Nikki Reed wants us to shower with her. No, seriously. The Twilight star has teamed up with AXE Shower for a good cause: water conservation. Whether it is showering with a partner or whomever you don't feel awkward scrubbing down with, the new AXE Showerpooling campaign encourages students and pretty much anyone who bathes to take shorter showers in an attempt to help conserve water, and bathing together definitely is one way to save!
With The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 set to release in November, the 23-year-old actress' days of rabid tween fandom will soon die down. Fortunately, she's got more projects in the works. Complex got a chance to sit down with the triple-threat to talk about everything from her upcoming film Empire State and her future EP with husband Paul McDonald to her AXE campaign and 13-year-old girls who want her hand in marriage.
Interview by Vincent Angiolillo
Can you elaborate more on your AXE campaign and why you wanted to get involved?
And for me, I’m married so it is pretty convenient. If not, showering for less than five minutes is a great way to save water, and it is not that hard. People hear that and are like “What!?" But actually, it's easy if you just don’t hang out in the shower and just use it for what you need to use it for. Or, you can install really great water efficient showerheads, so you don’t have to think about it ever again.
There are little things that you can do and I guess that is the message behind this that I really like. People think that saving the planet or finding their place in that effort is a really overwhelming thought. It's important to send the message to people that, "Hey this is pretty effortless guys. There are things you can do here, whether it is this for conserving water or bringing your own grocery bags to the store so you don’t use plastic." There are things we can all do, and there are so many of us on this planet that if everyone does a little little something, we are going to change the world, right?
You and AXE had the big event down at USC (University of Southern California. How did it go over with those college students, and how did they receive your message?
I think they seemed pretty excited, and also having the words showerpooling headlining this thing is a great way to get heads to turn. Especially with that demographic, everyone likes the idea of showering with another person. And they're like, “What? You are encouraging me to do group showering? That sounds freaking awesome, tell me more about that!" And maybe chicks will think, "Oh this is really a positive thing, and maybe I should do this." There is a cute little tie in with that that I think makes people go, “Maybe this is for me!”
The final installment of Twilight is hitting theaters soon. What can we expect from your character Rosalie in the last movie?
Well, Rosalie is probably the most relatable in this movie out of all of them just because of her relationship with the baby, and I think this is the side of Rosalie that the fans have always connected with and always wanted to see. So that is awesome. It's always challenging to play a character for four years who's sort of the least likeable of the group and kind of goes against what the audience wants, so I am excited for her transition.
With all the success that Twilight has amassed, how has your career changed, and where would you like to go after the saga is completed?
I just want to continue to be challenged, whatever that means. I’m exploring new areas right now, I am recording an EP with Paul [McDonald], so we will have a record out the first week of November.
Also, I have my jewelry line that I feel really close to. I designed and sketched a lot of the stuff; I went into my initial meeting with all my own sketches and ideas. There is a story behind each piece and a lot of it is inspired by some amazing women in my family.
I have some cool movies I did this year; I did four films as well. One of them is Empire State, with Liam Hemsworth, that I'm really excited about. Another one is In Your Eyes with Zoe Kazan. It is a Joss Whedon movie, and that is really freakin’ cool. So, I have some stuff that I feel really proud of and that I fought really hard for.
A lot of people are really excited for this Empire State movie. Can you just give us some insight on how the movie is coming along?
I texted the director this morning; I was like “Oh my god, coming from such an insecure actress, please tell me how it looks. Am I good in it? What is going on!” [Laughs.] I am really excited about this. I played by far the most outrageous, entertaining character I have ever played. She is loud, she it totally narcissistic, she is obnoxious, and it was just a blast! The dynamic between my character and Liam’s character is just really funny.
How do react to the cult following that Twilight has? I know Comic Con gets pretty crazy. Do you have any funny stories about run-ins with fans?
I had the cutest little girl once—she was like 13—and she told me that her mom said when she turned 18, she could marry me. And I thought that was really awesome—what a cool mom she has, so open minded and great. That little girl, I hope I didn’t break her heart because I married Paul, but I thought that was one of my most favorite fan moments.
You maintain a blog and have had some success in screenwriting with the movie Thirteen, do you see yourself developing more projects or screenplays down the road?
I love writing. I feel more connected to that than I do a lot of the other things. I mean, obviously not the record or the jewelry line, but I just mean the kind of joy I get from writing on my blog is pretty great. I write because it feels good and I don’t have a deadline and I don’t have people telling me what they want me to write. Maybe if I did, I wouldn’t be very good at it.
I want to write a book at some point; I love telling stories. But the thing that I am coming up against right now that is really difficult for me is writing fiction. You know, I love to write what I see and what I do and what I experience, and I like to see if people can relate to that. I don’t know if I am as good at making up a story in my head that has no truth to it, so that is a challenge for me.
You mentioned your singing career. What kind of music are you putting out there?
Right now, Paul and I are recording an EP, and it feels very kind of singer-songwriter—a little folksy, acoustic and very simple. When I was talking to my producer about this, he asked, “What kind of music do you want to make?” And I said, "You know, I just want to make real music and I don’t want it to sound like anything but me. If that's not great, then that's fine. If my tone isn’t perfect, then let's go with it, because I know it’s not." I have a lot of respect for singers and for musicians, and I know that it is something that I enjoy. There is no competition with it, and I just want that to be the approach. I want people to walk into this knowing that if they buy our record or they hear us sing, they'll feel that I do it because I love it and because I love writing songs and because it feels good. Maybe they can appreciate that.
