New Face Friday: Tracey Heggins on 'Breaking Dawn - Part 2'

TwilightSeriesTheories hosted this week's "New Face Friday", which introduces Tracey Heggins, who portrays Senna of Amazonian Coven!

Tracey: Hi! How are you guys?

TST: Great!

Tracey: I am excited to talk to you guys!

TST: We just saw the posters of you and Zafrina. The other actors have talked about what they first thought when they saw themselves. What was your first reaction when you saw the hair and the make up, and the outfit and the eyes?

Tracey: Roar! (sound) That is exactly what I thought! Whoa! This has an earthy, sexy quality to it, so I was all for it. It’s very exciting!

TST: Speaking of what you look like… You are baring a lot in your outfit. I’m wondering if you had to diet or work out? What was your regiment?

Tracey: Yeah! I have to work out. I’m a hippy girl… I have hips and curves. Literally, when I had the fitting, I had a King Size Snicker bar in my purse. After I had seen the outfit, on my way out, I dropped it into the trash can. (Laughing) I was, like, oh, no, no, no, no! But yeah, I do a lot of yoga. And, on set it was easy to be disciplined because Kellan Lutz is up there working out all day long, and the rest of them were fighting to get to the gym before shoot time. So, you know, it was a lot of camaraderie at the gym because we were all on camera.

TST: You were a big fan of the books and the franchise before getting cast. When you were cast who was the first person you told, when you were aloud to tell?

Tracey: Oh! My sister! My sister’s my best friend. It literally blew my mind, because I’m such a sic-fi, fantasy, you know, fan. And, I’m in love with love. Stephenie really captured that first love, that first passion. So, it was just an honor, I was jumping over the moon, and yelling! And, she was looking at me, my sister, and asking, “What the heck are you yelling about?” I was like, “I just got the job, it’s an amazing opportunity!”

TST: I’ve hear Mackenzie and Judi talk a lot about working with you, but I haven’t heard you talk about working with them. Can you talk a little about your relationship on set and off?

Tracey: Wow! They’re both my girls! I’m telling you… That Mackenzie is something beautiful and something special! She was my test student for my children’t books. I would read to her and she would give me her notes. She would come to set with pictures drawn of my characters, which was amazing. She’s just a sweet honest soul, she’s a nice little girl. We’d have walks looking at the ducks and things, we really honestly became friends and, well, I’m that age at heart! So what can I say? It’s not a stretch for me, I think I’m a little girl. And then, Judi, I cannot go shopping with her because we like the same things, and if I have a quarter in my purse we’ll go to the mall and figure out how to spend it. Judi is the best shopping mate of all time! She likes funky items. Even though we are so different, we are so much alike. Like, for instance, she’s got this ‘rocker’ kind of quality, and Iove classic things. But for some reason, we’ll end up buying the same things but putting them on totally different. It was truly a blessing.

TST: I was wondering if when you were preparing did you get a chance to talk with Stephenie about these characters, or was there any pow-wow about how she saw them and how you were going to portray them?

Tracey: Yeah, yeah! It was exciting! Very, very exciting! She was literally on set the whole time we were shooting and she was so available and so kind. So if we had any kind of question she was open to answer them. We’d ask, “What do you think we would do here?” And she was very receptive. That was really a blessing. I mean, I was in awe! I love Stephenie Meyer… I’ve read The Host, and everything. At first I was speechless, and then, she’s so warm and so kind, what can you say, but thank you!

TST: So you had some of your first Twilight experiences with the Breaking Dawn Part 1 Premiere and Comic Con this year. How are you handling it and what are you looking forward to when the movie actually gets in theaters?

Tracey: The Twilight fans, in particular, are just so kind and the reception has been so warm. So I’m just riding the wave. It’s a nice place to be as an actor. You couldn’t have been blessed any more to be able to do this and have the fans support you. So I haven’t seen the movie so I’m curious. I don’t know what I expect. I just know that it was a blessing to work on the project. I met so many friends, like Mackenzie and Judi. Working with them, Toni Trucks, Valerie, all of them, Erik, Noel Fisher. I met so many great people, so hopefully through this, I’ll maintain my friendships.

TST: Your character doesn’t really have a special super power in the movie, but if you could choose any power for your character which one would you like it to be?

Tracey: Oh boy! That is so good! I mean all of them are so awesome! What special power? I mean… I guess she would like to have a shield, but then… Ahhhhh! Oh golly! I mean there are so many I would like a piece of all of them. Um, let me see which power would I want? I guess to electrocute people! I mean, my character’s a fighter, and that would go well with her. (Laughs) That was a good power to have. I think it’s so fun, so I guess that one.

TST: If you had a favorite thing to shoot, was there a moment you were, like, ‘Wow!’?

