Lily Collins shares secrets from 'The Mortal Instruments' Set!

Lily Collins graces the cover of the September issue of Seventeen Magazine and during the interview she shares some secrets from the 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' set! 

How Lily Prepped To Play Clary “I re-read the first book again [before filming]. I definitely did my research with the book. I talked to [author] Cassandra Clare about it, but the rehearsals were what really got me into Clary’s mindset. It was more about being on set, living in the moment, and seeing what came to me.”

What The First Day On Set Was Like“On the very first day, everyone was pretty nervous, but also really excited. We started out filming the normal Clary world, so it wasn’t too hardcore the first couple of days. The first shot on the first day was epic. It was the scene in the movie where you first see Clary.”

Her Favorite Scene to Film“Filming the greenhouse scene was really fun because it’s an epic scene that everyone is looking forward to and it’s in this beautiful greenhouse. The set was stunning. It’s exactly how you read it in the book. But all of the action fight sequences were really fun too because we trained so hard for them!”

The Hardest Scene To Film “There is one scene with over 100 stunt guys playing vampires attacking us. The five main characters in that scene—including me—had all these crazy moves. It took so much choreography, dirt was flying everywhere, and plates were being thrown. There were so many chances to get injured, but since everything was choreographed, it worked.” 

The Funniest Scene to Film“We made every scene funny, even if it was intense! We joked around so much that usually the action scenes—which are usually the toughest—ended up being the funniest because someone would mess up and giggle.”

The Person On Set Who Surprised Her the Most“I think Jonathan Rhys Meyers [who plays Valentine] surprised me the most. He’s so dedicated to each role, and I didn’t quite realize how perfect and intense he’d be as Valentine. His character is evil in the movie and Jonathan brings such life to him in a fearful, yet enticing manner. It was creepy yet so real at the same time!”

Her First Impression Of Jamie Campbell Bower“I [immediately thought] Jamie was perfect as Jace. He is the best mixture of being so funny, confident, and witty, but at the same time shows a vulnerable side and isn’t afraid to be sensitive. I think it takes guys a lot to show both sides. Jamie is extremely talented and he just lights up a room.”

The Funniest Person On Set“Kevin Zegers [who plays Alec] is hilarious. He just cracks everyone up all the time. He can be so deadpan with his jokes and his accents are really good!”

Lily's Favorite Line In The Movie“I love when Clary says, ‘I’m not a mundane.’ That the first time that she acknowledges that she’s not normal, and she accepts and embraces that. I like the tenacity she has when she says that. It shows her growth.” 

What She Hopes People Learn From The Movie“If you put your mind to it, you can do something bigger than yourself. At first, Clary didn’t want to accept that she had a strength she knew nothing about. She didn’t want to accept that she had a journey to go through, but along the way she learns a lot about herself. You can conquer and do more than you think you can.”