'Vampire Academy' Stars on Most Embarrassing Set Moments

I love Lucy and Zoe so much. Now you I love Lucy and Zoe so much. Okay, so let's talk about the movie, you guys. Okay, so this is director of Mean Girls. Yes. So it's like a high school you guys are vampires going to an academy. Real life high school. Like if you had a superlative describe yourselves. Were you, were you the class clown, were you the, you know

If I'm going to pick one, I would pick drama nerd. Like in all the plays. Yeah.

I was kind of the musical one. or like I was in the musical, I was in the musical kind of group. That's nice that they're all really cool and artistic.

I was going to go with something like disaster.

Annoying. Football. Those are pretty much the ones.

Yeah. So um, obviously, you know, high real life high school, filled with filled with embarrassing moments, awkward moments, most awkward set moment.

I'll probably like falling over a lot.

Yeah, we fell over quite a lot. Yeah, I think my biggest one was tripping up into the trailer with some

You should really hurt herself. I remember hearing like

Yeah. I probably, yeah, that wasn't, that wasn't a good moment. The curbs kept getting me. Yes, like onto like onto the sidewalk. I know, I fall over quite a lot. I'm really glad we're sitting down and this is good. That's a good thing we're on the couch.

I think the most embarrassing was when I and I've already told this story, so it's not very interesting, but I was doing um the last fight sequence with Sarah Hyland and I was supposed to run backwards, which I don't recommend trying at home. Very difficult. Um, but it was the reason it was embarrassing for me is because I was around the stuntmen who I really admired and they were very cool and basically, you know, they would chop their arm off and be like, I'm good, man. I'm fine. I feel nothing. I'm all right. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I lightly fell on my cushioned behind and I was crying, so that was embarrassing.

I know that you had a you said you were terrified in the audition. I know it was at your screen test.

It was our chemistry read.

You're chemistry.

Yeah, it was, it was the chemistry read. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's it's not a pleasant thing to do. Like you're walking into a room where yeah. So like it's a lot better if if the two people who are reading against each other haven't, they both haven't got the part yet. And they're bouncing off each other, but these two had already got, they'd been like they'd been in training and they well, well got their part um like months before.

Well, it was fun for me. I'd never done that before. You got to make me feel like this big.

I did not. I was nice to you.

You think you were nice to me. There was a language gap issue that we brought up a couple of times.

Your language gap, you're British and I'm from L. A. like that. There was a culture gap. Is what it was.

He he loves compliments. He loves attention. And he and I said to him, I said, wow, your eyes are, what did I say? They're crazy. Because he has one blue and one brown and he decided to make that into a bad, which clearly I was saying they were amazing.

I'm in a high-pressure situation. I've just met two beautiful women.

Yeah, take that compliment. That was really good. That was

I met two beautiful women. That's so I I'm I'm absolutely terrified and I literally just finished my scene with Zoe and she went, dude, your eyes are crazy. I went. By the way, you're going to have to work on your American accent.

Uh, well, great. Now I feel this big again. Thank you very much. This has been a fun interview so far. I'm really enjoying myself.

You're learning things that you didn't, that you didn't know before, right?

Yeah. Yeah, kind of.

So you I think you said that you knew like instantly when he walked in that that was the that was the guy.

I mean, there was no. Yeah, I mean it's very nice of you. Yeah. Well, like he was so nervous and I remember when he came in just feeling like, oh, because really empathizing with that audition process and you know, meeting people who already have the part and um yeah, and just wanting him to do really well. And one of the great things about the audition was even though Dom was nervous, you could you can still feel the chemistry between actors. You can feel like if the energy is right for the part and everything. So Mark was like, yeah, he was a little bit nervous, but he's perfect.

And I read a cute story about you. Did you work in Hollister right right before you did the movie?

Yeah. Another embarrassing moment here at young Hollywood. Yeah, I did. Yeah. I did.

How was that? Were you a good shirt folder

No, no, no. So I was I was one of the models. Um, but it's I mean it actually there's a there's a lot to be said for it because it it can be a a really good job. I mean it was literally down the road from where I did all of my auditions for for Vampire Academy and um, I met a lot of my very close friends there as well. So there there's a lot to be said for much as it can be a little embarrassing. But there's a lot to be said because I I actually really enjoyed my time.

