it even more…I was a fan of series and all of a sudden it was like I was being cast as a heroine that I admired. My Mom’s read all the books and the prequels. My Mom is just like “you remember that scene when…” and I’m like “Mom oh my god, I’m doing a movie, I need to focus on the first book right now. She and I would talk about it all the time and then I had just done Priest and Screen Gems and there was all this talk about making it into a movie and I was “just letting you know, I LOVE the series” and then I was cast and it was amazing because I was so passionate about the series of books and so aware, wasn’t aware of the huge fan base and the blogs and everything about that side of it until I was cast – when all of a sudden everything blew up about casting – Oh my god, I can’t imagine if anything had been taken badly in the Twitter sphere and the blogging, because I had no idea about how big the books were, I just knew that I responded to the literature of it. So for me this is like I’m a FAN that got to play a heroine that she admired. It’s really cool.
How do you think you are different from Clary? How have you worked around that aspect of it
She needs a little bit more of encouragement from other people. Clary has one main friend – Simon – who she confides in and has confided in forever. I’m not someone that has a bunch of friends but I do have a close-knit group and so, I think I have kinda of grown up with so many different types of people that I’m not easily shocked by someone that’s different. My Mom would take me to all different countries and I would travel a lot so I’ve been kind of more exposed to the quirks of different people and such where I think Clary has been very sheltered in that sense which, rightfully so, her Mom wanted to keep her sheltered from this world so as to protect her and my Mom obviously wanted to protect me too but I feel like I have been more exposed to different types of people than maybe Clary was. So in those situations where she is very shocked and going to Pandemonium and going “I don’t fit in here”. I’m not necessarily saying that I would “fit in” to Pandemonium but I think I would maybe feel more comfortable in different situations than her because I have been exposed to different types of situations and people than her. Still protected, but less sheltered.
The novels have appealed to both teens and adults... How in your perspective, will this movie appeal to both teens and adults?
Well, I think the fact that Harald, is making it so character-driven and emotionally-driven and not based on just trying to aesthetically appeal to an audience – It’s beautifully shot and Geir is an amazing DP – but I think the fact that he’s spent so much time on making sure that what we are doing is believable and is not silly or too CGI or too heavily relying on post-production. It’s something that my Mom as I do, enjoy watching old movies, where – black and whites – you can say so much through your eyes and you don’t have to speak to actually convey a message. That’s why Audrey Hepburn, those types of actresses are my favorite, because you can she see her on screen and she conveys a message without saying anything at all, and the way that we are shooting this film, you could almost watch it on mute and understand what’s going on because it’s so emotionally charged and it’s not relying on instant gratification – image, image, image- and it’s not based on just the aesthetics. When reading a book like this where you can laugh, you can cry, you can side with the characters, it’s something that no matter what age you are, you can relate to. You can relate to passion. Passion is universal. It doesn’t matter how old you are. If you are passionate about something you feel for it, and our film is so filled with that and it doesn’t rely on just the imagery – that no matter how old you are you can become invested in the story, it just keeps you on your toes.
****************

My thoughts overallThis was such a blast taking part in this series of interviews and sharing them with you all. It was hard waiting to talk about the details of the set visit, but so worth the wait in getting to share them with you all now. As a fan who had some reservations about some of the casting at first, I can honestly say the entire cast blew me away! I came way from the movie set visit and the entire experience feeling 110% confident that the right people were cast to bring my favorite Shadowhunters to life. Not only that, the studio brought what I enivisioned this world to look like to life. I really felt like a kid in a candy store while being on set. It was the coolest experience I won't soon forget. It was amazing to see things I've envisioned for so long, in person. WOW. That's all I can really say. From the props, to the set, to the actors. No little or big detail went unnoticed and I was literally in awe over all I saw.  I CAN NOT WAIT to see the final product on the big screen! This is one book turned to movie that was made RIGHT!! Thank you to Cassie, Sony and Constantin Films!!

Catch my previous On Set interviews with CassieJamieRobert, Jemima & Kevin

SONY Pictures Announces the TMI Mall Tour *REVISED* Press Release



Shadowhunter fans, check out where this Summer's TMI Mall press tour is visiting:

STARS OF ‘THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES’ TO TOUR MALLS NATIONWIDE TO MEET FANS
Tour includes stops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia before film’s release.
CULVER CITY, CA (July 17, 2013) – Stars of Sony Pictures & Constantin Films’ THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES will embark on a national tour to meet press and fans July 28th – August 2nd, 2013. The tour includes stops in Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, and Philadelphia.
Sponsors for the tour include rue21, Hot Topic, and Barnes & Noble.  Each stop will include Q&A events with the cast where fans can ask questions of their favorite stars, watch footage from the film and participate in autograph signings.  Talent will be available for select press opportunities on each tour stop. To request information regarding any of the tour stops, see media contacts below.

