(no subject)
a little less 16 candles, a little more touch me, 2006
the sacrifice of life; whole new world (interviews)
gabe / william, 4069 words (r)
interview # 1 - ryan and brendon
"the teeth," brendon nods, tonguing them proudly. "yeah it was definitely the teeth."
ryan just shakes his head. "look," he says simply, and though it's kind of rude, brendon understands that he's about to say something good, something intellectual and genuine and something that makes more sense then "the teeth." he says, "i don't think anyone, including myself, knows how many nights i was was awakened by a phone call from pete and forced to listen to his insane rambling about vampire covens and love stories. i felt like i was going out of my mind. he kept me up all night sometimes, going on and on about who would be with who and how everyone met. he has this whole back story, this century old tale of how william and gabe found each other. there are still scenes in his head even if the script is finished, things that will never see the light of day but he'll start smiling, randomly, pull someone off into a corner and tell them about it."
brendon smiles fondly at him and though ryan looks weary and annoyed-- it's been a long day and he's just had to redo a scene three times because of bad lighting-- he is genuine about what he says and we all can see it.
"see," he continues, and now a few more people, some cast members and crew are all standing around listening to what he has to say because it is important and pete would be proud to hear him say all of this, "we are a big family, all of us, and it's nice to know that years down the road we can look back on this and think hey, we created something beautiful together."
he shrugs and a few people walk away with smiles on their faces. brendon puts a hand on his shoulder and nods at him.
"but you do like the teeth, right?" he asks, and ryan shakes his head just slightly.
interview # 2 - one big bro-hang
"we're not chopped liver," jon explains. "we get to look menacing and enjoy the catering all day--"
he gets cut off by the butcher, who is overly excited about the catering and practically yells, "it's really great! you know they got this like, cheese spread and some good veggies--"
"basically this whole thing is one big bro-hang," alex explains, and ryland agrees. he is sipping his fourth cup of tea and leaning on nate who is a little distracted by his hat.
michael nods, "seriously, we just lounge around all day and watch the scenes when we're not filming. it's really cool."
felix smiles at him and says, "i mean, i get locked in a room and yeah, we don't have any lines, but who wants to memorize lines anyway?"
"yeah," tom laughs, "gabe can never remember his and i know william's written his fair few on his hand."
"--and earlier there were cookies and chocolate milk!"
"totally," nate chimes in. "if you think about it, we get to play dress up and hang out with our friends. we don't have to do any of the real work-- like, bill and gabe are sucking dick for hours at a time if pete thinks the scene isn't going right, we don't have to do any of that."
"i made this sandwich, right? cause there was bread and cheese and some pieces of smoked chicken and ham and something that i think was turkey. so i got some tomatoes and cucumbers and someone found mayo for me which was a bonus."
"plus i mean, we get to be in the fight scene, which is pretty epic, considering." spencer nods, ignoring andy completely. "pete didn't even write that part of the script, but we've all been doing some intense training and it's gonna be insane; it's all action and screaming, some green screen stuff for the dissipating bodies and all."
mike looks over at the butcher as he continues to describe his perfect sandwich and shrugs. "we're just, we're not chopped liver."
victoria shrugs, makes a noise that sounds like an agreement, but the boys aren't sure so their attention is all directed to her. "i have lines," she smiles. "i like having lines."
they all scowl, looking slightly dejected, and ryland shakes his head slowly at her. "i hate you," he says.
interview # 3 - audrey and keltie
"i used to do pete's hair," audrey laughs, "and keltie dances."
"we're not special," keltie chimes in. they work seamlessly together: finishing sentences, glancing at each other to silently ask who will finish the thought they are both having. keltie smiles and audrey speaks, audrey laughs and keltie shakes her head because she knows, even if the words aren't being said, that they're on the same page.
"none of us are special--" audrey starts.
keltie nods, finishing her thought. "but we're part of something that 'special' doesn't even begin to describe."
interview # 4 - maja
"what's it like being the villain?" maja smirks, gives a little chuckle and glances at victoria for some kind of assistance. vickyt smiles sympathetically and pats her arm.
"you're not really," she offers, but maja shakes her head and answers the question after she's had a moment to think.
she's not scary, not cruel or austere, though her character is. it's hard to separate the actor from the character, especially with a movie like this, but maja smiles when she speaks and fumbles over the english words she still can't pronounce properly. victoria is chatting away on a sidekick, here for the quick interview before the two girls get lunch. maja had no problem delaying their meal to answer a few questions.
"i think with a story like this, and with characters like gabriel and william who have no boundaries in their life, you need someone to hold them back, to knock them down a few pegs." she nods at her own answer, still working out what to say in her head. "they are limitless, in every aspect of their lives. without me, without conflict, there would be no excitement. sure they would exist, they would party and fuck all day and that's fun but who wants to watch that on a screen?"
we ask about the other vampires, the other covens, and why she let word leak that she had left. it seems like something pete would have filled her in on, and sure enough, she is knowledgeable about the situation.
