How did you spend your Valentine's night? If your girl is a Twilight fanatic, chances are you found yourself stuck at home pretending to watch Breaking Dawn Part 1, which just hit Blu-ray/DVD this past weekend. With Breaking Dawn now the most successful in The Twilight Saga franchise, one of the film’s breakout stars is actor Booboo Stewart—he plays werewolf Seth Clearwater in the two-part finale (the last film hits theaters later this year). But what the actor really loves is video games. In this recent interview, Booboo talks about his first experience at E3 this year, why guys might actually like Breaking Dawn, and his ongoing struggle to stay alive in Call of Duty: Black Ops...
For the majority of guys that haven’t gotten into this whole Twilight thing, what are some reasons they might enjoy these last two Breaking Dawn flicks?
Breaking Dawn definitely is the most guy-friendly movie in the Twilight series. There’s a lot of really cool action in it between the vampires and the wolves. There’s all of this fighting and everything, which should appeal to the male audience.
Can you talk a little bit about your character in Breaking Dawn?
My character’s name is Seth Clearwater. He is like the peacemaker of the movie. He’s one of the few characters that actually gets along with everybody and wants everyone to get along.
What video games did you play growing up?
Definitely Street Fighter on the old Nintendo, where the controller was an oval and when the games didn’t work you’d have to hit in hard. And if that didn’t work you had to blow on the cartridge.
Street Fighter has come a little way since then. Have you checked out the Tekken X Street Fighter?
No. I heard about it and I really want to play it. There should be Tekken vs. Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat. That would be like the ultimate.
Who’s your favorite Street Fighter character?
Dhalsim, the guy who stretches.
Do you have a favorite memory from playing games back then?
One thing that I thought was crazy, and I didn’t even think about it back then, was when I had my GameBoy I had to use an external light to shine on to the screen. And now you have brightness in your video games. You can turn up the brightness on the screen and turn it down, but back then you couldn’t do that.
And now not only are games in color but they’re in 3D. Have you tried out the Nintendo 3DS?
No, but I know people that have it. I’ve seen someone play it. It’s cool.
Speaking of 3D, you’d have thought with the 3D craze that they’d have made Breaking Dawn in 3D.
Right. They probably discussed that at some point, but I don’t know. That’s more of the production thing. I think it’s kind of cool to be different and not do a 3D movie.
What are your thoughts about 3D because we’re seeing a lot of 3D video games?
Yeah. I think 3D is amazing. Not only are there 3D games but there are regular channels with 3D TV shows. I don’t have a 3D TV yet, but hopefully soon.
Did you guys have any video gaming going on when you were filming Breaking Dawn?
Not on set, but I actually brought my Xbox with me to the hotel. I played a lot of Call of Duty: Black Ops. I love playing Call of Duty on Xbox Live. I set it up in my room so I could play online.
How good are you at Black Ops?
I’m horrible. I do horrible at this stage. I really am bad. If we’re playing on Xbox Live, I usually kill about two people and die like seven times.
What do you play when you’re not on Black Ops?
I love playing Halo Reach. That game is so cool. The thing that is weird for some reason, I can’t play on campaigns. I get really mad on campaigns. It’s annoying because I can’t past the easy levels, so I get really mad and I just have to put it down. I got the game Mafia 2, which was an awesome game. I love anything to do with the Mafia…movies, games, TV shows. I think it’s really interesting. So I was really excited to get the game and I was playing on the campaign and then I just couldn’t do it. Even though I like it so much, I got stuck and couldn’t finish the game.
Do you just play the online gameplay on Xbox?
Oh, yeah. Definitely. I’ve been playing a lot of the Black Ops zombies. It’s actually scary if you’re playing by yourself. I can’t play it by myself.
What’s something cool that starring in Breaking Dawn opened up for you?
I was at [video game trade show] E3 last year and I saw a lot of cool games there. I got to try out Battlefield 3. I even tried it on the computer, and I’d never played a shooter on a computer before. I’m so surprised at how good the graphics and everything is in that game.
How did E3 compare to Comic-Con?
E3 was my first time going. That was a crazy show, but I’ve been to Comic-Con before. E3 was my first game convention and that was ridiculous. There were so many video games, I was just like, “Wow!” I’d never even heard of some of these games, and they’re coming out in the next year or two. The graphics are insane. Games look so real now.
Was there anything that stood out besides Battlefield 3 that you saw at E3?
I saw this one, Brother in Arms Furious 4. Oh my gosh, that was really cool. I really enjoyed the trailer for that.
It must have been easier for you to get around E3 without the screaming girls at Comic-Con.
Yeah. E3 was amazing. I was just so surprised how many games there were. It was insane.
What were you playing before you got your Xbox?
Before I had an Xbox, we had a Wii. I think that’s always cool. I love the Wii, actually. It’s just fun to swing the controller. Every once in a while the controller would fly out of my hand, when I was being dumb and not wearing the wrist straps. It was like, “I don’t need this wrist strap,” and then it’d fly across the room and hit the wall. I’m actually really good with Wii Tennis, but I’m horrible at Ping Pong. Before the Wii I had a PSP. I was doing a lot of traveling, so having the PSP was really great.
What did you like to play on the PSP?
I loved to play Medal of Honor. That was great. Now I just want to get on Call of Duty, but Medal of Honor was awesome. I think I’m better at the PSP than the Xbox. For some reason whenever I see someone and I’m going to shoot them, my thumbs go crazy and I can’t control my thumbs. It’s easier on the PSP.
