Jamie Campbell Bower finds 'New Moon' after 'The Prisoner'

11-12 (Jamie Campbell Bower) can't keep any secrets from his father, 2 (Sir Ian McKellen).

I just finished "The Prisoner." What a mind-[bleep] it is.
Yeah, I know, right? It's great. I've been doing interviews like all of yesterday. They were all radio interviews and I did want to say mind-[bleep], but I wasn't allowed to because some of them were live. It's a mind-screw? That's what I went with anyway.

I'm not even quite sure I know what I saw.
You sound like you've just been drained.

What was it like filming such a crazy, convoluted story?
It was great. It was really good fun--really, really good fun. And obviously being in Africa offered some fantastic shots. [Director of Photography] Florian Hoffmeister has just done an amazing job, as has [director] Nick Hurran. It looks amazing. We had a great time filming it. It was hard, long days but no pain, no gain as they say. I think we've come out with something quite special.

Who is 11-12 and what's he about?
Obviously he's 2's son. I guess his through-line is that he feels there's something missing in his life. Throughout the story he's searching for that missing element in his life. And when he finds what it is there are severe repercussions for both him and the entire village itself.

He's forced to do some very nasty things. Is it hard to shoot those violent scenes?
It is very difficult. Lots of high-intensity emotion, and keeping that emotion throughout [filming the scene]--two hours or three hours--can be quite draining. [Laughs.] I'm sounding like it's the hardest job in the world. It's really not. It's not that difficult, but to be that intense for three hours is quite tiring. It's like when you have a really good cry, and you just come out going, "Oh, wow."

[Pretends to whine] "I'm never drinking again! Oh God!" [Laughs.] In a way it was difficult, but that's what I find the most enjoyable in being an actor is the challenging scenes one has to film, and pushing yourself to the limit.

Bower had a lot of time to play in the Namibian sand.

"The Prisoner" has a lot of story and several themes, but what grabbed you the most?
For me, playing 11-12, is this idea of family. I think [writer] Bill Gallagher has cleverly put in so many different stories going on within this one massive plot-line. There's the love story, and then there's this family story. And there's another love story which takes an equally tragic turn. So for my character, the idea of family is the strongest theme: what family stands for and to what extent will you protect yourself against your family. And to what extent do you let your family govern your life and to what extent do you trust your family.

What was it like working with Gandalf?
Amazing. He's obviously one of the finest actors ever. To be able to play his son was an absolute blessing. And to be within three feet of him for four-and-a-half months was an absolute blessing, but I wasn't allowed closer than three feet.

I watched a little interview you did with him on the press DVD.
Yeah, did you notice how I was three feet away the whole time?

But it looked like you guys got along pretty well. Had you met before filming?
We did a lot of rehearsals in London before we went out and shot. I had met Ian before when "Sweeney" came out. We had a screening in Leicester Square and I was at the party afterward having a drink and talking to someone. And he went, "You must come outside and meet Ian, he wants to say something to you."

And I was like, "Ian? Ian?" And he said, "Ian McKellen." And I was like, "Ian, Ian McKellen? Are you kidding me?" And I had just that day finished watching his episode of "Extras." I was like, "Oh my God."

I go outside and Ian had this huge beard and was wearing a big green barbour [hat]. I think he had a stick; I can't remember. [Laughs.] Maybe I'm lying; maybe he didn't have a stick.

And he was like [sounding like McKellen], "I just wanted to say congratulations on the film."

And I was like, "Oh my God, thank you so much. Did you see it?"

He went, "No, I arrived an hour-and-a-half late, but I've been told to say you were very good."

[Laughs.] I was like, "Oh mate, thank you so much. That's so kind of you." Then I sort of started gushing. So that was my first experience of meeting Ian. Of course I was nervous [this time], but I wasn't going in blind.

You filmed in the desert. It looks like you might have had issues with the sand.
Yeah, there's a lot of sand, isn't there? The sand--oh, I miss the sand so much, sooo much. [Laughs.]

