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I wanted to start
with a little bit about your upbringing and the fact that both of your parents were actors as well, weren't they?
Yeah, they were both on Soaps in New York - and that was fun
- it was fun because there wasn't a lot of location stuff... there was no location stuff... so they'd be home every
night. It was almost like nine to five - except they played make believe all day, so that was fun. My favorite
things are when we would go to... my class would have school trips sometimes once in a blue moon to my parents' studios,
and on those days I'd be the most popular one. Because I wasn't a very popular kid, but on those days everyone
wanted to be my partner. [laughs] So they were very fun days.
Now when you told your parents that you wanted to do what they were doing,
what was their reaction?
Well, they... my mom was
pretty much 'whatever', and my father, my father was not happy... [laughs] But then as soon as he saw that I was
willing to really do this nowhere theater, just show up eight shows a week for no money... [laughs] then he was behind me.
I think it also helped that he thought that I was pretty good. [laughs] It must be really hard when your parents are like
"Oh, God they're terrible actors" - and they can't say it, you know? It's like, "Sweetie,
you might want to think of something else." But he was pleased about that, and he also started to realize that
I was taking it seriously and I wasn't just in it for the fifteen minutes.
And your first role was a Soap Opera, was it one of their Soap
Operas?
There were actually a few Soap Operas
around town that I would just do little things on when I was still in school - those were all pretty low maintenance.
Things really didn't get started until I started in theater, and really committing to that - and then I had to travel
a little bit for that.
And
then we fast-forward twenty-something years later - and we reach LOST.... one of the biggest TV shows in the past few years.
What was that like?
Woohoo! Yeah, that was
awesome.
 Now do you have any memorable scenes from filming?
Well, my favorite stuff is probably the stuff from season one - just because
it was so surreal, you know, it was so mind-blowing. And also, nobody really knew what the show was at that point yet
because only maybe the pilot had aired. And especially over there, nobody really had an idea of the phenomenon so
everybody was just 'Oh, hi we're putting on a show', you know? That was sort of the vibe. It was
very summer stock only with a bigger budget. Because I even knew more than they did because I was coming from the
mainland. And I think this was the eighth episode - the ninth episode if you include the pilot, but the eighth episode
of season one. So, they hadn't really gotten word about how well the show was doing, you know? They had the
numbers, but they didn't know... and I did. [laughs] I was like, "You guys have no idea."
Now, did you watch it yourself
til the end?
I did, I did... I'll be honest,
I hadn't watched it when I booked it. I hadn't watched it yet, but then that weekend they were showing the
entire pilot again - and so I got a chance to watch it and I was very excited after that. Because I knew it was a
popular show and it was going to be successful, but I didn't know that it was really... really good.
Now what are your thoughts about the end and Sayid did not
end up with Nadia?
[laughs] Well, there are conflicting
theories about it - some people think if it's his world ... I think that from a writers standpoint, it makes sense.
It makes sense like if you want to really put the focus back on the island at the end, and make the island sort of the main
character... then I think that it makes sense that he ends up with Shannon - in every other way it does not. [laughs] But
that's obviously what they wanted to focus on for
the finale, they wanted to wrap it back up like
that. It sort of makes sense that the whole, you know... for Sayid to be looking for me for eight years and while
he's on the island find redemption, and then as soon as he gets off the island and I die he starts killing again - you
know, it kind of makes sense that maybe I'm not the best thing him. [laughs] You know, he was only a nice guy
when he was hooking up with "Paris Hilton". [laughs] To each their own, man. Whatever works.
Now how was that car scene shot
of you getting hit?
Oh, that was rough... [laughs]
that was with a harness. And then they did some other superpositions where they have the car hitting a dummy, and
then they had a stunt woman rolling off the hood of a car, and I'm thinking "well, if they have a stunt woman why
wouldn't... let her do it all!" [laughs] But they made a point because they wanted that to be an uncut sequence
where I turn around and speak and just get taken out. And it looks pretty cool - I almost wish it went a little slower
because that was scary. [laughs] I wish they had gotten a little more bang for their buck.
It was almost like a Meet Joe Black moment,
have you seen that movie where Brad Pitt gets hit in the beginning?
No!
Yeah, it was
out of the blue - he was the main character so you wouldn't imagine that would happen - and he got hit within the first
ten minutes. He dies and he comes back as death.
Cool, well hopefully I'll follow in his footsteps. [laughs] I don't need to marry Angie [Angelina Jolie], but
career wise...
But
that might get you farther ahead if you marry...
True, true - it'll make some headlines.
[End LOST spoiler]
You did a great job with the accent playing Nadia, do you speak any Arabic?
No, I don't speak Arabic. I mean, I didn't
really have to - there were a few words that I spoke in Arabic. You know, a lot of the time I'm playing roles
where I speak two languages - and when you audition for those roles a lot of the time they'll just tell you 'Ok,
this is it in English go learn how to say it.' [laughs] It's a language that you don't speak, so there
have actually been times where I have to run out and find somebody who speaks whatever I am looking for. [laughs] You
usually have a day to do this, and then you have learn how to say it in the language - you have to get it phonetically -
so I have a little tape recorder and I have my go to spots... "OK, so there's a jewelry store for Arabic..."
