You’re sharing the spotlight together with Bailee Madison and James Cromwell in Cowgirls ’N Angels. But given your jam packed schedule with Twilight, 100 Monkeys and your other endeavors, how do you find the time to fit everything in?
[Bailee] is the real star! I like to keep myself busy. You know that old saying, “Idle hands are the Devil’s play.” But this script kind of floated my way through my manager. I read it and I fell in love with it. I was familiar with Bailee and her work, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and other films that she’s done. She is just an incredible young actress. And then they told me James Cromwell was going to be in it. As a young actor, you’re like, “An old veteran that I look up to! Maybe I can try to learn something.” That’s what I try to do. I try to learn as much as possible. And I wanted do a family film so the stars kind of just aligned.

And you get to be with horses.
Which I do love. I grew up riding.

So why, a good ol’ Texas boy and playing a cowboy, don’t we get to see you doing some riding in this movie?
It’s not about me riding. It’s about these girls, the Sweethearts of the Rodeo, the trick riding. I can’t do trick riding. I can ride a horse. I can get on a horse. I don’t look like I don’t know what’s happening. [Launching into a hilarious cartoonish parody of laughter] “Oh, lookey here. I have no idea! What’s a horse?” This movie’s about the trick riding and family and this little girl Ida discovering who she is.

You’ve been consistently working in one of the biggest franchises in movie history – Twilight. Does that give you the freedom to choose and do smaller roles in films like Cowgirls ’N Angels?
I should say so. Definitely. It’s been an amazing experience. Anytime you do any project that people see [laughing], regardless of whether it’s a franchise, an indie film or a tv show, I think it’s a blessing. As an actor you need an audience. What Twilight brought me was an incredible fan base and incredible audience that just really love those films. And I grew to love the fans because without them, honestly, I’m nothing. They are everything. It’s an amazing experience.

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