Swakopmund, Namibia, substituted for The Village in "The Prisoner." Very little had to be changed.

You filmed in Namibia and South Africa.
Namibia was a much more bizarre experience than Cape Town ... We were staying in this little town called Swakopmund, and there's not much to do.

So it's a lot like the Village in the story?
It is, basically. A lot of the stuff you see in the film was already there. We didn't build [sets].

Those A-frame houses were there?
Yeah. It's crazy, absolutely crazy. It's the most bizarre place I've ever been to.

I say there's nothing to do. There's lots of stuff to do, if you were on holiday there for two weeks. Once you've done everything in two weeks, what do you do? [Laughs.] Sit around and have a drink, I guess.

It's interesting because we went out into the dunes a couple of time with a guide. The whole idea in "The Prisoner" is that [No. 6] doesn't know exactly where he is or how he got there or how he can get out. It's like being in the sand dunes. You can be 300 feet away from the top of a sand dune, which on the other side you can see the sea. But you can spin around twice and completely lose your bearings. It's the most bizarre experience ever.

Give us your pitch to get people to watch.
My pitch? I'll give it a shot. It's a show that will draw you in. It's definitely not a show you can just have on in the background and be having a talk with your granny or making a cup of tea. It's a show that will suck you in and you will have to watch and you will want to watch more.

And don't be afraid of the fact that it's called "The Prisoner" and you think it might be a remake of the original. It's not; it's a reimagining. It's the same ideas, but it's much more modern-day and much more of a [reflection] of our society.

It has a real "Big Brother is watching" feel to it.
Exactly. This whole idea that we're all under surveillance all the time. It's definitely something that people are worried about nowadays.

Do you have fun on Twitter? (He's @Jamiebower)
I do have fun on there. I don't reply to people I don't know; only to my group of friends. I will never put anything on there that's too personal about me. Sending a message out to 60,000 people, you've gotta be careful what you say. "I will be in Times Square at 3:30, come find me!" No.

Although in saying that, I play in a band [The Darling Buds]. We were meant to play in a show a month ago and the show got canceled. I didn't find out until about 11 and I put it up on the Web site, Facebook, Twitter. I got e-mails from these two German girls who had flown all the way from Germany to see us play. I was like, we can't let these girls down. I got on Twitter and said ... "We will be in Hyde Park at 7:30. Everyone meet here and we'll play ..." There were like 50 people there, which was great. There's a good example of what it can be used for.

You did "Sweeney Todd," which was great. Did you have fun with Johnny Depp?
It was lovely. It was utterly devine. I just turned 18 and I was meant to be at school, and yet I was there on set with Mr. Depp to my left. I was like, "What the [bleep] am I doing? How am I here? This is insane." And it was a real pleasure, because not only is he a fantastic actor and someone I have admired since I was a little boy, but he's a really nice guy, which is always good.

Jamie Campbell Bower (center) plays Caius, shown here with Aro (Michael Sheen, left) and Alec (Cameron Bright), in "New Moon." Kimberley French/Summit Entertainment photo

Tell me about "New Moon." You play Caius, a Volturi vampire, but we won't see much of you I hear.
The Volturi are introduced and come back in the fourth book. I'll get more then I hope. I wasn't disappointed with [my screen time in] "New Moon." I knew exactly what I was supposed to do when I got the script. I'm just happy to be involved.

Has your life changed much yet?
I don't know. I'm traveling a lot more. I'm going to a lot more events. But also, I'm being seen for roles that I probably wouldn't have been see for before, which is nice.

Are you recognized more?
Because I look so different in everything that I've done--and I kind of look like a tramp on my days off--people don't really [recognize me]. Especially in London I still have relative anonymity ... I'm definitely not in danger [of being recognized] walking down the streets.

You're embarking on a big "Twilight" promo tour. Do you like people screaming at you all the time?
It's a necessary, I wouldn't say evil, but it's necessary to promote the film.

I notice you didn't say you do like it.
[Laughs.] That's because I'm good at side-stepping.