91. JACKSON RATHBONE: Celebrating 20 years of Twilight & lessons learned from playing Jasper

It's hard to believe, but Twilight is turning 20 years old! 

October 5th, 2005 was the day Stephenie Meyer published a teen book about a girl falling in love with a sparkly vampire and changed pop culture as we knew it. Jackson Rathbone played Jasper when the books were turned into movies. Now, he's looking back the franchise's impact, lessons he learned from Jasper, and sharing his love of books.

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Transcript

00;00;00;08 - 00;00;30;17
Speaker 1
Get it, losers. We're going back to Forks Hi, and welcome to Literary Hype. I am Stephanie, your literary hype woman. And I am so hyped about today's podcast. And that's because we're celebrating 20 years of twilight. 20 years. This book first came out on October fitt 2005. I'm also 2025 that is this year which means it is 20 years old.

00;00;31;07 - 00;00;56;11
Speaker 1
And this book and its subsequent movies have really lasted through those 20 years. We are seeing the actors go back out on the Comic-Con circuit and spend time with fans and they have really long lines and I mean extremely long lines because today's conversation is with Jackson Rathbone, who played Jasper in the Twilight saga. And I. OK, I'll admit it.

00;00;56;11 - 00;01;19;15
Speaker 1
I'm sat waiting for him to be available for him to have a break in his line for probably four and a half, 5 hours in order to get this interview. And it did not happen until after the show was already closed. So that just shows that these guys are still beloved, even all these years later. So without any further ado, here's my conversation with Jackson Rathbone, a.k.a Jasper from the Twilight Saga.

00;01;24;15 - 00;01;39;26
Speaker 2
Welcome to literary. It's exciting to get to talk to you because you are an icon of books through movie. So many girls that are now super big readers started with Twilight. So what's it like for you to be part of a franchise that has had such a lasting impact? We're talking 20 years now.

00;01;39;26 - 00;02;01;23
Speaker 3
That's amazing to be considered an icon. I don't know. I wouldn't use that word. I think I was lucky to be a part of a incredible franchise that meant a lot to a lot of people, and it meant a lot to me. So if anything, I will say thank you, thank you to all of you who brought it into your lives, because it's really there's a lot of there's a lot of entertainment out there and you guys like Twilight, so that's cool, man.

00;02;01;23 - 00;02;09;10
Speaker 2
Thank you. What's it like for you to it's again, 17 years to still be out talking about this movie and doing panels about this movie.

00;02;09;10 - 00;02;30;13
Speaker 3
You know, it was it's interesting. I haven't done a lot of conventions the last two years. I started doing them when the movies came out about 17 years ago. I did like two conventions and completely honestly, I got groped and it was really inappropriate. And everybody at the time laughed and thought it was funny. I didn't. So I said, I'm done with this bleep and I didn't do it anymore.

00;02;31;11 - 00;02;52;19
Speaker 3
And then two years ago, Kevin called me out of retirement and he's just like, Listen, things have changed. People are a lot more cool and respectful and that doesn't happen anymore. And so I came back and it's been amazing ever since. The people have is a whole new generation of Twilight readers, a whole new generation of fans. You've just become enamored with these characters and yeah, it's awesome.

00;02;52;20 - 00;02;55;19
Speaker 3
And Stephanie Meyer did something right when she wrote these books. I think it's awesome.

00;02;55;22 - 00;03;03;04
Speaker 2
If we were to convince Stephanie Meyer to write a Jasper book, what parts of Jasper's life would you want to see explored more?

00;03;03;12 - 00;03;26;19
Speaker 3
I honestly think I'm obviously biased for Jasper, but I think that Jasper has the best story because his story is it's it's the hero's journey. He's, you know, he was this, this. And if we understand the hero's journey, it's Joseph Campbell. The power of myth. Incredible book, a little advanced, but check it out. We have the story of Jasper, who is like, he's the young man.

00;03;26;20 - 00;03;50;02
Speaker 3
He's doing what he thinks is right at the time in his life in 17, he joins the war effort and during that war effort he understands that what he's doing maybe it's not right and he tries to to get the women and children out of harm's way. And along that effort to do good. He runs across a band of very seductive female vampires and he gets turned by an evil woman named Maria.

