Moviefone: Tell us about how your books made the transition from page to screen. What was the process like for you?
Richelle Mead: It moved pretty slowly at the beginning. It actually took a while to get any interest in the options, and I think it's because "Vampire Academy" came out during such a big heyday of vampires, especially with "Twilight" overshadowing everything. I think that made some people hesitant to get on board with that. Then in 2010, Mike Preger from Preger Entertainment was working with [producer] Don Murphy, who's famous for the "Transformers" movies, and they fell in love with the books and were tenacious about taking the books to studios... It took a couple of years -- because again, "Twilight" -- but they caught the interest of Daniel Waters, who wrote the screenplay for "Heathers," and Mark Waters his brother, who directed "Mean Girls."
How fitting is it that the director and screenwriter have this great pedigree with movies set in high schools?
I feel super lucky that they made the movie. I find sometimes that with book-to-movie adaptations there's so much focus on plot or action that you lose the characters. I think that's why a lot of these adaptations don't do so well. With my books, the characters are my goal. Of course the plot is too, but I'm trying to convey these emotions and these people to my readers. Both of them, Daniel and Mark, they both got that. Daniel wrote that into the script, the way the characters interact, their lines, their personalities really come through. That was what I loved about them doing the movie.
I know you didn't write with specific actors in mind, but does the cast match what you think the characters look like?
The leads are so spot-on with what I had in my head. Dimitri especially is a great choice; I love that they cast a Russian actor to play him. It's perfect; we're going to have a genuine accent. He's the real deal. He's so very handsome, but he's also so nice. It's easy to forget he turns into this hard, bad-ass warrior guy on screen, because when you're hanging out with him off-camera, he's so personable and sweet to everyone.
Richelle Mead: It moved pretty slowly at the beginning. It actually took a while to get any interest in the options, and I think it's because "Vampire Academy" came out during such a big heyday of vampires, especially with "Twilight" overshadowing everything. I think that made some people hesitant to get on board with that. Then in 2010, Mike Preger from Preger Entertainment was working with [producer] Don Murphy, who's famous for the "Transformers" movies, and they fell in love with the books and were tenacious about taking the books to studios... It took a couple of years -- because again, "Twilight" -- but they caught the interest of Daniel Waters, who wrote the screenplay for "Heathers," and Mark Waters his brother, who directed "Mean Girls."
How fitting is it that the director and screenwriter have this great pedigree with movies set in high schools?
I feel super lucky that they made the movie. I find sometimes that with book-to-movie adaptations there's so much focus on plot or action that you lose the characters. I think that's why a lot of these adaptations don't do so well. With my books, the characters are my goal. Of course the plot is too, but I'm trying to convey these emotions and these people to my readers. Both of them, Daniel and Mark, they both got that. Daniel wrote that into the script, the way the characters interact, their lines, their personalities really come through. That was what I loved about them doing the movie.
I know you didn't write with specific actors in mind, but does the cast match what you think the characters look like?
The leads are so spot-on with what I had in my head. Dimitri especially is a great choice; I love that they cast a Russian actor to play him. It's perfect; we're going to have a genuine accent. He's the real deal. He's so very handsome, but he's also so nice. It's easy to forget he turns into this hard, bad-ass warrior guy on screen, because when you're hanging out with him off-camera, he's so personable and sweet to everyone.
Read the full interview + See the 'Bloodlines' Cover from Moviefone HERE
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