Did either of you have any sort of, you know, high school jobs or

Oh, plenty. I was working there. Well, when I was 18, I went to Sydney and I had no waitressing experience whatsoever. So of course, I go to a five-star restaurant and say, do you need anyone? And somehow they employed me and it was a very short stint because I didn't last. It was a one-day job. Um, yeah. I think the worst one of the final things this wasn't the climax of it yet. I um was taking water to a table and I thought I could carry like three glass three glass bottles of water to this table. And my little arm, which was really gangly back then, was like shaking. And I get there and I hear this woman like boasting about how this restaurant's won all these awards for the lighting and she's got all these businessmen around her and really trying to impress everyone. And I get there and I start pouring the water and just smash all the bottles on the table and the water goes over all the businessmen. And it was at that point where like the music's gone off because there's that nice quiet chatter perfect timing. So everyone goes quiet. The whole fancy restaurant just stares at me. And I didn't know what to do, so I just ran. Just left everything in.

Did you quit or did they fire you?

Um, they didn't fire me. I just started to get no shifts.

Now I'm going to put you on the spot. Have you had any growing up in LA? I was trying to top that. That was an incredible story. That was a good one. Believe there. That's amazing. I know that you talked about Mark Waters and how he has I think you called it like tricks and tips and he has like he's so adept at working with actors. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Any that you can reveal, maybe like young Hollywooders out there that want this trick?

Yeah, yeah. I'm allowed to swear.

You can say whatever you want on this couch.

We were doing swearing passes, weren't we? So really helpful. I feel I feel like we need to explain that really quickly before anyone. So swear pass is um, is basically where um, we're very restricted in in a lot of what we can say obviously because of the age rating of the movie and um and who the movie's being aimed at. So we um with this with this technique have the ability to say whatever we want and put in kind of the aggression and the animosity in those lines by using swear words and cuss words and stuff. Um and then when obviously when we get to the take, we strip those away, but all of the emotional kind of peaks and troughs are all left in the So actually I I loved it.

I'll give you a sentence. Okay. I love Lucy and Zoe so much. Now you can love Lucy and Zoe so much. Can you not say it out?

I love Lucy and Zoe so much.

That was fantastic. And credit Mark Waters with that one. That was amazing. Fantastic job. And I know you you play a Guardian Angel to Lucy, right? In Is that is that the right? Do I have that right? You're like a Guardian Angel. It's hard to use angel and I know it's a or guardian.

A guardian vampire. Yeah, uh, well, okay. I'll give the premise of the film. Vampire Academy is essentially about uh, uh two best friends that are bonded by an ancient tradition. One, full vampire, who ranks like very high on the food chain, and then her best friend, who's a half vampire, um, who uh is bonded uh to protect the full vampire. Um, and of course, the kind of trials and tribulations of high school, all while trying to um, fight to survive.

Yeah. So, I'm going to throw out a celebrity question. If you could have any celebrity be your guardian for a day, who would it be?

Dwayne Johnson.

Wait, who?

Dwayne Johnson.

Zach Galifianakis.

I'm so with you on that one. That's that he would make a hell of a of a Dan Per. Okay. And so obviously we're covering three countries here spanning three countries with the three of you. Were there cultural differences? Were you teasing each other? Was that like a thing?

Have you met me?

I don't know how to function without. Yeah, there was. There was, I think it's just necessary. But speak because you brought up Hollister, the one of the first things he said to me was like, yeah, I work at Hollister. Do you know what that is? And I was like, I grew up in L. A. not under a rock.

Well, because to us, it's not. It's it's a fairly like a lot of people don't know what it is in the UK. To us, it's a fairly niche thing. And like,

And you guys have weird words like what's the, what do you guys call the trunk of a car?

The boot.

Yeah. What about trash can?

Rubbish bin.

Rubbish bin. Yeah. Uh, pants.

Trousers.

What sweaters?

Jumper.

Yeah. Well, I was at a store and I was like, oh, where where are your where are your sweaters? They're like, huh? And I was like, they said jumper. And I said, no, no, no, I don't want a romper. I want a I want a sweater. I'm cold. And they were like, yeah, jumper. And it was like a really a long battle between the two of us. That's my story. But I was trying to think like, why is it called a jumper? And I was thinking that maybe it was because they came from sheep, like the wool and like. Because sheep jump. Yeah. Oh. Well, where else does the word jumper come from? I've never had to think of it until people here are like, no one calls it a jumper. I know that sounds so blonde.

Should we leave things on sheep? I think we should end it on sheep. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for making a host job easy. I could just sit here and listen to you guys all day long.

I know, they have nice accents.