Tracey: Yeah! My first ‘Wow!’ moment was when I got on set, but pretty much the scenes when we all, it’s in the trailer, when we all said that we want to stand by the Cullens. Just watching everybody in action, I thought that was a good moment. Because, it was something… I don’t want to use the word teaser, but I just think that it was just one of those surreal moments for me. Looking around and watching everybody else and say that we want to help the Cullen’s out, that was a big moment for me. I thought it was awesome.

TST: Looking at your costume, I think you and Judi both have a costume, as you said, a smaller costume, and everyone is always talking about the wolves having to be in the cold with not a lot on. I think you’re the first girls to be in the cold with not a lot on. How did you buck up against all the cold weather wearing what you were wearing?

Tracey: Oh Wow! They provided us with heaters and all kinds of stuff. We had, like, foot warmies on. It still was jarring, as soon as you walk out. We’re deep in Canada, and walk out, and the cold does hit you. But I think that we were so full of adrenaline from being on set, and being in Twilight that it didn’t really effect us much. We moved around so much that I think we were working off adrenaline, but then as soon as your ending the day you realize it’s kind of cold out here… With our little outfits on. Everyone could hear me coming down the hallway because I had all the puka shells, and you’d hear me, like, “clack, clack, clack”. The first two days it was driving me crazy, but then I missed it afterwards. I was like, “Awe man! I have no theme music!”

TST: Did you get to keep anything from set, or from your costumes or anything?

Tracey: I tried, but no! They were checking my bag on the way out! No, I guess they never know if we’re going to be reshooting, or what’s going on, so the set, they keep those just in case.

TST: We saw in the promotional pictures the makeup around your eyes, but in the film we don’t see that. Is that something we will actually see in the movie, or is it just in the promotional shot?

Tracey: No! You’ll see that in the movie, I don’t want to spoil anything, but yeah! You’ll see our makeup… Our special makeup!

TST: Hmmmmm…

Tracey: It was fun! At first when they put it on me, I was like, “Hey! What are you doing? What is this going to look like?” But after we got it on, were like, “Wow! This is super cool!” It goes with the contacts and the hair, because as you can see I have really short hair. Everything, it’s so fun, such a blessing… I cannot complain at all! That is super fun, when they’re experimenting putting makeup on you and making you look fierce. It was just great, even playing in the makeup, I’m such a girl!

TST: In the books, Senna doesn’t talk much. Do you have lines in the movie?

Tracey: Yeah! In the trailer, I have my little line there. In general, yes. I like that you brought that up. Senna is very quiet, you know, she’s watching. She’s there to protect Zafrina, and she’s kind of scared. In my backstory, the last time she’s seen the modern world, they were making a muck of her village and moving things. She is that quiet, kind of watching… And then she meets the Cullen’s and you can’t help but fall in love with them. But yeah, Senna is always constantly checking out, and figuring are these good people or are these bad people? How are they feeling? She doesn’t have a whole lot to say, because she really wants to see what’s going on. Is Zafrina going to be safe, and now is this baby going to be safe? What’s going to happen? She’s very fierce, and she’s almost like a lioness. She’s maternal and visceral.

TST: It’s all about forceful presence!

Tracey: Yeah!

Thank you, Tracey!

New Face Friday: Judi Shekoni talks 'Breaking Dawn - Part 2'

Breakingdawnmovie.org hosted this week's New Face Friday's interview is with Judi Shekoni, who plays the fierce looking Amazon vampire Zafrina!

check out her interview below!

Could you talk about what it was like the first time you saw yourself fully in costume?  There are some wonderful studio stills that were released of you and Tracey [Heggins] together in costume.

Yes, the first time I saw myself fully in costume was overwhelming.  It was kind of hypnotic and you can’t stop staring at yourself in the mirror.  It was just kind of overwhelming.  I don’t think I’ve ever been in that position in my life, where I had so many people who are great at what they do, all come together and work on this project as one entity.  It was really breathtaking.  As it was happening with the costume tests and make up tests that when it finally came together, it was all of a process, and it was very rewarding.

Will we get to see some of Zafrina’s illusions in Breaking Dawn Part 2?

I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about that. [laughs] I mean, we know the character has a special power.  I don’t know if I can talk about that to be honest.  I’m so sorry.

Zafrina is very fierce, she’s kinda scary but she’s also got to be so soft enough to befriend this small child, and for people to let her around this young girl.  How did you toe the line between the intensity that she had to have and also the softness?

I think what was so wonderful is she has a real animalistic quality.  I really wanted to work with what that meant and tried a feral aspect.  I definitely worked with animals and looked up the black jaguar, that kind of quality.  Then with regards to Renesmee, I thought of it like in a way, parental. It was so great that I got to have that parental aspect, because you know vampires can’t really give birth.  I was fortunate to have that kind of relationship with Renesmee that most vampires don’t have.  I also think it came from a protective kind of instinct.  I felt that Zafrina really stands up for family and the most important thing for her is family.  That’s why she wanted to help the Cullens.  It’s why Senna came with her, because her family is the most important thing in life.

How did you prepare for the role for Zafrina, like her backstory and also physically?

