Harry Potter fans will understand me. Lord of the Rings fans will understand me. Twilight fans will understand me. Hunger Games fans will understand me.

Nothing compares to the mixture of pure excitement and utter nervousness of seeing one of your most beloved books come to life on the big screen.

…At least that’s what I thought until I found out I was going to have the chance to attend the red carpet premiere of one my favorite books’ film adaption. Oh, and I would get to interview the stars which included the gorgeous and talented Lily Collins and the most hilarious Irish actor I’ve ever  watched Robert Sheehan (aka Nathan from Misfits aka the best character known to television).

So yeah, nothing compares to the mixture of pure excitement and utter nervousness of attending the red carpet premiere of one of your most beloved books’ screen adaption.

If you haven’t heard of The Mortal Instruments, it’s a series of YA fiction following the adventures of teenager Clary as she dives deep into this world full of Shadowhunters (half angel, half human demon hunters), vampires, werewolves and even faeries.
Author Cassandra Clare (who’s also a major inspiration having worked in the entertainmnet journalism field at places like The Hollywood Reporter only to go on to write one of the most captivating and best selling stories ever) brings readers into this new fantasy world that has so many unexpected twists and turns and revelations, that you can’t help but turn the page.

Check out below for my pictures from the red carpet, and scroll down to the end of the Q&A with the stars!

Q&A with the stars:

LILY COLLINS
There are many great book heroines coming to life on the big screen, from the Hunger Games’ Katniss to Tris Prior in Divergent, so what makes Clary stand out?
I think what sets her apart is that she’s funny. She’s comedic. She is already a Shadowhunter, it’s not like she’s choosing something else. She’s already in this world, she’s just figuring it out. I think what makes her a great heroine is the fact that even though she’s a Shadowhunter, she still human, she’s vulnerable, she’s scared, she cries, she’s having an identity crisis, she’s confused. Which is what everyone is as a teenage girl but at the same time she has these superpowers. So I think she’s more relatable in that sense.

You’ve been attached to this project for three years, which is quite a long time, how does it feel now that the first film is wrapped up?
LC: Oh my gosh, it’s crazy. It’s been like a three year process and this time last year I was bowling down [the street] and no one knew what we were doing, who we were and now we’re shooting the sequel next month and this is the premiere. It’s absolutely insane and I’m so excited.

JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER
If your character could create any rune what would it be any why?
It would be the power to be in three different places at once so then I could do everything better.

If you weren’t a Shadowhunter, which type of downworlder would you be?
A faerie because they just seem cool, they seem to like water and I like water. I definitely want to be one.

KEVIN ZEGERS
If your character could create any rune what would it be any why?
I’d create a rune that would allow me to never get on an airplane, because I hate flying. A teleporting device.

What was it like filming the movie back here in your home country?
It was great, I loved it. The fans were great here too, they’d ask us to sign their books and bring us stuff like coffee. It was such a crazy experience just filming here and I can’t wait to come back later this year to film the sequel.

HARALD  ZWART
You recently tweeted that you’re working on storyboard for the sequel, which is exciting, what made you guys finalize the decision to produce a sequel before the first film even came out?
I have very gutsy producers who are believing in this movie tremendously and I’m very very grateful that they decided to do it.

As you can see behind us, The Mortal Instruments has thousands of dedicated fans, did you feel any pressure when making the film?
Well I make sure that I respect them. And I’ve been lucky that I’ve been able to work really closely with Cassandra Clare. Actually I had her on speed dial so whenever I needed something I could call her up and say, ‘how do you think about this and that?’ But that’s how I think we respected the fans all along.

What was your biggest challenge when creating the film?
The biggest challenge is to make sure that the stuff you keep and the stuff you have to let go is right. What do you keep and what do you let go? You can take big chunks out, which you have to do when you have a big book like that, but [you have to] make sure all the stuff that you have remaining still make sense.

ROBERT SHEEHAN
Obviously film adaptions don’t follow novels word for word, but why was the decision made to keep your character Simon human in the movie instead of turning into a rat like in the book?
That’s a good point, I think because in the books the characters are between 15 and 17 but in the film they raised the age of the characters so they can explore the love story a little bit more. Harald is a very dark minded man and his adaptation is very dark in ways, so to keep Simon as a human I think he kept it more life threatening and less kind of kidsy.

Such a great experience, I highly recommend you see the movie, though reading the books should be a priority! Be sure to take a look at the full gallery on faze.ca.