Sunday, July 28th from 1pm-3pm – MINNEAPOLIS
Fan event at Mall of America® (Rotunda) 60 E. Broadway, Bloomington
Sponsors: Mall of America, Theaters at Mall of America®, Barnes & Noble & Hot Topic
Talent: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Kevin Zegers, and best-selling author, Cassandra Clare
Q&A will be open to the public. To take part in the exclusive autograph signing with the cast and author, wristbands can be picked up on a first come, first serve basis in the Mall of America Rotunda starting at 11:00am on Sunday, July 28th.
For media inquiries, contact: Katie Stroup 612-436-7405 kstroup@alliedim.com

Tuesday July, 30th from 6pm-8pm – CHICAGO
Fan event at the Chicago Ridge Mall (Outside of rue21) 444 Chicago Ridge Mall, Chicago
Sponsor: rue21
Talent: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Kevin Zegers
Q&A will be open to the public. To take part in the exclusive autograph signing with the cast, stop by the rue21 store inside Chicago Ridge Mall on Tuesday, July 23rd from 2:00pm-6:00pm to get a VIP wristband with the purchase of a Mortal Instruments T-Shirt.
For media inquiries, contact: Amanda Vallejo 312-376-8572 avallejo@alliedtha.com

Wednesday, July 31st from 5pm-7pm – MIAMI
Fan event at the Dolphin Mall (Main Courtyard) 11401 NW 12th Street, Miami
Sponsor: Hot Topic
Talent: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Kevin Zegers
Q&A will be open to the public. To take part in the exclusive autograph signing with the cast, stop by the Hot Topic store inside Dolphin Mall on Friday, July 19th starting at 10:00am, to get a VIP wristband with the purchase of a Mortal Instruments item.
For media inquiries, contact: Vanessa Krause 954-200-8016 vkrause@alliedim.com

Friday, August 2nd from 4pm-6pm – PHILADELPHIA
Fan event at the Franklin Mills Mall (Food Court) 1455 Franklin Mills Circle, Philadelphia
Sponsor: rue21

Talent: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, and best-selling author, Cassandra Clare
Q&A will be open to the public. To take part in the exclusive autograph signing with the cast and author, stop by the rue21 store inside Franklin Mills Mall on Tuesday, July 23rd from 2:00pm – 6:00pm to get a VIP wristband with the purchase of a Mortal Instruments T-Shirt.  
For media inquiries, contact: Ann-Marie Nachhio 267-765-3729 amnacchio@alliedim.com

About THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES
Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures.  Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.    

A Constantin Film International GmbH and Unique Features (TMI) Inc. production, THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES is directed by Harald Zwart, and produced by Robert Kulzer and Don Carmody.  Jessica Postigo Paquette wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Cassandra Clare. Bob Shaye, Michael Lynne and Martin Moszkowicz executive produced.
THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES opens in theaters nationwide on August 21, 2013.

For more information on the film, please visit http://www.facebook.com/themortalinstruments.

About Hot Topic
Hot Topic is a mall- and web-based specialty retailer beloved by rebellious and expressive teens for nearly 25 years. Hot Topic offers music and pop culture junkies band-related apparel and accessories, licensed merchandise, and fashion apparel and accessories. Hot Topic operates 625 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico and an online store at hottopic.com. Find Hot Topic on Twitter (twitter.com/hottopic), Facebook (facebook.com/hottopic), YouTube (youtube.com/hottopic) and Instagram (instagram.com/hottopic).

About rue21
"rue21 is a leading specialty teen apparel retailer offering exclusive branded merchandise and the newest trends at a great value. rue21 currently operates 941 in 47 states. Learn more at www.rue21.com."

* Please not this is the REVISED tour details I received from Sony.

Are you planning on going to any of these stops? If so, let us know! Sadly we're too far from any of the locations, but would love to see pics from the events.

In other news, we're almost 1 month a way from the MOVIE being released!

#YEAHYA Author Event Re-Cap From The Southlake, TX Event & A Giveaway


This was past Friday I was the live blogger for Harleqin Teen's 2013 Author Fest in Southlake, TX and what an awesome event it was. The event took place at Barnes & Noble with Julie Kagawa, Aimee Carter, Rachel Vincent, Gena Showalter & Katie McGarry, and what an awesome event it was!


Prior to the panel and signing starting, I spent some time with these fabulous ladies laughing and talking about books, their hot guys in their books, and a whole lot more.

From L to R: Rachel Vincent, Gena Showalter, Myself, Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry & Aimee Carter

The Interview
This is a shortened version of the audio interview from the event

MMs: What is one of your Oh Yeah moments you've had in writing? It can be a sexy scene or a scene that you wrote that came together perfectly.

Julie Kagawa: When I finished The Eternity Cure. The very last scene. THAT SCENE. I finished and I was like "Oh yeah, they're going to cry." 

MMs: Yes, you were evil. Did you do your evil laugh?

Katie McGarry: Yes, your book needs to come with a recording when you open it, it has your evil laugh.

Julie Kagawa: Laughs. Your tears feed my muse.

Aimee Carter: The entire Goddess Legacy book. I had already written all three books, plus the novella at that point and they asked me to write the Goodess Legacy, we had an accelerated publishing schedule. I was literally reading through the other three books, as the Goddess Legacy is a prequel and I had to have it all come together and it wasn't happening until I got to Henry's novella, which is the last one in the book, and it all came together. The book is 5 novellas, but they form a larger cohesive story. 