I did a lot of different things.  Physically, I went to the gym a lot and ate more protein.  I just really built myself up muscly, make myself a little bit stronger.  Obviously, I was really blessed with my 6 feet tall and I have long limbs and a thin face, a lot of the characteristics that the character [Bella] mentions.  Other than that, I watch almost every single vampire film I could get my hands on.  I watched all the Twilight movies.  I had a great opportunity to go through the books again.  What was wonderful was that all the books were already on my bookshelf.  I really got into what it was like to be a vampire.  I came up with the idea that vampires have about 25% more of everything.  They have 25% more hair.  They have 25% more eyelashes.  Just everything about them is a little bit more than human.  I really worked from that aspect.  I thought they could feel everything more as well.  Almost like they can feel the wind more, and they can hear the sound.  I used those kind of senses to go from.

You were a fan before you came to work into this.  Who were you most excited to work with?

I was really excited to work with the whole cast because I’ve seen the movies before.  Also, I was really excited to work with Kristen [Stewart], Bella.  Because when you read the books, they’re from Bella’s perspective.  I almost felt like I let Bella drive myself and I kinda been on that whole journey.  It was so nice to meet Kristen and do scenes with Bella. I felt like a had with the part of Zafrina that I also had a real close connection with the Bella character.  I think Kristen herself is wonderful.  She’s like a little doll.  She seems extremely generous and very intelligent.  I think the characters of Bella and Zafrina have a interesting relationship because she’s [Bella] Renesmee’s mother.  When another woman comes in and has a relationship with your own daughter, it always creates something strange between the mother and the other woman.  I felt like my character had a special relationship with Bella as well.

Many of the vampires from the book have not been cut, but so far we know in the book there’s a third Amazon vampire, Kachiri.  What happen to her?

I ate her. [laughs] I think obviously when you translate from a book to a movie, there are certain things that come and certain things that go, and I think they did just concentrate on a few vampires.  I don’t think that character [Kachiri] was that strongly mentioned in the book either. When that happened, me and Tracey [Heggins] had a little conversation about it.  We just tried to make sure we can encompass as many qualities of that coven [Amazon] as possible.  So anything that may not be in the movie that was in the book, somehow we put that in [Breaking Dawn Part 2] by using that energy to still have some of those characteristics.  So, yeah she’s not there at all. [laughs]

You talked about preparing the emotional side of it and what you did to train. How did you prepare the animalistic motions that your character has as oppose to the other vampires?

I went to the London Zoo pretty early on and met up with Tracey [Heggins].  We came up with the idea of them [Senna and Zafrina] having these animalistic qualities.  We actually went to the LA Zoo together before we started shooting.  We looked through all the animals and decided which animal we can pick our movement from. We came up with the black jaguar, because there are a lot of them in the Amazon and they have these beautiful bright eyes that very similar to vampire eyes.  We’d go to the zoo, using video and watching the animals in real life and taking pictures, deciding which aspect.  Basically, they have a lot of power and a lot of energy in their shoulders.  They have this grace about them, and a stillness about them as well which is very vampiric.  We tried to find elements to put that in. We actually did a couple of dance classes together, me and Tracey.  So we could just be able to find a way to move at the same time, and have that same kind of rhythm about us.  Actually, it’s quite funny on set, Stephenie Meyer came up to us at one point and said she noticed our vampires are really different from the other ones.  She really noticed us and thought it was really pure.  It was all a success for it to be noticed by Stephenie.

As a fan of the books before you came into this franchise, obviously you were probably very excited when you got cast but you’re usually not allowed to tell anybody. When you finally got to tell somebody, who did you tell first?

I remember!  I first got into the Twilight Saga because I was on a cruise on holiday with my friend Jenny.  I was bored, stuck on this ship and she was reading Twilight.  She gave me the book.  I remember I started reading it going ‘a life about sixteen year olds’. Then after the first few pages, I was totally hooked. She was the one who bought tickets in advance for the first film. We spoke about the casting and we went along through the journey together. It was so wonderful and she was the first person I called. I said to her “I’m playing Zafrina,” and she couldn’t believe it. She was there when it all started.  It was so wonderful because I was able to offer her tickets to the premiere.  I asked her to be my date to the premiere.  This coming premiere, she’s going to be my date to experience the whole thing.  She was there in the beginning.  She gave me the first book and she’s going to be right up there for the premiere when I come out for the first time as the character.

Is there a scene that blew you away?

I really did love the scene that you saw with the campfire. For a lot of us, it was our very first time on set.  I remember being completely nervous.  It was the first time we all got to see each other in character.  It was the first time me and Tracey got to decide where we would stand, the type of movement we have to each other, how often do we look at each other.  I felt like it was the first time on screen that those characters developed very early on in the story, where those characters are all together.  For us as a unit as actors, it was one of our first times for us to all be together on set.  I would probably say that.  It was so beautiful and it was a campfire where stories are being told.  It was very scenic, a very beautiful experience.  Magical.