In the Twilight movies, Ashley Greene plays the saga’s resident good-girl vampire, Alice Cullen—all pixie haircut and motherly touch, not a hint of bloodlust in her earnest high-school demeanor. Greene’s career—and her life—has changed dramatically since she was cast in the blockbuster series. For one thing, teenage girls shake uncontrollably and burst into tears when they see her on the street. For another, it was just a couple of years ago that the 22-year-old Greene was struggling to land guest spots with no dialogue, and almost had to leave Los Angeles and return to her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, where she’d originally planned to study psychology and law. But now, she’s booking movies faster than she can make them—including her first big lead, in the upcoming supernatural thriller, The Apparition. Michael Sheen, Greene’s co-star in Twilight and New Moon, recently caught up with the actress.

“It’s a really hard thing to wrap your head around. I was working at a restaurant, I booked the role in Twilight, put in my two weeks’ notice, got fitted, flew to Portland, filmed, and then it started getting hype.”

– Ashley Greene