Read our interview with Cam Gigandet, who stars as Jonah in the psychological thriller ‘Trespass.’ The film, which was directed by Joel Schumacher, will hit theaters on October 14, 2011, and will also be available On Demand. ‘Trespass’ follows Jonah and his brother Elias, played by Ben Mendelsohn, who break into the home of seemingly happy couple Sarah and Kyle Miller, portrayed by Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage. As the intrusion continues, the two families learn surprising details about each other. Gigandet discusses with us, among other things, why he choose to appear in the movie, and how he balances his personal life with his career.

Question (Q): So in the film, you play someone who’s obsessed with Nicole Kidman. How hard was that?

Cam Gigandet (CG): That was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my career! No, to think that was what I had to do everyday was kind of shocking. And get paid for it was even more unbelievable. It was not hard to justify everything I would do in the movie. So that was the easy part.

Q: What attracted you to the role (of Jonah)? Why did you want to be in the movie?

CG: Well, one of the reasons was Joel Schumacher, he’s a legend. And then to work with people like Nic and Nic, and Ben Mendelsohn, it was one of those opportunities you couldn’t pass up. Then the character was someone who always thought he was doing the right thing, and believed it with every fiber in his being. To think of someone who would do anything for what he believed in, and he will do anything, it’s kind of a scary notion. The true believer is kind of a scary notion. And to think if he can’t get what he wants, or if he isn’t successful in what he wants, he will act out accordingly. That’s kind of a scary thought, so I couldn’t really pass.

Q: What about the shifting motives? The audience learns different things about your character throughout the film. How do you play that character that is true to who he is at the end, but the audience doesn’t see who he is at the beginning?

CG: For Jonah, it was always the one thing. The end goal was always Nicole. But for him, he also knew that he had to make his brother happy. He had to play the part, if you will, in order to get to that goal. So that’s what sort of changed throughout. It was sort of him using his intellect to ultimately get what he in his heart wanted. So he had to play the game accordingly. Maybe not as good as he should have. But he did what he could.

Q: You’ve done quite a few roles that are violent or psychotic. Is that what you like doing as an actor?

CG: It’s probably, I’m not going to say the easiest thing for me, I don’t know, I enjoy it the most. I don’t know why, I think it’s that there’s more to grab onto, I guess. You can use your imagination a little bit more, where as if they’re good guys or heroes, they always have to abide by a strict set of rules. To this day, I still haven’t been able to figure out how to work around those. It hasn’t gotten fun for me, the good guy. Maybe because I don’t know how to do it, I don’t know. With the bad guys, there seems to be more creativity and imagination involved in justifying what they do. That’s what people hire me for, I’ll take it.

Q: Joel has said you’ve gotten a bunch of cards from women who wanted to have sex with you.

CG: I replied to all of them! (laughs)

Q: Being a father, how do you balance that, while raising a daughter?

CG: That stuff so rarely reaches my home. Not just literally, but figuratively. It never really gets that far. Even publicity, or work in general, it kind of stays out there. I try my best to keep it away from my family life. So when we’re at home, it’s not like I’m walking around with a shirt that says sexiest man in the world or anything. So it’s just two parents trying to raise a little girl.

Q: Do you ever feel like a piece of meat?

CG: I guess it’s good part of the time, it’s part of the job. I just have to work through it, I guess. I guess now in my career, especially having a two-and-a-half year old, the choices or the roles that I go after are little bit different than when I first started. It definitely enters my mind that I don’t want to stay that way. So for now on, I’ll look this way, or try this, or pass on this. It’s always in the back of my mind.

Q: You played a villain in ‘Twilight’ and ‘Trespass.’ What are the differences between the two? Where there any differences on-set?

CG: There are a lot of differences on-set.

Q: What do you prefer?

