Matt Lanter
Matt Lanter is an actor who is currently mixing and matching his roles as he moves from TV with the likes of 90210 to the big screen with Vampires Suck.
I caught up with the actor to talk about his latest spoof movie, which sees them take the mick out of Twilight, and what lies ahead on the big and small screen.
- Vampires Suck is set to be released on DVD here in the UK so for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet can you tell me a little bit about it?
It’s a spoof on “Twilight.” It’s essentially a lot of the “Twilight” scenes but just a wackier, quirkier version.
- How much fun was it to spoof Twilight in the movie?
It was a blast.Jenn and I had so much fun spending seven weeks in this funny “Twilight” state.
It definitely brought us a lot of laughs.
- Obviously “Twilight” is very popular so how have the fans reacted to the movie?
Actually fans have reacted really well. Quite honestly, this movie was made for “Twilight” fans.
They are the ones who are going to get every single joke. Really I think that anyone can enjoy “Vampires Suck.”
People who love Twilight, but also people who are fed up with the whole vampire craze. After all, we are poking fun at it.
- And what was it about the character of Edward Sullen and the script that drew you to the project?
I’ve worked with these directors before and I knew I was going to have a good time. I also
thought that there were so many moments from the “Twilight” movies just waiting to be spoofed.
The whole saga is pretty melodramatic anyway, so all it takes is just a little nudge to make it laugh out loud funny.
- Twilight has become a huge success so what do you think about the whole phenomenon? Are you a fan of the movies?
I think I’ve watched them too many times now to be a fan! Haha, no I can see why people love them.
It has the romance and mystery and sexiness. I think girls want to be Bella and guys want to be Edward.
- You have done the spoof movie in the past with Disaster Movie so is this a film genre that you really enjoy?
I do, I love it. I grew up watching the “Naked Gun” series and “Hot Shots” and all of those good spoofs that I could go on naming.
I remember being young and my friend and I making up completely ridiculous scenarios and just go on and on beating the jokes to death.
Kind of similar to what spoofs do. When I got the opportunity to actually act in one, I jumped at it.
- This year we have also seen you in 90210 taking on the character of Liam so how are we going to see your character develop in the show over the coming series?
I really couldn’t tell you. The writers don’t want to share too much about upcoming storylines because things could always change.
We find out what happens to our characters when we read the scripts.
- In the last few years you have really mixed you TV and movie work so how do you find moving between the two and how do they differ & compare?
I like both for different reasons. With movies you get to travel the world, live in different places, experience new cultures. You get to take a character on an arc with a beginning, middle and end.
But on the flip side with TV, especially shooting here in LA, I get to sleep in my own bed, I get to live with a character and grow with that character as I grow.
I get to have all of the amenities of home and work a somewhat 9-5 job with weekends off. It all depends.
I have it pretty good right now. I have 90210 but then in the summer time I can go off and do a film or two.
- The Roommate is also going to hit the big screen in the new year so can you tell me a bit about that?
It a thriller about obsession and how it can be taken too far. I play a good ole boy from the Midwest who lands in an unfortunate situation.
- The movie has a great cast of Cam Gigandet, Leighton Meester and Billy Zane so it must have been a fun shoot?
Yeah, they really assembled a great cast for this one and I’m excited to see how people react to it!
- Finally what's next for you? And what do you hope that 2011 holds in store for you?
Well 90210 and Star Wars Clone Wars are ongoing for me so I stay busy and you already know about The Roommate.
I have a couple things that could happen this summer but nothing in cement and I don’t want to jinx anything. You will just have to wait to find out.
Vampires Suck is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Monday 14th February from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw