Nikki Reed On Regis & Kelly: 'None Of Us Look Like Our Characters'

Rosalie Cullen might be the most standoffish of Twilight's vampire family, but not even the prickly undead can resist the charms of... morning television's Regis Philbin. Nikki Reed, who plays the tormented and sometimes sullen Rosalie in "Eclipse", stopped by the "Live with Regis and Kelly" studio today to talk about her early entrance to the movie world, her connection with "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke, and what's really happening inside on top of the heads of the Twilight cast.

It's a sultry day in NYC, but Nikki was ready to beat the heat as she walked on-set in a flirty, fluttery purple printed dress and sky-high aubergine heels. After settling into her seat, she laughed as Regis flashed an early photo of a much-younger Nikki walking arm in arm with "Thirteen" co-star Evan Rachel Wood, then asked about her unusual beginnings in the film industry -- not as an actress, but as a screenwriter!

"You were fiteen--" he started, but Nikki jumped in.

"I was thirteen," she corrected him, going on to explain that she'd co-written and then starred in the movie that launched her career -- all at an age when most of us were still trying to figure out how to use a curling iron without setting our hair on fire.

Ever modest, Nikki added, "Clearly it hasn't happened again, it was one of those thing where the stars were just kind of aligned. But I had a really special connection with this woman Catherine Hardwicke --" who, of course, directed the first film adaptation of the Twilight saga. (Not mentioned but worth noting: Both of the teen stars from "Thirteen" have gone on to play vampires, with Nikki joining the Cullen clan and Evan Rachel Wood popping up as a retro-styled vamp queen on HBO's True Blood! Yay, trivia!)

We love that Nikki's very first movie led to her becoming part of the Cullen family, but it's hard not to notice how different the brunette-and-tanned Nikki looks from her icy Twilight alter-ego. The next question: How did they handle that transformation? Said Kelly, "You really do look like two different people!"

Nikki replied, "It's kind of cool, I don't know if that'll ever happen again. We work in a time when there isn't a lot of vision and creativity, so [when an actor is being considered for a role], people will say, 'Oh, she doesn't have the right color hair'. But Catherine chose a bunch of actors and none of us really look like our characters."

So, Regis wanted to know, how did they handle the challenge of turning these human actors into the world's most recognizable vampires? (And wait... you mean Robert Pattinson doesn't have a sparkly chest in real life? We refuse to believe it.)

Nikki's response: "Most of us wear wigs.... and that's all I'm gonna say."

Wigs? Really? We had no idea.
Did you catch Nikki on Regis and Kelly today?

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