Put away the garlic and holy water. These wicked-hot guys may play vampires, but we promise they won’t bite.

It’s 5 p.m and Taylor Lautner is the first to arrive at the Venice, California studio for our CosmoGirl shoot. A few minutes later, his Twilight costar Kellan Lutz walks in. The guys high-five and joke about how Robert Pattinson – their other costar – is always late. By 6:30, I’m getting a little impatient because we’re still waiting for our lead vampire. Finally, Robert tiptoes in, sleepy-eyed and full of apologies, “Sorry, I overslept,” he explains in his sexy British accent.

He’s so charming that my aggravation immediately vanishes. I totally see why Kristen Stewart’s character, Bella, would want to spend an eternity with this guy, vampire or not. As the three actors change into jeans and white shirts, every girl on set finds an excuse to sneak into the dressing room, hoping to get a peek. Then – as if on cue, just around twilight – Rob, Kellan and Taylor emerge. Check out what we chatted about during the shoot.

Q: So how would you describe your three characters?
Rob: [My character] Edward is the conflicted and reluctant vampire. He’s a poet, and very deep and profound. He’s just extraordinarily troubled.
Kellan: Emmett’s the tough guy, the protector, but he’s a big old teddy bear to his little brother. He’s a goofball, but when he snaps, he’s menacing and there’s no stopping him.
Taylor: Well, in the first film, Jacob is a normal high school guy – outgoing, friendly, and loyal. I’m a lot like him in Twilight, but I’m excited to play him in the sequels as his character evolves.

Q: Are you at all similar to your characters?
Kellan: Rob is definitely Edward. He’s so complicated, so poetic… I mean, you cannot help but like this guy! I’d say I’m definitely the protector type. I have six brothers and one sister, and I got beaten up a lot because I was in the middle. But then I learned to defend myself.
Rob: Yeah, Kellan protects me all the time. It’s like having a globe around me. Really, he’s like a globe of protection!

Q: Twilight isn’t just a “vampire movie”, it’s a love story. Do you guys like romantic films?
Taylor: I really liked Enchanted. In fact, I’ve seen it five or six times.
Kellan: I like The Notebook, Tristan & Isolde, and Romeo + Juliet. [I enjoy] period pieces that aren’t just about winning the girl but are also about the struggle of class, wealth and privilege.

Q: What about horror movies?
Taylor: My friends just introduced me to how great they can be. I really liked The Hitcher, and Gothika gave me nightmares.
Rob: I don’t like that “hiding behind doors” element when suddenly it’s like “Boo!” I like the more eerie and disturbing horror flicks. One of my favorites is The Exorcist.
Kellan: I love scary movies. I think the pure gore movies are pretty funny. It doesn’t bother me to see someone get their head chopped off.

Q: Twilight’s tagline is: “When you can live forever, what do you live for?” Would you want to live for eternity?
Rob: Uh, yes, I think so, especially if I could turn it on and off. I kind of like the idea that I could see what death is like and then come back again. That sounds good to me. I want to have my cake and eat it too.
Kellan: I can’t wait for the afterlife, to spend eternity wherever it might be. But it would also be cool to live for hundreds of years and get to see how the world turns out. If I could stay 23 years old for 500 years, I’d probably take that deal.

Quotes:

Rob: I never felt like I was making a ‘vampire movie’, even when we were ripping each other’s heads off.

Taylor: I hadn’t heard of the Twilight books before the movie. Now I see girls everywhere reading them. The series is huge!

Kellan: I loved vampires growing up. I dressed up as one for Halloween three years in a row.

From Cosmo Girl – October 2008.

GOD!! i love these guys to death!! like Rob and Kellan are jst amazing and Taylor is soo adorable trying to be all sofisticated and stuff!! id love to be apart of Twilight jst to experience the close bond they have for eachother like, it must really be soooo much fun and great to go to work everyday and be with people that you consider to be ur extended family!!!that wud be cool!! they r all dwn to earth aswell, which is wat i love about these three guys aswell as all the rest of the cast!!they may be A listers now, bt they stil act like theyre nobody special and are jst ordinary people doing a job!! i LOVE it!!!!