But then for Arabic there are all these different dialects, there's Gulf and then there's also Egyptians. There's
all these different dialects to it, I remember once I went for an audition where I was speaking Arabic and I went to an
Egyptian jewelery store [laughs] - I think I was supposed to be Iraqi in it, but I was speaking it with an Egyptian dialect.
[laughs] I was like, "I don't know, how am I supposed to know that?" [laughs] And I'm really good
at phonetics, I'm very good at following sounds... as long as I learn the right sounds. [laughs]
Your accent as Nadia was perfect, I thought
for sure that was your real voice.
Aww, thank you.
Well then it worked. [laughs] It's very hard to get accents wrong for me, it's kind of just having an
ear for it. Languages is a whole other thing. Because if you are grammatically incorrect... you are grammatically
incorrect.
Yeah,
because even one slight change can change the word completely.
Yeah, exactly. That's why I think we should all speak in accents... no other languages. Have all of the countries
speak in different accents. [laughs]
 Let's talk about your next "big break", Breaking Dawn - how'd you get involved in that?
Well, I auditioned... again. It was just a good audition -
and I think I found out about that in August, and they didn't make the announcements for the Covens because they have
A LOT of Covens in this one. I don't think I'm releasing any spoilers because the books have been published
- I'm not sure what's in the book and what's in the script, but it's - for people who love the books...
this is seriously... they are going all out, this is prom. You know what I mean? [laughs] This is formal.
You guys are filming part
one and part two at the same time?
Yeah, they're
doing them at the same time.
Does
that make for long days?
Yeah, you're only doing
one unit at a time. I think that it can get confusing [laughs], but they have it organized - I couldn't do it,
what they're doing with all of the scheduling and all of the green screening, there's a lot of detail in this stuff.
Way more than LOST, I was never aware in LOST that there was any CGI going on - if they did CGI later, it was surprising...
and I was like "Oh, I didn't know they were going to do that." Like when were in solitary doing the stuff
in Iraq - all of that was real, but then in one sequence when he's [Sayid] walking on army base and actually one one
side of the army base it looks exactly like it does, but on the other side has all of this lush foliage because it's
Hawaii - and they were real army barracks from World War II. So the other side they CGI'd out to make it desert
- that had nothing to do with my acting, it had nothing to do with what I was doing. So it was really funny having
to act with stuff that is not there - I've never done that before.
Let's get to the first Twitter question...
Oh, cool.
@Twilightfreak72 wanted to know what it was like on the set of Breaking Dawn - and
what was your favorite part of playing a vampire?
[laughs] It's a lot of fun - the vampires are a blast... all of the people who are in this cast... it's a wonderful
group, and it's very diverse. Just like there's not two of any one kind - it's a real bonding experience
because we're all in the same boat, we're all on location and our families, our homes and our pets are all [laughs]
very far away. So it does feel like camp. And then, my favorite part of playing a vampire is... I guess just
being a badass. [laughs]
Are
you wearing a lot of makeup in this role?
Not a lot,
no. There's certain vampire traits that I have, but no... I mean these are hot vampires. [laughs] These are runway
vampires, they're very stylish, they're very cool... there's not a bad looking one in it that I can see. [laughs]
I think this vampire thing is a good racket if you can get it because they're going to surrounded by hot co-workers.
Is this a physical role?
Mine's not, no. There are some very physical roles
- mine is not as physical as some of them. Yeah, there's going to be a ton of action in this - that's part
of what they're working on right now. It's going to be like crazy... crazy action.
Another Twitter question, TwiLifeLover
wanted to know: Did you really enjoy working with the cast? Was it easy? And were they funny?
[laughs] Yes... yes... and yes. [laughs] Yeah, I'm having
a great time - and everybody is hilarious. There's some very clever... we laugh a lot... we laugh a lot.
We have little inside vampire jokes, it's a lot of fun.
And most of the cast is a lot younger than you.
Um, it depends. The main characters are younger, yeah, but as for the
vampires they kind of run the gambit. There are a few in my age range, there are few in their early twenties, and
then there are a few that are older. But the main characters - it's geared towards the kids.
One last Twitter question, _Cammie_
wanted to know what you thought about Mackenzie Foy?
Oh, she's awesome. She's really... really... really cool. She's VERY smart, and she's really
precocious - and not precocious in a showy kind of way that sometimes kid actors can be - you can tell that she is very
wise. And wise beyond her years. And she [laughs] complains less than anybody [laughs] on the set... the adults
tend to whine more than she does. She's quite a trooper with a great attitude all of the time. She's
really wonder and really pretty - she's going to be a stunner.
Since the cast has been together for a while now, were you worried about
being the newcomer?
Well, yeah... they're all
pretty well bonded so it's just like showing up at a new job or a new school - and since I've guest starred on a
lot of shows I kind of know what it feels like to step into that situation. And usually people are very welcoming
to newcomers. It's a long process, so it's almost like you've become accustomed to each other - you become
part of the gang.
Obviously
Breaking Dawn is taking up a lot of your time, do you have any plans for when you're done filming? Anything else
you want to work on?
We'll see. [laughs] You
kind of have to see where your schedule is at, you know?
I guarantee this [Breaking Dawn] will open
a lot of doors.
Aww, well thank you.
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