WonderCon 2011: Paul Benttany, Cam Gigandet And Lily Collins Talks ‘Priest’

Screen Gems premiered new scenes of their upcoming Korean manga adaptation of “Priest” about a renegade warrior priest who goes on a rescue mission for his niece who has been kidnapped by vampires. Several of the film’s stars made an appearance at the panel on Saturday and in the press rounds I had the chance to speak with Paul Benttany, Cam Gigandet and Lily Collins, three of the film’s stars.

Paul Bettany
– Paul thought it was great that he got to play a vampire hunter everyday.
– He explains how when they were filming a scene where he leaps into the air to stab a vampire, in reality he was stabbing a very threatening pillow.
– He believes he’s always been a very imaginative — as a kid he played soldiers and show imaginary Nazis or Cowboys — and that’s one of the reasons why he takes on these roles.
– Another reason is because an actor he feels powerless, and when asked if he had a dream role, he doesn’t believe that he does. He just takes what is given to him and loves what he does. Although he wouldn’t mind directing.

Cam Gigandet
– Cam admits that he isn’t a comic book fan, but has been more into them since “Priest.” He geeks out more about sci-fi stuff and is a fan of Brent Weeks’ “Way of the Shadow.”
– His character Hicks is not as bad ass or as physical as Benttany’s. In fact, he just gets his ass whupped a lot.
– The prop gun he uses in the film is close to 11 pounds. By the end of the shoot he needs someone to help prop his arm up just to aim and fire.
– What he likes the most about his character Hicks is that he doesn’t have all the answers. He’s immature, has doubts and isn’t a hero.
– If he could in a future film, he’d want to play a villain. He’s not sure what that says about him, but playing a villain seems more natural to him.
– Lastly, when asked what it felt like to finally be in a vampire movie where they don’t sparkle, he adamantly admits that the vampires in “Priest” are much better and can kick sparkly vampire ass.

Lily Collins
– When asked what she enjoyed the most about her character Lucy, Collins said it was all the various arcs she goes through. She isn’t just a damsel in distress even though she may start out as one. Deep down she is a fighter and you can even see that in the film where she does try to free herself and escape.
– She was able to learn a lot from Bettany who gave her confidence in her abilities as she’s still relatively new to acting having only been in “The Blind Side.”
– She loves “Priest” because she believes she lives in a fantasy world herself and it just happens that her next role will be “Snow White.”
– For now, she’s enjoying having the chance to do what she does, and she will just go with the flow because she’s still young.

“Priest” will hit theaters May 13th in 3D.