Refinery29 Interviews Zoey Deutch: "Vampire Academy's Leading Lady Dishes"

You grew up in Los Angeles with parents in the business. What was your biggest takeaway or what stands out the most from growing up that way?

"I went to school normally — or as normal as it was for me. I don't really know what a normal high school experience is, I think it's individual for each person. But, what I took away from it is that I kind of gathered information that I didn't know was helpful for me until I started acting professionally. For instance, on set for Vampire Academy, [director] Mark Waters would let us literally sit in his director's chair and watch playback and that is a very rare thing. Most of the time you would get fired for even asking. I, via osmosis, had picked up this information growing up. And, I feel very fortunate that I was exposed to that world. But, my parents were very normal. We barely have a TV, we don't watch too many movies, we're very food-family-animal oriented and a classic loud, Jewish family."

Mark Waters, the director, is also the man who gave us Mean Girls. Were you a super fan?

"Hugely. That was the first thing, when they sent me the information on the project, I knew I wanted to do it. I love Mark Waters. I later fell in love with the story, but initially it was theMean Girls thing that caught my eye. We had a great relationship on the movie, too. I'm actually just realizing now that he intentionally kept me super high-strung on set. It was not normal — I would work 17-days with training during lunch and I was still super hyper. I think he was purposefully doing that…"

Vampires are taking over the world right now.

"They always have, and they keep evolving and changing depending on what society is encompassing at the time."

Did you read the Vampire Academy books before the movie or were you a fan of the vampire genre?

"It was funny, right when I got this role my dad became a producer and director of True Bloodso it was like vampire central at my house. But, no, I was drawn to the character and her relationships more than the vampire aspect. That comes secondary to who she is and what she stands for and her relationship with the characters." 

Did you find yourself siding with any particular character?
"Rose 100%. Actually, initially they sent me the information for Lissa and I did not want to play that character. I had no interest. And, then they showed me Rose and I liked her. But, I also like that she's wrong some of the times. She's the heroine, she's the narrator, she's the strong female lead, but she makes mistakes and I find strength in that vulnerability. A lot of these women are so strong but at the end of the day they're passive. Rose gets what she needs to get done in order to have the end results she wants."

Read pages 2 and 3 of the interview HERE