Twilight Saga gives young Vancouver actors a taste of celebrity

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's fame infects a host of young thespians in Hollywood North

VANCOUVER -- “It’s a little bit strange sometimes when you’re not expecting it,” 16-year-old Jodelle Ferland giggles. “You’re just walking down the street and somebody comes up to you and knows who you are.”

For the Vancouver-based, Nanaimo-born actress, playing Bree Tanner in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has turned her into somewhat of a teenage celebrity.

Ferland is just one of many B.C.-based actors who have seen a boost in their profiles — and careers — thanks to the vampiric pop-culture phenomenon, which was filmed in B.C.

Based on Stephenie Meyer’s four teen romance novels, the Twilight movie adaptations showcase some of B.C.’s considerable acting talent, as well as its natural beauty. The franchise, which has achieved epic commercial success since its inception, has spawned everything from life-size Edward Cullen wall decals to an official Twilight Convention Tour to a cult of crazed fans, often referred to as “Twi-hards.”

Millions have flocked to theatres to melt over the forbidden love between a hunky vampire and a clumsy girl. In short, Twilight’s super-sized visibility and fan base have provided incredible exposure for local actors cast in the films, including Ferland, whose budding acting career included credits such as Silent Hill and Case 39.

“Twilight has had a huge impact on my career,” Ferland says over the phone from San Francisco, where she’s completing voice-over work for her latest project, The Haunting Hour, a television series that recently filmed in Vancouver.

“I’ve been doing all sorts of publicity for Twilight and conventions, and I get to interact with the fans a lot, which is so much fun. Before Twilight, I didn’t have a lot of teen fans, and now I definitely do. Most Twilight fans are teenagers, which is pretty cool, because I get recognized a lot more now by teens rather than people who like to watch horror films.”

Although the first film, Twilight, wasn’t shot in Vancouver, the second and third instalments of the series — New Moon and Eclipse — ended up finding a home in the Lower Mainland.

In April 2009, an open casting call for first nation actors was held for New Moon. The result was hysteria. Hundreds turned out to Second Avenue Studios in hopes of snatching a coveted role alongside the series’ stars, heartthrobs Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. [Check out where the vampires live, work and play here.]

When casting assistants finally closed down the call, tears and tantrums ensued.

But New Moon eventually found its local stars, as did Eclipse. Penni Thow, an agent with Vancouver’s PLAY Management, saw a few of her clients, including Ferland, cast in the films. Tyson Houseman landed his first role as the werewolf Quil Ateara. Cameron Bright booked the part of Volturi vampire Alec. And actress Leah Gibson was cast in the role of Nettie, the seductive vampiress.

“They call Vancouver ‘Hollywood North’ for a reason,” Thow says. “There are a lot of very, very talented actors up here, and that’s part of the reason so much work does come our way. Everyone is very hard working and their results of that is that business is improving and there’s more and more work coming to Vancouver.”

Thow says that any project that offers the range or recognizability that Twilight does gives its actors a boost in the industry. The casting opportunities that have come out of the franchise have been great for both PLAY Management and their “Twilighters,” but for these fledgling actors, the fans are everything. [Keep an eye out for some young Twilight actors here.]

“Those fans will be with them for their whole life and they’re very fortunate to have that support.”

Stuart Aikins, Vancouver-based casting director and one half of Aikins/Cossey Casting, worked on New Moon, Eclipse, and now Breaking Dawn, the last instalment of the series that is set to film in Vancouver this month.

Although Aikins’ goal is to find the best actor possible, he want the Canadian talent to succeed and can’t help but feel proud of local actors who have grown their careers with their Twilight roles.

“Lots of times people will hire somebody because they’ll go, ‘Oh right, they were quite cool in the Twilight movies’ and they’ll hire them directly because of that. A good movie, or a movie that a lot of people go to, boosts the people that are in it. It just so happens that The Twilight Saga was watched by millions of people.

“I feel great for [the local actors]. I think it’s great as they develop and move on. That’s the whole point. The point is for them to get some recognizability and to develop and get better work. Yeah, I’m excited by it all the time.”

Aikins points to Ferland as an example of the kind of success local actors are seeing, and credits B.C. as “an incredible place to develop a career” before heading south.

Ferland couldn’t agree more.

“I think B.C. is a good place to start, especially if you live here already,” she says. “There’s no point in moving to Los Angeles. I know a lot of people when they decide they want to become and actor or actress, they think they automatically have to go and move to Hollywood to start a career. But in Vancouver we actually have a good film base here. We have a lot of movies and TV shows [that] are filmed here — a lot more than people think, actually. There are a lot of agencies and quite a few actors live here. People don’t recognize that.”

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