Rachel Vincent: I just had my recent Oh Yeah moment with my upcoming book. I wrote a novella for the 4th Soul Screamers series. They had me write bonus content, and the bonus content takes place between the end of the last book and the epilogue for the last book. It turns out it's hard to put a story together with out giving everything away to the characters, because they can't know what's happening in the epilogue yet. In writing it I was able together tie together the elements from the previous novellas and books into the one story. 

Gena Showalter: Mine was more of a suck it moment. *laughter had by all* That's right, suck it Ali, suck it Cole! *we all laugh again* If a character ever dies in my book, it's because I'm tired of writing them. *laughter again*

Katie McGarry: her's is a spoiler moment from Pushing the Limits. Sorry guys, I can't post it here, so we don't give a HUGE spoiler here on the blog.

MM's: Which of your characters surprised you the most with the role they ended up playing in either one of your books or your overall series? 

Aimee Carter: That would be Ava for me. The more I wrote her, the more I realized the bigger role she would play. She becomes one of the four main characters in the series. It was a big deal.

Julie Kagawa: The character that surprised me in The Eternity Cure was Jackal. I threw him in there because I knew he was going to be in there, and he started taking over and stealing all the spotlight and it's surprising, because everyone has told me that he became the character that surprised them all the most to. He became this hilarious, snarky, interesting guy, and it surprised me too.

Katie McGarry: Beth and Issiah. Beth and Isaiah where suppose to be in the second book together, but Isaiah really, really love Beth and Beth  really, really cared about Isaiah. They broke my heart. *spoilers, so leaving the rest of her comment off* ;)

Rachel Vincent: Mine is probably pretty obvious at this point. Tod was suppose to be a side character. He was just suppose to be a thorn in Nash's side, and a convient source of information, but he became much bigger than that. I didn't intend for that to happen until Nash got into some really serious trouble, and he couldn't come back from that as a romantic lead. There are some lines you can't cross, and go back to the way things were. 

Gena Showalter: Kat and Frosty from Alice in Zombieland. She's just this little princess pit bull. Her off and on again relationship with Frosty just consumes me. I'd love to write a short story for Kat and Frosty. I want to get into her head. She's so fun. 

MMs: Which character of yours would you have been friends with when you were a teen? *I'm editing this down, as there was a lot of hysterical off topic laugher and conversations had with this. I'm laughing still as I'm writing typing up the transcript* 

Aimee Carter: Define friends. *lots of laughter*  

MM's: *laughing* The character you'd want to hang out with.

Julie Kagawa: PUCK. He'd be so much fun to get into trouble with. 

Aimee Carter: Henry!

Katie McGarry: Beth, and I would have a total crush on Isaiah.

Gena Showalter: I'd be good friends with Kat

Rachel Vincent: I feel like I should say Kaylee, but I feel like she's a goody, goody, so I'd say Sabine. She's a lot of fun. 

MMs: Who's a favorite fictional character of yours that if you could, you'd insert into your book or series:

Aimee Carter: The entire cast of Harry Potter. We've had a running joke during the entire tour that I've been able to associate everything with Harry Potter. 

MMs: What about Henry Potter? 

Aimee Carter: Henry Potter!

Katie McGarry: I have to say Pony Boy Curtis from The Outsiders.

Gena Showalter: Dev from Kresley Cole's Arcana Chronicles

Julie Kagawa: Valek from Maria V. Snyder's Study series.

Thank you to these fabulous ladies for all the laughs, and for taking the time to sit and visit with me!

The Set Up






















THE PANEL: The panel consisted of Julie Kagawa, Katie McGarry, Rachel Vincent, Gena Showalter, and Aimee Carter. These ladies know how to make a panel fun. Not only where they hilarious together, but they totally engaged the crowd.















THE CROWD: *click on the images to enlarge*


This crowd rocked! They all waved for the camera for me. 
Thanks for waving for me guys!! ;) 




It was so great to see so many fans come out and support these authors! TEXAS definitely showed their support.

The Giveaway:

I've got 5 SIGNED bookmarks from all 5 authors I'm giving away. This is open internationally. To enter, just leave me your email address and you'll be entered to win. 1 entry per person! Good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Eye of Minds by James Dashner


By: James Dashner
Published by: Random House
To Be Released on: 10/8/13
Series: The Mortality Doctrine #1
Add it to Goodreads
Pre-Order it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

An all-new, edge-of-your seat adventure from James Dashner, the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, The Eye of Mindsis the first book in The Mortality Doctrine, a series set in a world of hyperadvanced technology, cyberterrorists, and gaming beyond your wildest dreams . . . and your worst nightmares.

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.

The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.
And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team.
But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever

YES! James Dashner has a YA book coming out this year! I can't tell you how excited I am over this. It was a huge must have at BEA this year, and it's already receiving a lot of fabulous buzz. I'm looking forward to featuring it in later this fall on MM's. This a book I can not wait to sit down and read. 

What book are you waiting on?

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