00;03;50;14 - 00;04;12;25
Speaker 3
And she makes him her bleep and make some changes newborn army. So and then he escapes from that. He's pulled out of that by another couple who say there's a better way. So he finds he follows them and they basically lead him to Alice, who convinces him that he is good, that there is goodness inside of him, despite his past, despite the many flaws in his life.

00;04;13;00 - 00;04;35;15
Speaker 3
And that's a story of redemption. And I think redemption stories are something that we really desperately need now. It's because we forgot how to forgive. We forgotten how to allow someone to make a mistake and then raise them back up. We don't want our jails full of people. We want rehabilitation. And rehabilitation comes with the promise from society that says we will forgive you if you ask for it.

00;04;35;21 - 00;04;55;17
Speaker 3
And that's what we need. And so I love the story of Jasper that all that means to me that it's it's about forgiveness. It's about the second chances that I know I've been given in my life that are third and fourth and fifth chances. I'm sober and it's the best thing in the world and in my journey of sobriety, I think I even more so connected to Jasper for the.

00;04;55;27 - 00;04;57;12
Speaker 3
It's incredible. I love it.

00;04;57;15 - 00;05;11;00
Speaker 2
Redemption story for Jasper. It's something I didn't want to touch on. You've got a cross around your neck. You've I've been sitting here while you've been talking to fans. You've been saying, God bless you. What is it like for you to play this character who gets to live out a redemption from the perspective of someone of faith?

00;05;11;02 - 00;05;29;29
Speaker 3
Man, I would say that's the greatest thing about Jasper to me as a as a man who has a lot of faith. I grew up in in West Texas with a very evangelical family. And there's some of that I really believe in. And some of them are I don't I don't fully believe in institutions. I believe in faith between man and God.

00;05;29;29 - 00;05;47;23
Speaker 3
And woman and God, you know, humans and the creator. I believe there's a direct connection there. I don't believe we need a lot of stuff in the way. And that's a whole theological conversation. I can have. I could do this for hours. I studied theology. I love it. I almost became a minister longer story there. But I love acting.

00;05;47;23 - 00;06;05;20
Speaker 3
I love entertaining. I want to bring joy to people through entertainment. And I think that's what God called on me to do and that's what I love to do. And I know for some people out there, maybe the a, you know, the atheist crowd, I have nothing against you all. I love talking to my best friends in the world are atheists and we have the best conversations.

00;06;05;26 - 00;06;27;03
Speaker 3
I love to talk with people I disagree with. I love to read books that I don't fully agree with. I learn and that's how we learn. I tell my kids, nonfiction is the key to life because you're going to be reading a piece of nonfiction a piece of story fiction is the key to life. Nonfiction is great. You're going to learn some stuff, but fiction will teach you how to live, and that's the best thing about it.

00;06;27;03 - 00;06;51;24
Speaker 3
I mean, notice it's not it's nonfiction and fiction, right? And that weird. You wouldn't think wouldn't you think it'd be like, you know, truth or reality level books and non-reality it's it's fascinating how much emphasis we put on fiction and storytelling, because that's what we are. We're tribal species that sits around a fire, hangs out, chats it up, and like I learn about you, you learn about me right now it's all about me because I'm talking forever.

00;06;51;24 - 00;06;59;06
Speaker 3
Sorry, but I'm having a great time and I'm a I'm a frickin book nerd. So I love this literary hype. Hell, yeah, I did.

00;06;59;28 - 00;07;09;06
Speaker 2
I'm saving that clip forever. Do it. So there are studies scientifically that say that reading fiction makes you more empathetic because you can put yourself in other people's perspective somewhere.

00;07;09;07 - 00;07;09;27
Speaker 3
Exactly.

00;07;09;27 - 00;07;20;02
Speaker 2
So have you had any learned anything from fans about them using Twilight or your performance in Twilight to how they interact with how they interact with other people?

00;07;20;13 - 00;07;38;24
Speaker 3
That's interesting. You know what? One of the sweetest things that like people come up to us at the conventions and say is they'll they'll tell us that Twilight helped them get through a really dark part of their lives. Maybe it was a bad relationship or it was a rough spot with her family or personal health issues. But they come up and they tell us, hey, Twilight helped me get through this.

