Bill Condon on Breaking Dawn, Bella as Bride of Frankenstein and Twilight's 'Gay Sensibility'

From the very beginning of your involvement with this franchise, you've seemed to be very mindful of the fans -- reaching out to them, seeing what they want. To be honest, that's been kind of necessary with this franchise from the beginning. That kind of dialogue is great to have, but is there a point that you feel as an artist that too much fan fealty is dangerous?

Yes. I do think ultimately, if it's going to have any integrity it's going to be your vision of what this book should be, and that involves telling it well in a cinematic way -- for example, I've already heard people questioning, why is Irina at the wedding? Well, she's there so that you can sort of see what her predicament is as opposed to hear about it later on. Necessary changes, you know? Just to make a good movie. So yeah, I think at a certain point you have to hope that the people who want it to be a literal transcription of the book, when they see it, understand that you're working in a different medium.

There are some interesting cinematic things you've done that seem to make that point -- one is the use of Bride of Frankenstein in your Edward flashback. What was the thinking behind that?

We sort of watched Edward have this heavy cloud this whole time, and it's referred to in the book; it actually came out of a discussion with Rob Pattinson. He'd been playing something that was described in the book with just a couple of lines -- this period when he broke away from Carlisle and wasn't a vegetarian anymore. He sort of explored what it was like to hunt humans. And he only killed terrible men, murderers, things like that, but the point is it made him... he says, "I looked her your eyes and saw who I was, when I'd become a monster," and it was only after this period that he returned to Carlisle and fully embraced their way of living. But it always remained sort of a heavy burden for him, and that's something that Rob had been playing. I was like, "Well god, you've been playing that without even seeing that." So as a last moment before the wedding he does kind of lay out one last argument for why Bella might want to rethink it, you know? And that gave me a chance to show him, in that period -- in the early '30s in Chicago, and in this case, in a movie theater. And of course I chose Bride of Frankenstein as the movie he's watching. Partly because it's one of my favorite movies, and one of the greatest horror movies ever made. But also, it's sort of this story, isn't it? [Laughs] She is the bride of Frankenstein!

It's so fitting!

And there was something ironic about it, too, that all these people are screaming at the screen when actually this vampire is walking among them. So I think there are a lot of levels in which that works, and that is again something that's not in the book but is [done] in the spirit of the book.

When you look at this franchise and where you came in, Catherine Hardwicke, Chris Weitz, and David Slade each put their stylistic spin on the material. It's been remarkable how much of a directorial stamp there is to every film. How would you describe yours?

Well, first of all, that's kind of the reason it seemed interesting to do; there wasn't some template you were fitting in to. They each are so different from the others. For me, it's kind of a classic Hollywood genre of romantic melodrama that I really like, so that was part of it, really embracing that that was such a strong aspect of, certainly, the first movie. And also, I have roots in horror and I think the second half of the first movie is closer to being a flat-out horror movie than probably any of the others.

Kellan Lutz recently did an interview in The Advocate -- I don't know if you read it...

I heard that, but I haven't read it yet.

They asked him if he felt that you brought a "gay sensibility" to Breaking Dawn.

That's interesting.

Do you think that's a fair question to ask, even for a publication like The Advocate?

[Pause] I think it is. I mean, obviously it's so reductive. What is a "gay sensibility?" It's just a sensibility, but part of who you are is that you're gay. So in a way, yes and no -- you know? Now I've got to read it and hear what he said. But you know, I think what's legitimate about it is that the thing that's really remarkable about Twilight, to me, is that it's not necessarily about teenage boys' concerns. Certainly that's an aspect of it with Jacob and the wolves and all that, but it really puts things that are more explicitly female center-stage in a tent pole that a ton of people go to see. I think probably that stuff interests me more than another comic book action movie might, or blowing up trains and things. So in a way, I can see that that makes some sense.

Looking at the Twilight Saga overall and its success, it's a franchise that can be called, undeniably, critic-proof. Does it still matter to you to get good reviews come opening day, and do you feel critics who were harsh on previous Twilight films will react differently to Breaking Dawn?

You know, you can't have any expectations in any direction. I'll say this, from which I may someday recover, I do absolutely take critics seriously. I read critics all the time about everything, so of course I'm nervous and anxious and hope they give us a fair shot. But what will be, will be.

Where are you with Breaking Dawn - Part 2 at the moment? It must be insane in your brain, juggling promotion on Part 1 while working to finish Part 2.

Totally. Well, we finally finished Part 1 [a few weeks ago], and then everyone took a break and we're going to get back together on Monday. It's not a director's cut but we have a good, solid cut of the movie together which we're going to keep refining through the holidays and then get into more seriously at the beginning of the year. But we're deep into it.

Does it give you some relief to have that cushion of time to finish Part 2?

Absolutely, because it is a big, sprawling, epic movie. And it's also nice to know, as you launch into it, that there isn't another one on the other side of it. [Laughs] It's just this one now, it's just these two hours.

Is there much footage in Breaking Dawn -- Part 1 that you had to edit out that you'd like to put back in?

No, honestly. The movie is very tight, which is what I wanted.

Will there be a director's cut, and how different will it be from the theatrical version?

That's a good question. We're figuring it out, but it would be quite down the line. I don't think there will be one when the movie comes out on DVD, but maybe because of the two movies together -- I'm just talking way, way, way down the line -- they look at a way which becomes one incredibly long movie.

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