Q&A: ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn–Part 1’ star Nikki Reed

Can you believe “Twilight” star Nikki Reed got married a month ago (to “American Idol” contestant Paul McDonald), totally stealing the thunder from the wedding of Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1”?

“Stealing their thunder?” says the 23-year-old actress with a laugh. “I don’t think it’s possible to steal Edward and Bella’s thunder … I think every interview I do everyone’s like, ‘It’s the most anticipated wedding of the decade!'”

For the record I didn’t call it that, but there’s no denying that the first installment of “Breaking Dawn,” opening Nov. 18, comes with boatloads of shrieking, capital-letter-tweets anticipation. In the fourth and penultimate onscreen chapter of Stephenie Meyer’s megahit franchise, Reed (who got her big break in 2003 when she co-wrote and starred in “Thirteen”) reprises her role as Rosalie Hale, who helps Bella through her controversial pregnancy not long after the wedding. After all, giving birth to a vampire ain’t easy. (So we’ve heard.)

At the Elysian Hotel the day after walking the red carpet at the House of Blues, L.A.-native Reed talked about filming in miserable conditions, extreme “Twilight” fandom and why she won’t be writing “Twenty-Six,” the follow-up to “Thirteen.”

You’ve spent time walking around Chicago. How many people recognized you and started shrieking immediately?
Um, I dress in a very—right now I was just working so I have like high heels and a dress on—but I generally go around in like leggings, my running sneakers. I just went all over Europe, all I brought [were] my bright blue sneakers and leggings and like a hoodie and I just sort of rock n roll. I don’t really get bugged too much on the street.

What’s something that felt new for you in “Breaking Dawn,” and how weird was it to actually have some characters be happy in this installment?
I know, huh? I got to smile in this movie. That was fun, right, doesn’t happen. There’s a scene at the end when I’m holding the baby and you see Rosalie genuinely smile like real happiness, and even the way Bill shot it with the light it just felt warmer overall. What felt different about this, I mean a lot.

First of all, Bill Condon is actually a genius and to step into these movies alone you have to be insane. There’s so much to do, it’s not like they give us bajillions of dollars to make these. We don’t have the budget that like “Harry Potter” has or any of those films. So it’s a lot of work and we also introduce 30 or 40 new actors in the last two movies and Bill somehow juggled every aspect of his job, he did such a beautiful job juggling.

I really liked making “Breaking Dawn” for selfish reasons, just for Rosalie I felt really happy for her, I feel like she was accepted back in the Cullen family again. But it was long. Shooting two movies like this back to back, it was rough. It was long. And we also shoot, just because we play vampires, we shoot in the most depressing locations possible with the worst possible weather. It looks sort of like this, if it looks like this, we can shoot. Because it’s about to rain and the sky is like swelling but it hasn’t done it yet, and it was like this for eight months and it actually really affects you. [Laughs.] Because I’m a very outdoors-y person, I like to hike, I like to run, I like to be outside, and I have my dog, and I brought my dog up to Squamish [British Colombia] for the last couple of months and I just remember being like, “Ugg, sorry boy, now you’re stuck in this little tiny apartment in Squamish and we can’t even go run around outside like I thought we could.”

There are so many really, really serious “Twilight” fans.
Pretty serious.

How does one know when their “Twilight” fandom has perhaps gone a little far?
See, the problem with that question is then it sounds like we’re criticizing the fanbase. Throughout the years I used to be really kind of scared of it and now it’s not that I’ve embraced it, it’s that I can actually just appreciate it because I mean I don’t know what my other co-stars, how they would feel about me saying this, but it’s gonna end. [Laughs.] For all of us. And being in “Twilight” does not necessarily make you a superstar. It gives you the opportunity to maybe have a career if you work your butt off and continue to. This fandom, um, I mean they’ve done some pretty gnarly things.

What’s the most extreme?
I’ve seen underwear being thrown at Taylor [Lautner] from women who are not 14 years old, by the way.

More like 64?
I don’t know if it was 64-year-old underwear, but it was definitely not 15-year-old underwear. I’ve seen, yesterday Jackson got a few proposals sitting right next to me, that was pretty funny. Ashley said she’s had some women ask if she’ll marry their husbands so they can share. I don’t get too much of that sort of craziness. I mean, they’re very vocal. We’ll put it that way. [Laughs.]