"well, my character, me, i realized that i wasn't needed." it's simple, the way she says it, but she still elaborates. "it's bittersweet in a way. on one hand, you have these two people that you've loved and nurtured all your life finally growing up and becoming something, being happy with their lives and realizing that they are very happy with everything they have. you should be happy for them but on the other hand, they're growing up without you."
her words are deliberate, enunciated and said with a determination to prove that her character is not evil, not at all. "i think the way pete wrote it is that i was hurt, betrayed but proud of them all at once. my boys became men and even though i wanted to congratulate them, i was bitter that they didn't feel the need to include me in their coming of age party. instead of leaving peacefully, i sent them one last task to test their abilities." she shrugs, thinking of something else to add, but words fail her.
victoria smirks. "yeah, and someone had to be the bitch."
interview # 5 - snow day
"i made a snowman," sisky grins, and just as quickly, his smile fades into a frown. "stupid mike carden destroyed it." he shakes his head at the bad memory and sighs, but then his smile slowly reappears. "but it got caught on film and pete wrote it into the script, so it's all good!"
interview # 6 - travis
"it's like this," he says nonchalantly. "pete wrote a story about vampires. there's sex, there's blood, there's a lot of good humour and the festivals love this shit. we get shit talked cause it's fueled by ramen, right? there's a bartskull in every corner, but it's a good movie. that's all i really have to say." he shrugs and to be fair, we caught him on his way out for the day so we don't want to keep him. "go watch the movie, that's it."
interview # 7 - william
the thing about william beckett is, he rambles. we sort of just let him talk because he wouldn't stop, but what he said was really sweet, so we didn't mind.
"the whole integrity of this story changed midway and you know, i mean, pete could have stopped and said, 'no, i have a plan and i'm sticking with it' you know, but he didn't, he let it take him where it did and i think, i think it turned out really well. cause essentially it's a story about me-- well, my character who is really, you know, it's me but a vampire but okay-- it's a story about family and all the different family dynamics you can achieve in a coven of vampires and the family you make outside of that coven, the people you trust and the people you fall in love with."
he takes a breath and our reporter thinks he may be finished, but it's only a breath and after a day of reciting dialogue, we can't really blame him for wanting to express his own words.
"i know it was supposed to be a love story, like an epic love story, you know, between me and travis, and while that was all great, and i was excited to follow that through because the original script was flawless, you know, it turned into a different kind of love story altogether and now, when i read this script, when i look at these pages and say these words, i can feel where pete is coming from cause all of us are a family, you know? we're a family on set and off set and in character or out of it, we're all completely in love with one another and it's just great, you know. it's really, it's really something."
the pressure of being the main character certainly hasn't hit him. he has it easy, according to cast mates, but even so, he's been working twelve hour days every day since they started and it hasn't taken its toll.
"no way," he laughs. "i would be happy to do this every day, i would." he nods again and this time he's actually finished so we ask one last question. just one.
"no," he laughs, shaking his head. "we're not-- gabe and i have never been together like that, not off set, anyway. i mean, we snuggle, you know." maybe it's just wishful thinking, but we're pretty sure he's turned another shade of bright pink.
interview # 8 - gabe
"i knew you'd come to me for the gossip," gabe snickers, rubbing his palms together. "you guys are sneaky but alright, alright, i'll give you the skinny." he knows what we want and we know what he's good for so this exchange will be pleasant for all involved parties. he begins, thinking for a moment and counting things off on his fingers, laughing to himself as he does.
"okay, one? it's no secret that the panic guys are fucking each other. i'm not sure in what combination, but it happens, a lot. i know that for a fact so if those short little dudes try to mess with you, tell them about the time i caught brendon and ryan in the back of their bus and the fact that jon and spencer weren't phased by it at all." laughing, he takes a sip of water and moves onto the next topic of discussion.
"there have been a lot of shenenigans-- which is a word i use way too frequently after shooting this thing, by the way. i mean, we're pranking people left and right. i mean, patrick spent about four hours in a duct taped trailer cause pete wanted to do some scenes and he didn't want patrick interrupting the flow of creativity or some shit, but it was hysterical. well," he realizes, making a face. "that doesn't really count as gossip does it?"
after a quick confirmation, he starts his list again, muttering to himself as he thinks about it.
"panic guys are fucking each other, pete and patrick, although everyone knows that one, oh!" he shifts in his seat excitedly and looks around to make sure no one's listening. "travie's fucked two of the girls in the cast, and not the ones you think either." he laughs, practically giggles and when we inquire about who the girls are he gasps, shocked. "how the fuck did you know!?"
we have our ways, and our sources, we tell him. he might actually have to think about this for a while to come up with something good, something we don't already know.
"so you know about sisky and the butcher?" he asks. and yes, we know. "alex and ryland's little hookup last week?" we know. "chiz and little nathaniel?" yeah, we've got all the bases covered.
"well i guess i can't be angry or anything. i love my family and we all love each other. it's nice that you know, i wish more people knew." he nods, sipping his water and glancing sideways at william and travis as they practice a scene, an argument.
