Mortal Instruments’ Collins did most of her own stunts
Having a famous father is an advantage for Lily Collins, but not the benefit you might think.
Her dad is pop star Phil Collins, who knows a few things about the traps of being a celebrity.
So whenever the actor feels too pleased with her progress in the movie industry, reality checks are forthcoming — from dad and those close to her.
“My friends and my family will always call me out if I get out of line,” says Collins at a Toronto hotel promoting The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
Mind you, the 24-year-old has a great deal to be pleased about these days.
After playing Snow White to Julia Roberts’s evil queen in Mirror Mirror and Sandra Bullock’s daughter in the Oscar-honoured The Blind Side, she’s on the verge of super stardom with Mortal Instruments.
Collins plays Clary in the much anticipated release of the young adult fantasy based on the first of six bestselling novels by Cassandra Clare.
The movie, directed by Harald Zwart, features Collins as the naïve daughter of a single mother living in NewYork.
When Clary’s mom suddenly disappears, the daughter discovers she comes from a long line of Shadowhunters who protect humans from evil spirits.
Soon, the diminutive Clary joins up with a posse of Shadowhunters forced to confront demons in the Downworld, which is chock full of warlocks, vampires and werewolves.
Aiding Clary on her journey is Jace (ex-boyfriend Jamie Campbell Bower), a fellow Shadowhunter and a possible love interest.
Robert Sheehan plays Simon, Clary’s best friend in the human world. Alec (Kevin Zegers) is part of the Shadowhunters group but doesn’t trust the newcomer. Jemina West is Isabelle, a Shadowhunter with an attitude, while Jared Harris is the wise yet compromised Shadowhunter tutor Hodge.
Then there is Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He portrays the deceitful spirit Valentine who knows a few secrets and is in pursuit of the Mortal Cup and the absolute domination he thinks it provides.
At the centre of the action is Collins, who does most of her own stunts as Clary.
“I didn’t see myself going in this direction,” she says smiling. “I’ve always been small and fragile, but then I think I’m a real tough cookie.”
She also likes to be prepared, so she hit the gym almost every day for three months before arriving in Toronto last September to begin shooting her new adventure.
While the actor has never embraced the action genre, she let her rookie status inform her performance as a stranger in a strange Shadowhunter land.
“The role caused me to come out of my shell,” Collins says. “But any awkwardness I felt I could always pawn off on Clary.
“She is also a guide for the audience. Whenever Clary doesn’t understand something that happens, I am asking the question for the audience.”
The good news for all involved is that a second Mortal Instruments production, City of Ashes, has received the go-ahead to start filming next month in Toronto.
In some ways, Collins is relieved the movie’s enjoying a positive reaction. She’s been with the on-againoff-again project right from the beginning.