Congrats on your recent marriage. What advice do you have for Edward and Bella about married life?
[Laughs.] I don’t know what advice I have for them because I don’t feel like their relationship is questionable at all. This series would not be successful if you were ever like, “Bella, this could be a mistake. He might cheat on you.” [Laughs.] I don’t think that’s ever a question that runs through anyone’s mind.

So what would be a concern?
Being patient, because you have forever together. And forever has a different meaning when you’re a vampire. So I guess being really patient, and Bella’s a pretty strong little lady so Edward’s going to have to have some patience. And no, I did not steal their thunder. I think every interview I do everyone’s like, “It’s the most anticipated wedding of the decade!” And I was like, “Gosh, really?” [Laughs.]

“You realize I got married a month ago, right?!”
No, let’s hope my wedding was not anticipated. Because that means people were sitting around waiting for it, and that freaks me out.

What can we expect when you write “Twenty-Six,” the follow-up to “Thirteen”?
[Laughs.] That’s funny. I’ll never write “Twenty-Six.” I’ll never do that to myself again. Writing something that exposes not only yourself but your entire family takes a kind of personality that I don’t have anymore. When I did that initially, I was young and completely unaware of any kind of consequence because I honestly just wasn’t thinking about it. I had no idea. When you’re young like that, you don’t even realize that your parents have feelings when you’re 13 years old. Now, as an adult I would not put my family through that.

So what will you write?
I’m working on something right now that’s sort of connected to my family but not family that I know. So just stories that I’ve been told. And I’m working on some TV show development stuff. And I just wrote a song with my husband.

Last night on the red carpet you said that my questions were the strangest you’d been asked on the carpet.
Yeah, what did you ask me again? What would you bring to a vampire wedding?

Yeah, about gifts for a vampire wedding and advice for your niece about her vampire parents.
No one’s asked me what advice I would give to Renesmee, which seems weird because Rosalie’s going to be like the ultimate mom to her I think.

When you go to these events, do you expect the same thing over and over again? Is that frustrating? Do you want people to mix it up, or it comes with the territory?
I mean, it comes with the territory. It’s very fascinating for young people to know more about the personal lives of the actors than the movies, ’cause it’s just sort of that genre and that demographic that we appeal to, or the films appeal to. Sometimes I wish people would ask me a little bit more what it’s like working with Elizabeth Reaser and Michael Sheen and Billy Burke just because I’m such a big fan of all three of those. And I’m like in awe every time I’m standing there in a scene and Michael Sheen is speaking, it’s like a performance that you don’t want to miss. You forget you’re even there. And Elizabeth Reaser should have won an Oscar for “Sweet Land,” and the only reason she didn’t is because her German accent was so good that people thought that she was actually German and they didn’t realize that she didn’t speak a single word. And Billy Burke’s just a dream. So sometimes I wish that. But other than that I’m not frustrated with the questions in general, ’cause I know what I’m here for and I’m happy to have such an enthusiastic fanbase. I really am.

Plus:
On Chicago: “I love Chicago, and I’ve been around in Chicago. My brother lived here so I spent a lot of time here. When I came in here and hung out with him he came to whatever hotel I was staying at ’cause I was working there, ’cause he actually lived like an hour outside the city. In the suburbs.”
If she had time to do anything here: “Gosh, I don’t know. Museum it up. I used to spend a lot of time just walking—well, not in this weather—but over the summer we walked and walked forever. Went over to the Bean, I took a bunch of photographs. I just had a beautiful time in Chicago when I came to visit.”
On living in Southern Illinois, in Ruma, with her mom and brother as a kid: “I actually go back and visit the town ever year. It holds a very special place in my heart.”
On the length of the title “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1”: “That’s sort of ridiculous. I don’t ever look at the boards like that. I just sort of see it as “BD.” “Twilight 4.””
On her iPod: “I go all over the place. I have like the Head and the Heart, Portugal. The Man, Foster the People, Laura Marling, all the way over to Adele, I’ve got some Jay-Z, I’m big on Beyonce, down to Susan Tedeschi, Paul McDonald.”
Has she read “Hunger Games”? “I have not. But I’m a big Jennifer Lawrence fan, so I think it’s freaking awesome.”
On the upcoming “Downers Grove”:“Not only did it not film [here], I don’t know if that’s ever happening. But I am attached to it, so when they let me know I’ll let you know.” [Laughs.]

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mpais@tribune.com. @mattpais