Scribe Talks with Ashley Greene

Actress Ashley Greene Khoury sounds familiar to most Twilight fans as she was widely known for starring in the series as Alice Cullen, but her career hasn’t slowed down. Since the franchise of films ended almost over a decade ago, she has gone on to work with many famous faces including comedy star and director Zach Braff in Wish I Was Here (2015), worked with action star Scott Adkins twice in Accident Man (2018) and One Shot (2021), and co-starred alongside Margot Robbie and Charlize Theron in Jay Roach’s 2019 Oscar-winning film Bombshell. She is also the host of the hit podcast The Twilight Effect with her friend Melanie Howe. Anyone that was part of the generation I grew up in watching Twilight and is interested to hear some funny commentary on the Stephanie Meyer-based book that was turned into the films and spills some of the gossips, then you’ll have to check it out!

In one of her latest films, Ashley stars in The Immaculate Room directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil starring alongside Kate Bosworth and Emile Hirsh. Ashley stars as Simone adding some spicy drama to the film that follows a couple who have to spend 50 days in an isolated room. If the couple makes it through the challenge, they will receive $5 million. I had the chance to have a one-on-one interview with the fabulous actress to discuss the intense drama and of course, I had to ask her about The Twilight Effect. 

Kristin: So, I’m so happy and honored to be speaking with you today. Congratulations on the film! I must say, once your character came into the picture, I was like things are about to skyrocket here. Things are about to go crazy. The drama is full of suspense and it was the kind of movie I enjoyed in this one claustrophobic room.  How did the project come together and how did you sign on to work with Kate and Emile?

Ashley: Yeah, I mean, definitely. Simone was a disrupter for sure, which is a big part of what drew me to this script. I think there were two things, really. Playing a character like Simone who is so uninhibited and really does come in. I think you can kind of put this film into hyper speed and really kind of disrupts what this couple is going through and forces them to really, I feel like there was a point at which they kind of hit a lull in this film and she really comes in and forces them to deal with realities that they don’t want to deal with. And I thought what a fun character to play. And she’s wildly different than anything that I’ve ever done. And then that coupled with the fact that this is something that was five years ago, I don’t think people would be able to connect with it on as deep of a level as they are now. Because obviously going through the pandemic, I think it really puts into perspective what this couple is going through and really kind of drives home how difficult it can be to sit alone without any outside stimulation and really have to be forced to dive inwards and face the deepest, darkest parts of yourself. And I remember, you know, after taking on the role, getting to set and being on set for just a couple of days that all of us spoke about really starting to feel the effects of this room and how it really becomes this character and how we were like, Oh, we’re getting a little crazy. And like, we got to go home at night. So the idea of these people having to stay in this room for 50 days I imagine I don’t know if I could do it.

Kristin: I don’t think anybody could do it. I think since we all went through the pandemic.

Ashley:  And there’s no that’s the other thing is there are no books. You can’t teach yourself a language at least in the midst of the pandemic, I think everyone went, okay if we’re going to have this time, let’s use it wisely. But with this, it’s really you have to deal with your demons and yourself. And I think people will be able to connect to that on such a real level, given what we’ve gone through over the past couple of years.

Kristin: Oh yeah, of course. What makes director Mukunda Michael Dewil stand out to you while working with him? Because this was his first project in about nine years.

Ashley: Yeah, there’s something about Mukunda that is just I mean, I think he’s so wonderful as a director and I can’t wait to be able to work with him again because there’s first I’ll say like there’s either it’s either a blessing or a curse when you work with a director who also wrote the film. It was definitely a blessing that you had this very kind of sure vision. He came in with kind of this confidence that gave me confidence in my performance, knowing that he kind of he had a handle on what he wanted this film to be, but also then was very open to us playing on set and bringing new ideas to our performances. And I think for me as an actor, that is such a win-win scenario. If you crave a little bit of direction, every actor is different, but I crave someone going, okay, let’s maybe this falls in line, maybe it doesn’t, but then feeling safe enough to go, I’m going to try this crazy thing and if it works great and if it doesn’t, whatever, and having that kind of freedom and safety on set was really wonderful.

Kristin: I would love to see the two of you collaborate again, but what is the one thing you want audiences to take away from this film? 

Ashley: I hope that the film allows them to understand how important it is to kind of look into yourself and challenge yourself in certain navigating whatever challenges you’re facing or whatever difficulties you’re facing. And being able to do so in a positive way so that you don’t get to the point that perhaps Mike and Kate got to because I think it’s what you see in the film is how clear it is that they seem to like this perfect couple because they’re not actually dealing with any of their inner demons or any of their issues. And it creates this real tension. And so I hope that people see that and say you know, why don’t I start doing the work on myself now so that it doesn’t get to a point of no repair.

Kristin: Right, right, right. I totally see that and it seems like you had time to hang around on set. Do you have favorite memory while working with everybody?

Ashley: I think so there was the tripped-out drug scene and that for me was just a really fun memory because it was working with Kate and Emile was so wonderful and I loved them both so much and I think they’re just so incredibly talented. This was a moment where we really had to kind of look at each other and say, so we’re all going in, right? Because, you know, we’re not really on drugs and so to create that all might you have to just go for it. It’s a little bit uncomfortable and it just ended up being the most fun day that we had on set I think together. And I love that so much because it can go one way or the other and with the three of us it just ended up being so fun and we’re so supportive of one another. And that’s again, just I had such a beautiful experience on the set.

Kristin: You have worked on a tremendous amount of projects over the course of your amazing career, what is the best piece of advice you received as an actor?

Kristin: One that I struggle with still is never putting too much pressure on yourself. So much so that you stop enjoying the art of what, of why you got into this industry in the first place. And it is the best piece of advice I’ve gotten is one that I consistently have to remind myself of because it’s easy to get overwhelmed or focus on kind of minute things. And then really, if you kind of understand a focus on why you got into this industry in the first place, it really kind of puts things into a nice perspective.

Kristin: Oh, I love that advice. And my final question, for you, is what inspired you to create the Twilight Effect podcast? Because I was just discovering that recently and nostalgia hit me. 

Ashley: Yeah, this was another kind of pandemic decision. I saw that there were two things that happened when we are in the midst of this pandemic and I reconnect and took the time to reconnect with a lot of fans. And what I found is that there were so many people diving back into the world of Twilight and using it as a comfort to help them kind of cope with everything that was going on around them. And then the other thing that happened was the streaming networks started picking up Netflix on Peacock and I think it might be on Hulu now, but or Amazon. But all of a sudden there was this uptick in a new audience kind of being introduced to Twilight. So those two worlds collided and I was just I was talking to a friend of mine who happens to work in podcasting, and we were reminiscing about it and talking about this resurgence. And he was like, you know, Ash, why don’t we do this on air? I bet there are so many people who would really enjoy this, and that’s kind of how the whole thing started. So I was like you know what? I’ve never hosted a podcast, but let’s try it. I would love to reconnect with all of my old cast mates and directors. So we started and it’s been really wonderful and it’s been this it’s a beautiful thing when you’re in the middle of something so crazy and didn’t really digest it at the time. And so looking at it, you know, 10, 12 years later, it allows everyone to kind of have this open honesty and reflection of the experiences that we had that we haven’t really discussed before. And so it’s been really, really cool.

Be sure to check out The Immaculate Room available now!