Sarah Hyland Interview On the Set of 'Vampire Academy'

Same interview conducted by fangirlishness and Page to Premiere

What was the casting process like for VA?

I’d gotten the script and I thought this was really cool and it’s a vampire film, and the character Natalie is pretty awesome with the way things turn out for her. So I Skyped with the casting director, and we put myself on tape through Skype and I thought this was weird because of the noise and the quality was just not good at all. So then Mark wanted to Skype with me, he was in London and I was filming ‘Bonnie & Clyde’, and I had someone from production come and help me set up a camera and she read with me while Mark observed and that was it. I didn’t read with anybody and there was no audition in person.

For the few people in the world who don’t know about Vampire Academy could you explain how your character fits into it?

My character is Natalie Dashkov, she is Victor Dashkov’s looney geeky crazy gossip loving daughter, so when Lissa and Rose escaped the Academy and are brought back they befriend her because they want to stay off the social network and clearly Natalie is not a part of that. So they befriend her, and that’s all I can really say.

What’s the scene that you’ve read in the book that you’re most excited to film?

I’ve already filmed the scenes that I was most looking forward to filming, but I can’t talk about that I’m sorry.

Your character sounds a lot different from what you’re usually playing, but just how are they different?

Natalie is very spastic, and geeky and just socially awkward and clearly Hayley (Modern Family) is none of those things. It was fun I found a lot of things to bring to Hayley, certain twitches that she has and just small character things that I don’t think anyone will notice but I had such a fun time with a character that Richelle has brilliantly thought up.

Read the rest of Sarah's interview HERE

Hypable's Vampire Academy Set Visit Report + Recap from Fangirlishness

'Vampire Academy' set visit report - How mean can vampire girls be?

Earlier this year, Hypable visited the set of Vampire Academy for a behind the scenes look at the eagerly anticipated young adult novel-turned-movie arriving in 2014. This was our opportunity to speak to the cast and crew and find out for ourselves just how progress was going on one of our absolute favorite fandoms.

The cast were filming for a total of 8 weeks (in roughly 20 different locations), and we caught up with them on week 6 during an on-location set in the heart of London. The scenic University College London (UCL) provides the backdrop for St. Vladimir’s Academy and we were lucky enough to witness several scenes being filmed within this stunning atmosphere.

Although rarely illustrative when watching a movie for the first time, the filming process is repetitive and arduous; each scene is shot, and re-shot, and re-re-shot, then again in different camera angles. The mark of good filmmaking is attention to detail and the most striking impression we were left with after departing the set was the sheer meticulousness of every scene. The director, Mark Waters (Mean Girls), quite clearly has a very precise vision in bringing the story to life and that is to remain as loyal to Richelle Mead’s world as much as possible.

The Vampire Academy fandom is large, vibrant, enthusiastic and protective of the stories that they have taken to heart; the cast and crew seem all too aware of this and delivering a movie that above all else, is meaningful to the fandom community seems to be the overarching ambition of the team. This is an admirable endeavour and certainly left us feeling reassured.

+Read what they had to say about casting with Danila, Lucy, Dominic, Sarah and more on Hypable HERE

You can also read the set visit recap from fangirlishness HERE