I think that reading further along gives her insight to her character that could help her performance. It's kind of unfair to relate this to "real life" considering that she's an actor that going to be a part of a series of films (if they're even that popular, which I doubt). She's not going to shout spoilers from the rooftops during a scene or anything.

Think of it this way. If a an actor is playing a character in a scene with someone who is about to die, maybe the director might want them to know that. It gives the actor a chance to really appreciate the scene they're in and make it really significant. You could argue that she might want the character's death to seem sudden. Instead I believe that it would come off more as a scene that blends in with the rest of the film and looks less like a "this is the last time these two characters spoke" scene.

Going by this actress' logic, she should only read a page a day.

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I would say it all depends, on a case by case basis. Perhaps this actress felt the best way for her to play this character well was to remain ignorant of the character's future. Apparently, the director and producers have no problem with this. Otherwise, wouldn't the director/producers have ordered her to read the books?

As far as the internal thinking/logic that goes in with the character, I think the screenplay needs to already convey/imply that for the actor.

When it comes to the Harry Potter movies, I've gotten the sense (which may be incorrect) that the main leads (Radcliff, et al) know too much about their characters as written in the books. Thus, most of their performances come off feeling "constrained" and limited by this knowledge.

On the other hand, if we're talking about a timeless, iconic character that has been depicted in several ways (like Batman, the Joker or Superman), then I'd say the actor should do far more thorough research into the various and obscure aspects of the character.

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As far as Harry Potter goes, might be cause they're bad actors? Actually I like them enough, but still might be due to inexperience in acting.

And Bella is far from timeless, so you bring up a good point.

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It surprises me how Twilight fans seem to ignore the blatant female stereotyping and misogyny in those novels.

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I had a long conversation with a friend of mine about just how badly these books portray women. We're both aspiring young adult genre writers and we take this kind of stuff a little personal. I just feel like in cases in which teenagers are one's fanbase, the author should be responsible in giving them some sort of admirable protagonist. I hate the idea of censorship, but I do think that writers have an innate responsibility to readers, especially when they're young.

I saw a girl about the age of 12 reading this and I wanted to slap it out of her hand and go "READ A WRINKLE IN TIME! PLEASE!"

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