Mundie Moms

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Mortal Instruments Movie Set Visit Exclusive series #1: My On Set Interview with Cassandra Clare

Cassie & I on the set of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie

It's an amazing thing to be apart of a fandom who wants nothing more than to support a series of books you love, and an author you've become friends with. It's a whole other thing when those said books get turned into movies. What an incredible experience I had last September when Sony and Constantin Films invited myself and a few other fansites up to Toronto to visit The Mortal Instruments movie set. Not only did we get to sit down with some of the cast, but we got to sit down with Cassie herself. I have to tell you, even though I've known Cassie for awhile, it was a totally different feel sitting down with her to talk about the series on the movie set. It was hard to not fangirl while talking to her.

Before I talk about the set visit and share my interview with Cassie, I want to talk about Cassie. Cassandra Clare is truly one of the most generous people I know. She loves her fans. She spent time with us while in Toronto, chatted with us for a bit and made every event to to connect with her fans and fansites. I admire someone who can do that, especially with the crazy schedule she has. Prior to our set visit, Cassie and I had arranged a dinner with the fan sites, and a few other fans in the area. What a fun night we had. Even after that time, she still made time to visit with us. 

The day of the set visit was totally surreal. I can't even tell you how amazing it was to be there with Cassie. During the tour they gave us, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning.  To be there to fangirl over the Shadowhunter world coming to life with Cassie is something I won't soon forget. It's truly amazing to see a book you've read so many times come to life. Not only did we get to see the vision that the studio has with this movie, which is very similar to ours, but Cassie took time to sit down and talk about it with us. Each fan site was able to ask Cassie one question, and here is the question I asked:

What scenes are you most excited to see?
I think that for me it would really be a tossup in terms of the scene that I’m most excited to see between Magnus’ Party and the Greenhouse scene with Clary and Jace that we all know and love.

YES to both of these! Me too! Though I might have to say I'm really looking forward to seeing Magnus first and then the Greenhouse scene. I know! I'm wrong to say that, but I'm dying to see Magnus. 

Check out the rest of the interview below. These questions were asked from the various fansites also on set.

Is there a character, costume, or set piece that you saw and thought ‘wow that is exactly how I pictured it? 
I think the first time that I saw the City of Bones, I thought wow this is exactly how I pictured it. It’s…I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s really amazing and incredibly detailed. Every little tiny piece of the set is different and it really felt like a real place to me.
The story of City of Bones/Mortal Instruments was inspired by a trip you took to a tattoo shop. Do you have any tattoos, and are any inspired by your novels?
I do not have any tattoos, I have never been able to commit to a particular tattoo, unfortunately, but I would love to get a tattoo and I’ve been thinking that maybe when the movie comes out I’ll get one of the Runes.
What inspired your awesome pen name?
It’s the name of Jane Austen’s sister and she used to write stories for her sister so that was the inspiration.
For your readers, what do you think the film is going to add to this/your story they already know and love so well?
Well I think that a film always adds another layer of meaning to a story the same way than a play adaptation or a piece of music inspired by a story adds another layer of meaning. A film is an interpretation of a book and so I think that it will provide people with an opportunity to see another interpretation to the book.

Is there a piece of advice you've given to a specific actor, in regard to their character, that surprised them?

I’m not sure that I’ve really given a piece of advice that really surprised them but I’ve certainly talked to them about giving themselves the freedom to interpret their characters the way that they see them and not to worry about trying to hue to any of the particular other interpretations that you can find. You know, every different fan has their own interpretation of what those characters are like and I really wanted the actors to feel like they should interpret the characters the way they saw them.

What makes Harald Zwart the right director for this film?

I think Harald is the right director for this film because he is actually not a fantasy guy in the sense that he hasn’t done fantasy movies before. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t like fantasy, he is a fan, but he comes at the project from the point of view of someone who has always concentrated on the emotional relationships between characters in his work and so, in these stories he does the same, he concentrates on the emotional work between the characters, their different relationships, he’s very committed to underlining that every character has a relationship with every other character and I think it’s that kind of basis that’s required to make a fantasy feel real.

Is it difficult releasing control of your story to a screenplay writer and letting someone else translate your words to the big screen?
Well I am a bit of a control freak so it is difficult to let go of a story and let someone else takeover their, you know with their interpretation of it, but, working with Constantin has been really great. They’ve certainly talked to me a lot, taken my opinion into account, and thought about the things that I have said. And at the end of the day, I am also excited, just as my readers are, to see the final product and ready to be surprised.
When Lily was first cast as Clary, what advice did you give her for portraying the role?
When Lily was first cast as Clary, I was actually surprised, I didn’t realize they were going to cast her and so I think that I gave her the advice not to feel pressured by the idea that there were a lot of people who had investment in the character and who wanted to see the character portrayed this way or another way, not to get too hung up on people on wanting to make sure she had the right red color of hair or the right green color of eyes, but to try to capture what she felt was the intrinsic spirit of the character and I really believed in her ability to do that and from what I have seen, she has.



On set with Cassie!! I'm to the left of Cassie holding the copy of the book


HUGE thank you to Cassie, Sony and Constantin Films for this opportunity. I'm looking forward to sharing more of my onset interviews with you guys over the next few days. Check back tomorrow at 2 pm CST for my interview with Jamie!!

The Mortal Instruments Autograph Sessions at Comic Con



Comic Con TMI fan goers, check out the newly released Comic Con autographic sessions hereMortal Instruments signing is set for FRIDAY, July 19th at 9 am!! No word yet on which cast members will be signing. 
More info about the autographs: Friday July 19, 2013 9:00am – 10:00am Sails Pavilion – Autographs 3: AutographsLimited Signing
*LIMITED signing will be taking place, which means that a drawing for LINE TICKETS will be held Friday at 9 am in the autograph area. 
The Mortal Instruments movie panel will be taking place at 4:05 pm in Hall H. Cassie, Harald, Lily, Jamie, Robert and Kevin are all scheduled to attend. They will be answering fans questions and sharing some new footage. 
Are you going to Comic Con? Let us know! I'll be there. 

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