00;07;38;24 - 00;08;01;12
Speaker 3
And I always remind them that Twilight maybe was a crutch, but the work was through them. Like, if you're if you're struggling and you lean on a crutch for a little bit to get you through that to help your leg heal, the crutch didn't save you. It was you. You put the work in there. And the same thing when it comes to Twilight or any piece of art or literature that can help you out in a moment.

00;08;01;12 - 00;08;07;02
Speaker 3
Remember, that's that's you doing the work, but you learn and solve that. And so that's yeah, dude, fiction. Is where it's at.

00;08;07;10 - 00;08;12;16
Speaker 2
How do you find joy when you're getting asked the same questions about the same things over and over again?

00;08;13;21 - 00;08;35;02
Speaker 3
That's a great question. Actually, I'm pretty good about kind of no offense ignoring the question unless it like, it excites me and then I'll go off on a little bit, you know, and I find that to be honest, yourself, to be authentic, it's a weird word, but like to really try and find what makes you unique and let that out, you know?

00;08;35;02 - 00;08;54;28
Speaker 3
And I think that's part of the appeal to the Twilight series is it is in essence, a story about wallflowers. You know, you have Bella, who's a little bit on the outcast side. She's new in town, and she sees this beautiful group of outcasts. Like they're not the cool kids, they're the weirdos. They might be pretty weirdos, but there are weirdos in this school.

00;08;55;09 - 00;09;22;20
Speaker 3
And I think we can all relate to that in our lives at some point. I think every single person, no matter who you think they are, they're going to feel alone at some point in their lives. I know a lot of kids that I grew up with who were jocks and cheerleaders, and I'm an artsy kid, but I talk to them connected years later, and they were just telling me, like how lonely they felt in high school and how they didn't feel connected, and how I had a one buddy of mine telling me how he was jealous of me because like, I was I could be friends with every group, and he felt like he

00;09;22;20 - 00;09;42;05
Speaker 3
could only hang out with the jocks because he wasn't allowed to go out there and he wasn't allowed to be a little weird or freaky or whatever. Right? So let your freak flag fly. Remember, you're not alone. Go out there, enjoy yourselves, find great books, find great friends, share your stories, be authentic to who you are. You are unique.

00;09;42;10 - 00;09;48;13
Speaker 3
You are placed on this earth for a reason. And maybe that reason just hanging out and having a good time. So enjoy yourselves.

00;09;48;23 - 00;09;56;22
Speaker 2
Are there any stories that you have wished you could tell from Twilight from in the past? 17 years that no one has asked you enough to prompt you to tell?

00;09;57;10 - 00;10;23;10
Speaker 3
Oh, not really. You know, honestly, it's been 17 years of doing interviews and all that. I asked, I said, I'm only saying this because the technology is there. They can age me, but I would 100% do a Jaspar origin story film if nothing else, Lenny produced the damn thing because I know this character inside and out. I love Jasper, I love owls, and I think their story is the story that we need.

00;10;23;10 - 00;10;44;29
Speaker 3
I think we need a rehabilitation story. We need a story of redemption. We need a story where we allow for other people to make amends because I'm sorry, I don't believe in banishment. I don't I don't believe in canceling. And you know where I learned that from? It was the chosen. The chosen was one. And then there's the other one the where they they share the memories.

00;10;45;07 - 00;11;05;10
Speaker 3
The Giver. The Giver was a great story, too. And like, you know, there's these stories, these, these pieces of literature from my past when I was a youngster that I share with my kids now because I know they have great moral lessons. And at the end of the day, it does make you empathetic because you are in the front row seat to somebody else's life.

00;11;05;10 - 00;11;24;02
Speaker 3
And regardless if they're real or not, you get invested, you put yourself there, your heart races, you you worry, you can't wait to turn the next page. I have a problem where it's like, I'll read really fast and sometimes I'll skip over things and have to kind of go back a little bit. But then but then I want to get to that next page as it's getting exciting and interesting but that's literature for you.

