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Ashley Greene Talks Edgy, Real-Life CBGB Role: "I Haven't Played Someone That Tough Yet!"

Twilight actress admits her role as Lisa Kristal is "a little nerve-racking...she can yell at me if I do a bad job!"

By Rebecca Macatee Jun 21, 2012 2:10 PMTags
Ashley Greene Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Samsung

Ashley Greene is well aware that the stakes are high when you portray a real, living person on the big screen (as opposed to the undead, like her Twilight character Alice Cullen).

The 25-year-old actress stars as Lisa Kristal in the upcoming CBGB, a film about New York City's iconic nightclub. Greene plays the fiery daughter of Hilly Kristal, the man who owned the institution that was so influential in the punk scene from 1973 until its closing in 2005.

"It's a little nerve-racking to play someone who existed, who's a real person that's still alive," Greene told E! News at the Samsung Galaxy SIII launch Wednesday night at Skylight Studios New York. "You're like, 'Oh, they can yell at me if I do a bad job!' But it's going to be cool to get to talk to her about it and [learn about] personal experiences from her."

And Greene is doing her due diligence when it comes to preparing for the role...

"I get to Skype with [Lisa Kristal] on Sunday!" she gushed. "I'm really excited about that...She's kind of amazing."

"It's going to be a fun adventure for me because I haven't really played someone who is that tough yet," Greene explained. "I want to make sure I get it right without making her—she's not a bitch! She's just very...she's a New Yorker. They have a specific personality and air about them. They're survivors."

Greene said that the character she plays had a "tough-love" relationship with her father, who "had a great ear for music and talent...but wasn't necessarily the best at running a business." It was Lisa who was "the one that comes in and says, 'OK, you have to actually run a company. You need to charge people money when you say you're going to'...She is smart, driven and very tough."

And of course, as excited as she is about her upcoming role, she's going to miss her Twilight days.

"It is very comfortable and familiar," she said. "On any other film, there's nerves—it's like going to school the first day. You don't know what's going to happen, but it's nice [with the Twilight films]—you can go and you're comfortable with the people and your character. You really kind of just let go and play."

"I feel like I knew Alice inside and out," she added with a smile. "I'm going to miss that. Playing Alice was a very positive time in my life...There's no negativity [with her]. She's a very sweet, very positive, good-natured vampire."