CG: I prefer ‘Trespass.’ I had a good time on ‘Twilight.’ We were all so new and young to the whole experience. Even our director at the time (Catherine Hardwicke) was new to directing. So it was a little haphazard how we shot. With ‘Trespass,’ there were literally two or three weeks where we rehearsed every single day. Just to do that is any actor’s dream. That was fun. That was actually one of the first times that I ever got to rehearse before shooting, which is great. The fact that there were seven of us in a room, and there were no scenes, per say, because it was all one long scene, it ended up being like a dance routine, where we’d have to figure out where this person would be at this time. Then there would be four cameras. So it was a different way to shoot. I really enjoyed it. Once we actually started shooting, things went so fast. There was never really a dull moment.

Q: Is there anything you and your fiancée butt heads about?

CG: Well, our daughter is two-and-a-half now, so that has become a bumping head type-of-deal. Our little girl was crying the other day, and I asked her if she wanted to go to her bedroom. Dominique (his fiancée) said, well, now she’s going to think that every time she goes to her bedroom, it means something bad, so she’s not going to want to sleep in her bedroom. She’s going to associated bedroom and bad. We need a time-out chair. I said, I don’t have a time-out chair. I didn’t grow up with a time-out chair, it was go to your room. Now there’s these raising and discipline things, so I’m sure that it’s one of many things we’ll talk about.

Q: You talked about rehearsal and how intricate that was for shooting the film. You had good chemistry with Ben, who played your brother. Was that rehearsal the only time you prepared? Or did the two of you have any time before that, in terms of preparation?

CG: When we were staying in Shreveport, Louisiana, we would be in the hotel lobby a lot. The first time I met him, we were both flying from L.A. to Louisiana, and our plane was delayed in Dallas for several hours. Before I even knew he was playing my brother, we ended up sitting and talking for the three hours that our plane was delayed. Then I come to find out that he’s playing my brother. From that moment, though, there’s this thing that you just kind of always look up to him. It’s not just me, it’s everyone on set. He kind of has that personality that you know you’re in good hands. You know he’s a good leader. So it was easy for me to look up to him, as a brother would look up to his brother. So it just kind of fell in quite well. I like to think that he saw me as a little brother by the end of the movie.

Q: Do you think people will walk away from this film being more cautious? Do you lock your doors at night?

CG: Do I? Well, my fiancée should. Well, I grew up in Auburn (Washington). We didn’t lock our doors, we were out in the boonies. But I don’t know, I guess until it happens to you, you don’t really focus on it. But luckily I have some worrisome parents, so they supplied me with Mace and all the things I possibly could have needed to protect myself.

But it was funny, everyone would share their stories while rehearsing. When you talk to everyone, surprisingly a lot of people, things like this have happened to. Not that this is a normal one, but I think Nicolas Cage had someone who ended up in his bedroom while he was sleeping, and they were naked. I haven’t gotten to that place yet, but I think I’m protected enough with my Mace and baseball bat.

Q: Do you think people will be more cautious after seeing this?

CG: Well, people should always be cautious. But if this is a reminder, great. It happens more frequently than people believe.

Q: Can you go back to talking about Nic Cage? What was it like working with him? Was he crazy?

CG: Yes, and yes. (laughs) I’ll be honest, I was warned before working with him by a few people that he’s difficult and crazy and this and that. He is crazy, in such a good way. I don’t know if it’s as much crazy as it’s quirkiness, you know? He’s just out there and out-going, and funnier than I could have imagined. There were times, even when working, in the middle of a take, when I would have to turn around. Just his delivery and his mannerisms and his quirks are so funny to me that I think he’s a little misunderstood. He definitely has a good sense of humor. An odd one, but a good one.

Q: Joel also said that Nicolas and Nicole raised the acting bar so high for everyone, and everyone stepped up to their level. What did you do to get to their level?

CG: It was all such a learning lesson. I just tried to stay up with them. They’re always so good. You kind of understand why they’re where they are in their careers. Some of my scenes with Nicole, she’s such a pro. I would end up emulating her and Nic and Ben, even. Their professionalism and their freedom while working and their ability to play around and let go, let someone else take the lead and jump into the deep end of the pool. That’s what I tried to do. I don’t know if it worked.