00;11;24;03 - 00;11;25;09
Speaker 3
It's the best thing in the world.

00;11;25;12 - 00;11;28;05
Speaker 2
Are there any book adaptations that you wish you could be part of?

00;11;28;08 - 00;11;47;09
Speaker 3
Oh my God, yeah. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay It's incredible book. They made it a feature film out of it, and I think it won some big awards, but it's very, very not honest to the book. And the book was really about apartheid in South Africa. And this young man is a boxer. It's really, really amazing, powerful story.

00;11;47;09 - 00;12;04;17
Speaker 3
I really like that. I'd love to be a part of that. And then honestly, I won't get into the Marvel and DC World, baby. I want to go blow some stuff up and be all silly. I think I get along really well with James Gunn and his crew over there. DCU so I don't know Marvel stepping up back these days.

00;12;04;17 - 00;12;24;21
Speaker 3
I love Fantastic Four and I love what they're doing with the new phase. So anyway, if you want, I'll play Colin and I were talking about we're going to try to do this. This actually the first person I've ever told. We're gonna try and do a Twilight After Dark panel. That would be a so we're going get R-rated tell some dirty stories half on talk about Breaking Dawn part two Breaking Bad.

00;12;24;22 - 00;12;26;01
Speaker 3
You know what I mean? Yeah, I get it.

00;12;26;26 - 00;12;30;04
Speaker 2
Last question that was asked, because this is literary hype. What books are you asked about?

00;12;30;10 - 00;12;47;10
Speaker 3
Ooh, what books are my hyped about? Like, I'm a huge Malcolm Gladwell fan. I know we talked a lot about fiction, but like, Malcolm Gladwell is like, my guy, and I just got my kid and do it. He's 13 and he I gave him blink first. Blink is a fantastic introduction to the world of Malcolm Gladwell, fantastic writer.

00;12;47;10 - 00;13;07;20
Speaker 3
It's essentially popular, like psychology like pop psychology. It's fantastic. Writing is really easy to read. It doesn't feel like homework. It feels like a joy. And then one of my favorite books of all time is 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And that's what's up there with magical realism, which just a genre of literature that I love.

00;13;08;18 - 00;13;29;26
Speaker 3
And I love it when this we see a little bit of magical realism in film is a great Greek. I think it's Greek director named Yorgos Lent the most incredible series of films most people know the favorite with Emma Stone or Poor Things with Mark Ruffalo and Emma Stone or his newest movie, Kinds of Kindness with Jesse Plemons.

00;13;29;26 - 00;13;42;28
Speaker 3
And Emma Stone. But before Emma Stone, there was also Dogtooth, which is one of the best movies you ever see. Check it out, Your Excellency Moss Dogtooth. It's subtitled, but y'all are readers, so don't let self-doubt stop you.

00;13;43;10 - 00;13;45;19
Speaker 2
Thank you so much for taking time to talk to literary hype.

00;13;45;28 - 00;13;47;17
Speaker 3
Literary hype. Let's get it.

00;13;51;05 - 00;14;08;19
Speaker 1
Thanks again to Jackson for taking time out of his convention schedule. And by convention schedule, I mean really like making sure that he was leaving the convention because this is the last thing he did before he left the show for the entire weekend. So it was so great to get to sit next to him and see how he interacts with fans.

00;14;08;19 - 00;14;26;11
Speaker 1
And he is truly so genuine and loves getting to talk to people. One of my favorite things that we did not get a chance to talk about because he did need to leave is how during his photo ops he would be taking the pictures and while they were taking them, just give Jasper in the night. So it was so funny to watch people's reactions to that to see how they interacted with him.

00;14;27;00 - 00;14;44;12
Speaker 1
He's a gem, so definitely check out any other works that he does, but also the Twilight movie franchise. If you have not read Twilight or want to get your hands on the new 20th anniversary site, definitely check out the links in the description if you enjoyed this conversation. Don't forget to subscribe to the Literary Hype podcast. First of all, give us some stars.

00;14;44;17 - 00;14;49;02
Speaker 1
Leave a comment and share it with your friends. Thanks so much for listening to the Literary Hype podcast.