"what?" he asks, then catches the question again, as though the sound just took it's time getting to his ears. gabe laughs, shaking his head coyly. "no, we're not." he sets the water down, glancing back at william once more. "we're not together." william waves at him from the other side of the room and gabe offers a smile in return. "but i mean, we snuggle."
interview # 9 - well that solves that
travis is showing us around, apologetic that he wasn't able to give us a proper interview before. we understand, everyone is pretty busy around here, and the tour around the set is appreciated.
the manor is a place pete must have paid a lot of money to use, or he knows the right people. we'll bet it was the latter because this house is as gorgeous as it looks on film and every room has a different thing to see, to pay attention to. perhaps travis isn't the right person to be showing us around because he gets distracted at little things and doesn't know details about the architectural stuff. he does, however, offer little interesting tidbits about filming and after all, that's why we're here.
"that's where the butcher fell down and almost busted his head open," he points to the stairs and laughs. "shit, that was intense but we laughed about it later." we walk up and he starts a tour of the bedrooms, which for the most part, are lavish and victorian with a few things sticking out to define characters.
ryan and keltie's room has strange lamps and ballet shoes in a corner of the room, a mandolin and a victrola. maja's has fancy old dresses and more updated styles all over the bed and the armchair. victoria and alex share quarters filled with books and obscure british records, opposed to sisky and the butcher's room which has nineties music and an array of mixed tapes. brendon and audrey's bedroom has gloomy bears.
"oh, alright, this one is the best in my opinion," travis tells us. he mentioned before how much he liked the manor despite not having any screen time here. it was the late night parties that attracted him, and the way you could always get lost even if you had a map of the place in your hands.
he's already shown us the kitchen and it's stock of fruit and vegetables, the basement which includes audrey's laboratory, the storeroom of blood and the cells they kept other vampires in among other things. he revealed that the holy water was just regular water and that it kind of tasted like juice. we didn't ask why or how he knew that. he's showed us the piano in the sitting room and of course, that ended in a song and dance provided by ryan and keltie who were passing through. we have to admit though, the rooms are the most interesting because they show the most about the characters we've all grown to love. he's saved the best for last.
"this is gabe and bill's room, and i don't think there's anything modern in there cause you know, they're livin in the fifteen hundreds or some shit." travis pushes the door open a little bit but immediately pulls it back as quickly as he can, hoping that the quiet click of the door handle didn't make too much noise.
the damage is done, though, and we can't take back what we've seen.
he stumbles over his words and we sort of chuckle, hold hands over our mouths and go over what's happening in the room.
from what we saw, and it's not like there was any time to see much but a tangle of limbs anyway, gabe and william were enjoying the quiet time that post production allows to take advantage of an empty home and an empty bedroom. for the most part, they are quiet and careful, not making too much noise in the event that someone walks by. unfortunately for them, we walked in.
"it's not that big of a surprise," travis admits, looking utterly bewildered. "but they've been denying it forever, we all just-- shit, i don't even know what to say." he laughs and we start walking back downstairs. our tour of the bedroom's has been cut short, but we got a lot more than we bargained for.
before we hit the stairs, however, the door opens and they walk out, not surprised at all to see us. william's hair is a mess and gabe's missed a few button's on his shirt but i suppose they've gotten good at playing it cool.
"hey," william says, walking up and clapping travis on the back. "what are you guys up to?"
we explain about the tour and gabe gets excited, asking us what we've seen so far. we tell him while travis quietly asks william what he and gabe were up to.
"nothing," he shrugs, tucking a strand of hair behind his ears. "running lines, you know. we've got a lot of voice overs to do tomorrow." travis nods, throws us a look and we smile at each other.
interview # 10 - final words
"look, here's the thing--" he explains. he's sitting beside patrick who is immersed in the script, in the revision pete just wrote, waving his hands around excitedly as he speaks to us. "i got bored one day and decided to write a movie script. i wanted all my friends to be in it because real actors are lame and i'd have to pay them."
pete is jittery, exactly the way he wrote himself and we can't help but wonder if this whole thing was just a big metaphor for his life.
"i've done albums, songs are great and all, and i did the book, but i wanted something else. i wanted to write something epic, something beautiful and inspiring, something that would make people feel, you know?" he glances at his friend for some sort of validation to his point but patrick is still reading so pete continues.
"it had to be deep and meaningful but still entertaining and funny cause no one wants to watch a snooze-fest that has no laughs in it. but mainly, and i know this is cheesy and ridiculous and really stupid-- i'm gonna sound so gay when i say this-- mainly i wanted to write an epic love story that made everyone who watched it want to go home and make love to the person they're with, or tell their best friend that they've been in love with them since grade school, or like, hug their mom and dad and express how much they appreciate the family they have. cause that's what this story is about. it's about having a family that you would die for, and risking everything for the person you love. it's about making sacrifices and making yourself happy."
he nods, content with his justification of "the sacrifice of life" but we still have one more question.
"why vampires?" he laughs, and he doesn't even have to think on this one, the answer comes as naturally as breathing. "cause vampires is just a synonym for love that lasts forever."
--
woo! finally! a total of 46 374 words (i had a slight miscalculation before).
read the story first!