Mortal Instruments: City of Bones at the Americana at Brand

Agnessa Kasumyan, Staff Writer • August 19, 2013

Collins answers questions from the audience

The ever commercializing city of Glendale played host to cast members of the Mortal Instruments: City of Bones series as fans lined the streets of the Americana on Tuesday to meet author Cassandra Clare, director Harold Zwart, and cast members Lily Collins (Clary Fray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Jace Wayland), Robert Sheehan (Simon Lewis) and Kevin Zegers (Alec Lightwood).

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Slideshow photos by Inessa Kasumyan

The series centers on 15-year-old Clary discovering that she comes from a family of Shadowhunters, a race of humans with angelic blood that fights the race fights demons. Though the series boasts of a romantic tale between Clary and Jace that finally has many Twilight fans focusing their attention to a more worthy couple, it is also action-packed with a tasteful trace of comedic relief – attracting a wide range of audiences.

“We’re so incredibly proud of the movie that we’ve created,” Collins said. “We wanted to honor and, of course, pay complete tribute to [Cassandra Clare’s] writing. We kept the comedy in there, obviously there is the romance and drama, but there is such amazing action. For the guys out there, if you think this is just a chick flick, you are so wrong.”

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Amongst the crowd large enough to circle the perimeter of the Americana twice, there were many fans who had arrived at the Americana the night before, eager to be submitted to the book-signing as only a maximum of 250 individuals were allowed.

Yasmeen Cruz, a freshman at Mission Vigil High School, arrived at the Americana at 2:30 a.m. Due to her dedication to the series, Jojo Wright from KIIS 102.7 FM called her up to the stage the following day, where she was seated next to Sheehan and joined the cast in singing Happy Birthday to a fellow audience member.

“I was bursting into tears,” Cruz said. “This is something I have always dreamed of. I’ve never cried before for anything.”

Equally shocked and excited were the cast, who expressed their amazement over the explosive reaction the film and series have received.

“It feels mental,” Bower said. “For me, the fact that somebody wants to pay me to dress up in funny clothes, say lines and do what it is that I love is still absolutely dumbfounding.”

The film will be available to audiences on Wednesday, August 21.

About the Contributor

Agnessa Kasumyan, Managing editor

Writing for her high school newspaper pushed Agnessa toward a career in journalism. During her junior year of high school, she broke a story regarding a racial profiling case at her school. A year later, her follow-up story finished top five in the National Scholastic Press Association. She has been writing for El Vaquero since Fall 2012 and is currently working toward her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with an emphasis on International Relations. Agnessa’s goals include working for the United Nations, interning for a foreign embassy, and using her political science background to report on key issues, both domestic and international. A self-described Anglophile, she plans to move to England and travel throughout Britain while working on her creative writing projects (because calling it a novel is too cliche). She is currently the editor-in-chief of El Vaquero, president of Glendale Community College’s Scholars (Honors) Program, and a freelance writer for the Glendale News Press - a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Times.