There were times where I was just lost and confused and dazed because there was so much going on. But you trust that you’re in good hands. Having someone like Joel, you know you’re not going to be lead into the wrong direction. It’s good to know that he’ll help and guide and pull you back, wherever you need help. Or, he’ll just leave you alone. That’s kind of great.

I remember there were times where I’d be getting frustrated, and it was even more frustrating because I’d be getting frustrated in front of Nicole and Nic. There were times where I’d even want to kill Joel Schumacher, which seems like an impossible thing. But the stakes seemed so high, and you feel like you can’t do the right thing. You always have to take a step back and realize Joel always trusts you and he’s not going to lead you in the wrong direction. So you just have to take a deep breath when the pressure gets to be a little too much.

Q: Is that important, when someone trusts you to do the job the right way?

CG: Yeah. Joel had always said from the very beginning that “Once I hire you guys, that is my most important job, in hiring the cast. Once we have that cast, that is who you are. You, Cam, are Jonah.” That scared me, because no one had ever really said it that way. He said “I am trusting that you are Jonah, and whatever you think Jonah would do or say is what Jonah does or says.” It’s a little freaky, but I guess it becomes a boost of confidence. If you think Joel has faith in me, I can possibly have faith in myself, which is always kind of a difficult thing as an actor.

Q: Since you’ve come more into fame, have you had an embarrassing red carpet moments?

CG: All of my red carpet moments are embarrassing. It’s very difficult, so I try to stay away from that carpet. To this day, one of the most surreal ones was when I had gotten out of the car at the ‘Twilight’ premiere. I don’t think anyone had any idea what we were getting into, even shooting and leading up to the red carpet. I don’t think anybody knew there would be thousands of people there. So that was kind of shocking. (It’s) still to this day the most shocking red carpet I’ve had to deal with.

Q: Which of the movies you’ve made are you the most proud of?

CG: I don’t really know. I’m proud of all of them. It’s difficult for me to look back and say I was proud of any of them, because I always say oh, I could have done that differently, or that was wrong. But it’s part of the journey, part of the process that I’m proud of, that I’ve kept going and moving forward and knowing it’s a learning lesson. It is a journey. There will be times where it’s not as graceful as the others. but if you look at any long career, they all have that. As long as I keep in my head that it is a learning process, and that I’ll never fully learn enough. As long as I keep figuring things out, I’ll be happy and not bored. If get bored, then we’ll see.

Q: What are you doing next?

CG: I’m doing a pilot, actually, for TNT. It’s a western. I shoot that in a few weeks, so we’ll see. Fingers crossed.

Q: Now that you’re further in your career, do you have any ideal projects?

CG: Looking back, some of my favorite characters are always the ones that skirt the line between good and bad, whether they’re a bad guy trying to do the right thing, or vice versa. If there was a character who told a good story who lived that life right on the line, I think that would be a dream project.

Q: Is there anyone you’ve kept in contact with since you finished filming?

CG: Ever? No. I’ve never really kept in contact with anybody I’ve worked with, which is a shame.

Q: You and Cher aren’t best friends?

CG: No, no we’re not. Christina (Aguilera) and I are, though. It’s been too difficult. Nowadays, having a family, it’s even more difficult. You work with someone so intensely for two or three months, or for however long, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Then you’re just all of a sudden out of their life. It’s difficult to keep in touch. But one day I might get better at it.

Q: What have you learned about being a father and a celebrity?

CG: For us, it’s kind of putting our family first, before anything else, and staying together as much as possible. If I go out and work, my fiancée has come with. That has helped, because there are times where you’re apart for so long, it becomes difficult. So you need to have something that grounds you. That’s kind of been our saving grace, always being together as much as possible. That might get difficult when she’s in grade school. We’ll take the school with us.

Q: What do you hope audiences will get out of ‘Trespass?’

CG: Like with any movie, I hope they’re entertained. At the end of the day, that’s all I really want. As far as having conversations or changing people’s lives, I don’t know. I doubt it. But to be entertained, to enjoy and be scared. That would be good enough for me.

Written by: Karen Benardello