I was beyond excited to have snagged a red carpet spot for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Fan Event for Dallas, Texas. I have always been a devout Twihard since I read the books. Kansas City did not have many opportunities to do anything interview-wise for any of the Twilight Saga films. I think I bothered the PR rep here enough that she kindly let me have a spot for this event. It was like some kind dream come true (for me).

We were able to interview Jackson Rathbone (Jasper), Nikki Reed (Rosalie), Ashley Greene (Alice), and Charlie Bewley (Demetri) on the red carpet along with singer Christina Perri who has a song on the soundtrack.

The most interesting things that I found out from the interviews were that Jackson is not wearing a wig in Breaking Dawn and Charlie Bewley clued us in on that you need to stay after the credits of the film to see a special Volturi scene.

I have not been around that many Twilight-crazed fanatics ever, so it was quite loud at times outside on the red carpet. I will say that each and every one of the actors was extremely gracious to all of the fans. Jackson Rathbone jumped the press line to sign for fans standing behind the press. Nikki Reed got on the back of a security guard to sign autographs for fans that were above the red carpet. I got the sense that they were all grateful and appreciative of the fans, which was great to see.

Inside The Palladium, the press was able to get right up against the stage to take photos and video. Christina Perri performed three of her songs, “Jar of Hearts,” “Arms,” and “A Thousand Years.” The last song is on the Breaking Dawn – Part 1 soundtrack.

After Christina left the stage, the four actors in attendance came out and did about a fourty-five minute Q & A session. The host of the night was a DJ from one of the local radio stations. Unfortunately, he blocked my video shot most of the time. Fans were chosen randomly to come up on stage and ask a question. It was a neat experience and the actors were enjoying themselves.

It was a very cool experience for me to see firsthand what Twilight fandom en mass is like, and it is not all teenagers. There were a lot of moms and older women just as excited as the teenagers. Considering the whole event was free, it was a great way to promote the film and have fans be able to interact with some of their favorite actors.

All of the videos and photos can be found below.

by Sarah Ksiazek
Video edited by Ryan Davis
Video by Jessica Romano
Photos by Reanna Streater-Nunn