Jackson Rathbone Tells MTV That the Most Gratifying Part of ‘Eclipse’ Was Uncovering Jasper’s ‘Pain’

In an awesome new interview with MTV, Eclipse Vampire Jackson Rathbone (aka Jasper Hale) spoke about his character, Jasper, in Eclipse. What his character is going through emotionally, and what we can expect action wise from Eclipse -

“There are some really cool action scenes,” Jackson told Hollywood Crush. “We worked with some amazing stunt men and women who were so incredible and just a lot of fun to work with and collaborate with. They taught me a lot. So I hope to see a lot more of the action [in the next 'Eclipse' trailer].”

Though we don’t learn much about Jackson’s Jasper Hale in “Twilight” and “New Moon,” his background is explored much more in “Eclipse.” “I’m excited for a step up with Jasper’s character,” Jackson said. “It’s been two, three years and now I get to kind of go outside and show a little bit more of what makes Jasper tick. We get to go into his back story — see where he came from, who he was before, what makes him who we see in the first film of ‘Twilight,’ what makes him seem like he’s always in pain, why he’s always in pain … because he is.”

So why, exactly, is he in so much agony? “He’s almost depressed,” Jackson said. “He wants to live a good life. He wants to be part of the Cullen family. He is the newest to this vegetarian vampire way of life, and he’s still trying to be part of that and address his inner demons and what he used to be. It was really fun to be able to express that.”

Jackson credits director David Slade, whom he called “amazing,” with helping to show how Jasper evolved into his present self. “I’ve always been a fan of his, especially his first film, ‘Hard Candy.’ I thought he did an incredible job with ‘30 Days of Night,’ so when I first got there, I talked his ear off about ‘30 Days of Night’ and how he got a couple of shots and all that.”

Some of Jackson’s favorite scenes to film were the ones that explore Jasper’s origins. “Whenever we got to go into Jasper’s back story,” he said, “I got to don the Civil War regalia and ride a horse. It had been years since I’d been on a horse, so it was fun. I used to ride when I was in Texas.”

According to some folks in the know (i.e. lucky people who have seen parts of the film), Jackson gives one of breakout performances in “Eclipse.” Jackson, however, brushed off the compliment, saying it was a little too soon to judge.

“I’d say wait for the film before you compliment me,” he chuckled.