MyAnna Buring returns to the big screen this week as she reprises the role of Tanya Denali in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.
We caught up with her to chat about her role, the final instalment of the franchise and what it has been like working on a much loved project.
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 hit’s the big screen this week so what can we expect from the final instalment in terms of storyline and characters?
Well I, like a lot of people, have not seen the film as I have been saving myself so I can watch it at the premiere tonight at the London premiere with my dad, he is my date.
However when we were filming it I just think that Melissa (Rosenberg) did a really good job of separating the final book and the final film is just a lot more epic than the first one.
We are introduced to all of the new vampires and we just really get a sense of the world of the vampires and the world that they live in much more than we have previously.
And I think that Bill Condon has created a really beautiful send off for all of the fans and I hope that they will be really happy with it. But I am hearing great reports and everyone who has seen it is over the moon with it.
- You reprise the role of Tanya Denali so what can we expect from the character this time around?
Tanya and the Denali’s play a much larger role in this film. Irina has been unhappy with the Cullen’s because she feels that they are partly responsible for the death of her true love.
In an effort to go and reconcile her differences with them she goes to see them but she sees Renesmee and forms the wrong opinion about her and decides to go to the Volturi to express her concerns about what she has seen.
Obviously Irina causes huge problems for the Cullen’s and Tanya decides that her family should stand with them when they stand up to the Volturi.
So that is our main role in the film and it was really exciting because it meant that we got to be a part of the whole final standoff.
- And what was it about this character and the script that initially drew you to the project?
It’s Twilight. I had read the books and thought that they were fantastic and I’m sure I would have been happy to play a tree elf in it (laughs).
I got a call from my manger saying ‘listen they can’t find this character why don’t you just pop yourself on tape. They probably won’t see it but you might as well give it a shot.’ Two weeks later Bill Condon and Stephenie Meyer had seen the tape and I had got the part.
At that point there was just no way going to play a part - but it wasn’t just any part it was the role of Tanya Denali; and I loved the Denali’s as they were always quite mysterious to me.
There is also a lot of back-stories written about the Denali’s so that was very useful for research and I was able to draw on them.
Then Stephenie Meyer was on set every day and so if you had any questions about your character you could just and ask the lady yourself.
- You have slightly touched on my next question in the book Tanya is a character who holds a torch for Edward so did you discuss with Bill about including that in the film?
Yes we did mention that and talk about it. There is a small scene or part of a scene that got cut from the first film that was cut where we actually touched upon it.
Ultimately what we felt was despite the fact that Tanya had held a torch for Edward she is a vampire and lived for thousand of years and if there is one thing that she and the Denali’s have cultivated it is a grace.
I think that she is a character who has embraced a lot of patience and once she sees Edward and Bella together it is obvious to her she must have been wrong and Edward was not meant for her.
There was never any sign of animosity from Tanya in the books or elsewhere and we felt that that was something we could just drop and allow her to be graceful in her acceptance of it and then very generous with her help when the Cullen’s need it.
- And how did you find stepping into such a huge and successful series of film? How much did you enjoy your blockbuster experience?
It was amazing, it was just amazing. There were twenty three new characters who arrived on set with me and so I didn’t feel like I was on my own.
All of the established characters, crew and production were so welcoming and lovely and you couldn’t work with a more generous and gentle director than Bill Condon as he made us all feel very included. So something that could have felt very overwhelming very quickly just felt very warm and welcoming.
- Bill Condon is in the director’s chair to bring this franchise to a close so how did you find working with him? And what kind of director is he?
Bill is a beautiful storyteller and he is also an incredible people person - he made sure that he knew everyone’s name.
There were points where there was anything up to a hundred actors on set and he would go up to each of them and individually give them notes and use their name - and that was within the first week.
I think a director who takes that amount of time and care in making sure that everyone feels included in that process is very special and it is very rare that you stumble across that.
- I read that he was one of the reasons that you wanted to get involved in this project…
Absolutely! Gods and Monsters was really the first time that I noticed Bill Condon but all of his work that I have subsequently watched - the stuff that he has written and the stuff that he has directed - is just so beautiful as there is sensitivity to it and a real empathy for his characters.
I would have done any job with him and I am just very glad that it happened to be Twilight.
- There is also a great moment with you in snow during a fight scene so did you do your own stunt work? And how much do you enjoy that aspect of making a movie?
I love doing my own stunts up to a certain point. The stunt people in our industry are so incredible and they train every single day to be able to do this job and I sometimes think that if someone is more qualified than you to do a particular job then they should be allowed to do it.
However there are certain times when I do think that it is important for the actor to do their own stunts as it helps to create a greater feeling of realism. I love doing it and the stunt guys were fantastic on this film and the fight scenes that they created were incredible.
They taught us them so quickly - so we would come in in the morning and they would choreograph the fight with us and then we would shoot in the afternoon.
The scene that you mentioned there was supposed to be a stunt girl doing it because it was an incredibly cold day; we were shooting outside Vancouver at this location that we were using for the Denali house.
It was freezing and there was snow everywhere and I was wearing very little so we thought me sliding across the snow probably wasn’t a good idea and so we were going to leave it to a qualified stunt double.
We shot all day and we came to the last shot and it was getting dark so we were fighting the light. Bill came up to me and said ‘MyAnna, the way that we need to position the camera we need you to do this. I am so sorry we need you to do this stunt’.
I hadn’t trained for it or got my head around the fact that I was doing it but I was just like ‘Right, let’s get it done’.
I knew that we were fighting the light and the crew were just so cold and I thought ‘We have to do this. I can do this’ and we did it in one take. I haven’t seen it yet but I hope that it is in the film as it is the shot that I am the most proud of
- Twilight is such a much loved franchise so how have you found being in the middle of all that hysteria?
It has been just humbling and wonderful as the fans are just so warm and generous. I have experienced nothing but huge love it has been really awesome actually.
When I was in LA we went to Tent City where the fans were camping out and it was cold but these people were just so lovely and generous with each other.
They were moving aside so people at the back could move to the front to get the pictures that they needed and wanted and they were taking care of each other by sharing clothes and food. It was just amazing.
- Ripper Street has also been another of you projects in 2012 so can you tell me a little bit about that?
Ripper Street has been great fun to do. We shot it in Dublin over four months and it is a cop series that is set in the late 1800’s featuring a policeman played by Matthew MacFayden.
I play a character who is a Madame of a brothel in East London and she has a bit of a dark past - which unravels throughout the series.
She was just so much fun to play and I got to play some of the most extraordinary costumes, wigs and makeup - it was an actor’s dream come true.
- For the last couple of years we have seen you mix and match your roles for from TV to blockbusters to smaller movies so how important is it for you to have that variety?
I love that variety and I want to keep that variety - when you mix it up you never get bored. I never became an actor because I wanted to play the same part over and over again I became an actor because I was interested in telling lots of different stories.
I feel really really lucky because over the last couple of years I have been able to go from job to job and every job has been almost the polar opposite of the last one.
- Finally what is next for you?
I think I might have a little bit of a holiday - I think that holiday will involve me closing the door of my flat and not leaving for a week (laughs).
Poison Tree is now coming out on the 10th and 17th December on ITV and then the Downton Abbey Christmas Special is on Christmas Day - so that is really exciting. Then Ripper Street will be coming out.
So I think maybe a little time to just breath with be good before I go back to work next year.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - part 2 is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Twilight MyAnna Buring