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Exclusive interview with the stars of The Hillywood Show

Their faces are porcelained and blank- a clean palate ready to be transformed into whatever persona they decide to tackle.

Die-hard Twilighters know the names Hilly and Hannah, or at least are familiar with the Hillywood Show and the popular Twilight parody set to Katy Perry’s song, “Hot ‘n Cold.”

Fresh from the throes of the awkward teen years, what these girls lack in age is much made up for with witty humor, a tenacious spirit, and, as luck would have it, the friend of a second cousin who has an uncanny resemblance to the Twilight Saga’s Jacob Black, aka Taylor Lautner.

In October 2006, after having taken third in an AOL video challenge in which they parodied a slew of Johnny Depp characters, the girls realized that having the freedom to make videos in their own unique fashion rivaled the joy of taking first place.

“We were going to end the (Hillywood) show but we got so many fan letters that we’ve since continued on with our own ideas,” they said. “We turned all of our raw ideas including Jack Sparrow, Napoleon Dynamite, Finding Neverland, and Beetlejuice into storylines. Jack Sparrow finds a time-traveling Delorean and travels through movies.” Their contact, the man who owns the Delorean, has since been stationed in Iraq, fueling their latest release sans exotic car, a parody on The Dark Knight.

Banner 2 Banner 1 go!

 In the meantime, a gaggle of Twilight fans spurred the girls to parody Twilight, a book with which they were completely unfamiliar at the start of production. “We saw the movie three times before going into production. The rooms we filmed in were smaller than the originals, so I had to be tighter on the shots,” said Hilly. “We have a crane, but it doesn’t rotate 180 degrees, so we had to take it on top of the building…”

Cue a screeching halt to my barrage of questioning. “You have a CRANE?” I asked. Blankly, like their porcelain faces, they dryly answered, “Yep. The crane was an investment. We saved up for it for a year and bought it with money from jobs we’ve had.”

Further questioning revealed that these quality, remarkably copied parodies are the sole work of two young women who have a wealth of experience in nothing other than… dance.

  • • Hilly edits on her Mac while Hannah sits behind her and watches.
  • • They’ve never been to film school. They couldn't afford it.
  • • Hannah does the majority of the makeup. She’s had no prior experience. Neither of the girls have any acting experience beyond their Hillywood Show episodes.
  • • With the exception of the Twilight Jacob Black actor, found through a modeling agency, all of the cast members of The Hillywood Show are friends of the girls. And yes, the New Moon Jacob Black actor is a friend of their second cousin.
  • • They use no script; it's all in their heads. “We just discuss it and remember it, “they said. “It makes the scene more intimate and pure. We like to work in a very natural performance environment.”

Not surprisingly, their Twilight parody has exploded in popularity. The girls receive 600 fan letters a day and over two million viewers have watched the Twilight episode.

Though the girls are still waiting for the perfect professional offer to come their way, one that won’t sap their creative outlet, their recent contract with the Summit-backed, Creation Entertainment Twi-Tour has done nothing but help their cause.

At a recent convention, Catherine Hardwicke gave the girls a raving review, telling them, “It was awesome, man- it was great! The costumes and the angles- I was just like, ‘Dayuhm, we need to get these girls a directing gig!’”

The girls have met all of the actors backstage at events, with the exception of heavy-hitters Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, and they beam about the genuine kindness of the entire cast.

“The only weird part was that Jackson was freaking out at how much his actor looks like him; he said he needs to get pictures of him,” said the girls. “Ashley said to Jackson, ‘I told you!’ and she kept staring at our Jackson.”

For Hilly and Hannah, New Moon the movie can’t come fast enough. The girls need to watch the movie before they can create a new Twilight Saga-themed episode. Fortunately for fans, a New Moon parody will come to fruition; they’ve already created a trailer for the show.

“We were unsure about doing the parody until we saw the New Moon trailer, then we got all excited,” they said. “It was so fun trying to bring the poster to life. We filmed it (on a) Sunday and had it out Wednesday. The whole thing was improved by the poster part, because we had nothing planned, but once we got in the environment, we got into it.”

But the show won’t come without a bit of nail biting. ‘The New Moon parody is going to be one of the more challenging ones just because everyone has set the standard so high,” the girls admit. “We are so freaked out and stressed about doing everything right.”

Though they become visibly excited talking about creating the New Moon parody, the girls catch themselves and stop short of exuding any spoilers, saying simply, “The vibe will be much different from Twilight.”

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Slideshow: The Hillywood Show stars and Twilight Saga parodies

, Twilight Parents Examiner

Kimberly Sherman has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. As both a mom to tweens and aficionado of the Twilight Saga, she incorporates a unique perspective into her column. E-mail Kimberly.

Comments

  • TwiNightingale 2 years ago

    Love them! Awesome interview!!! I can't wait for their version of NM!

  • Laura 2 years ago

    I met this group in NJ convention, they are very talented and held together the hole convention. Especially Drew (Jasper) LOL hilarious! They are all great.I see them going far in the business.

  • twilightlover21 2 years ago

    omg i saw the dark knight hilly wood show and twilight im ready for new moon!!!!!!!!!!!!

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