Its Friday and we have a new VAset Visit Interview: Richelle Mead

AUTHOR @RICHELLEMEAD OPENS UP ABOUT HAVING HER BOOK MADE INTO A MOVIE

Richelle Mead is possibly one of the nicest people in the world. She’s an amazing author and loves talking to the fans. We were lucky enough that we caught up with her on the set of Vampire Academy – and she took the time from watching them film her movie to talk to us and our friends from Page to Premiere and Hypable.

We’ve met a lot of authors, and we have to say that Richelle is one of the kindest and most humble. She truly appreciates the fans. We couldn’t be more excited about Vampire Academy.

Must be quite an odd experience, coming to the set of a film based off a book you have written.

Richelle: It’s definitely overwhelming and it’s mind-blowing to me the work that goes into a movie. That’s what astonishes me more than this is my book. I had no idea the level of detail that they do. I mean, I don’t know if you have looked around, but even the handouts on their desk are real assignments. And every piece of clothing. I mean when you think about it there are hundreds of people who gone through that level of detail for my book. That’s just like wow, it’s unbelievable.

Do you feel pressure as a result of it?

Richelle: No, I don’t. I am actually very at ease with it. It’s just fun to see and everything I have seen looks great and I am just going with the flow. I think people are going to love it. I think that the biggest emotional reaction I am having right now is that I have real faces to my characters now and I feel bad for some of them because I know they don’t end well, and I am like Oh, I am sorry. I feel like I owe a personal apology to some of the actors now because it doesn’t turn out well for all of them.

What was the journey like to get here?
 Richelle: We optioned the film a couple of years ago, but it took a long time for anything to happen. That’s just Hollywood. Every book I know from my friendsthat has been optioned, the same thing often happens. And I think we also suffered because we were optioned right near the end of the twilight franchise and its hard for people to jump on, oh another Vampire story. It doesn’t matter if they are radically different. They are just worried, oh that won’t read well. It took time for people to warm up to it and also to get the right team. Daniel Waters and Mark Waters on board, who are both so insanely talented


That’s when it got serious. 
 Richelle: Exactly. 

 What do they bring to the table? What’s their special sort of quality?
 Richelle: Daniel and Mark? They really get what I was writing. I like to mix things. My books aren’t – it’s not a straight romance, it’s not a straight adventure. It’s got funny moments, but it’s not a comedy. And they get how to mesh all that. And they both have a snarky tone to them, which I get, because I have kind of a dark humor. And having Daniel with Heathers and Mark with Mean Girls, they get how to work that into it, but it doesn’t make the movie irreverent. It’s still a very serious movie, and reading the script and watching how it plays out, it’s incredible how perfectly they have kind of nailed that balance. I think fans are going to be thrilled with that, because that’s why they like the books



Rose and Lucy’s bond is really one of the most captivating things about the book and one of the things fans love so much. I was wondering what do you think of Zoey and Lucy bringing that to life and how well they did it?
 Richelle: It’s funny that you bring that up, because I just witnessed that tonight. I was watching a scene where Lissa is comforting Rose. If you meet them, Lucy and Zoey, they are just so different. They have these wildly contradicting personalities, just like the characters. And they just mesh perfectly. I mean Lucy, she’s just so centered and so calm, and just happy to be a part of it. Lissa is like that. And Zoey she’s just out there, she’s energetic and larger than life, and they just balance. They are the yin and the yang. They’ve got that going. Don Murphy was telling us when they did the casting they tested that. Those two read together, so that they could check that chemistry. I think they nailed it.

One of the most anticipated castings was Christian. The fan base was going insane for it. I wanted to know what was your opinion when Dominic was cast and have you met him and what do you think of him?
Richelle: I didn’t know anything about him. I wasn’t part of the casting process. Mostly he was an unknown to me as I think he was to so many people. I was probably like all the fans, I was heading to google to see what he looked like. I couldn’t see very many shots of him, but every other choice he made was so smart. I had to assume there was a reason. Especially since it took them a long time. I know they did a lot of hunting. He was one of the last people cast. When I met him for the first time yesterday, it was like that’s it, that’s him. I see why they took so long. He looks the part. I have been watching him act. He’s got that attitude there. I think it was a brilliant choice.

Were you worried about that? When the film was optioned and you suddenly lost control over it. Were you worried that would go in a way that you didn’t like?
Richelle: I always knew it was a possibility. It’s a risk that any author takes. You have people much, much bigger than me. You sign away that control. It was a risk I was willing to take. I think it’s less scary to me, because I ultimately write the books. If they did something, and it ultimately wasn’t what I thought, I still make my own world. I think it’s scarier for the fans, because they aren’t writing the books or making the movies, so I think that there is a loss of control and they are worried about the movie coming out. They don’t need to worry. Its been great so far. I just take it as it comes and I think we have been lucky so far. Everything has been spot on.

We previously spoke to Danila. The way he spoke, he really seemed to understand and adore the character of Dmitri. I wanted to know what your thoughts on Danila were when you first met him and you spoke to him about the character.
Richelle: I was star struck when I first met him. But he’s so approachable and so easy going when you talk to him. You would never guess, I mean, he’s a megastar in Russia. He’s so friendly, very humble, very charming. He’s a perfect gentleman. I just love talking to him. We actually just talked over there and I signed a book for him and he had me sign another one for a friend in Russia. He’s been really great and he’s excited about the character. He thanked me for writing the books and someone who had spoken to him earlier was saying that he is excited for the way the story develops and the rest of the series if we make more movies, what happens to Dmitiri. I am thrilled he is so invested in it.

Full Article at Fangirlish