2009 will undoubtedly go down as the year of the vampire as the success of the Twilight film has created a chain reaction with two successful TV series, HBO’s True Blood and the CW’s TV adaptation of another young adult book series The Vampire Diaries. Now yet another book series revolving around vampires, The Darren Shan saga, written by author Darren Shan, has been made into a potential children’s franchise.

The film is Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. Like Robert Pattinson with Edward Cullen in the Twilight film, the main character of teen boy-turned-vampire Darren Shan is played by a relative unknown, this time being 17 year-old Chris Massoglia.

With his sole previous film role being indie family adventure film A Plumm Summer, The Vampire’s Assistant is Massoglia’s Hollywood film debut. And as he personally attested to himself, Chris made no allusion to the notion that the gig would be entirely fun and games for him.

“Well, it’s my first movie,” Massoglia says, “It’s my first chance to kind of go out and really act in a movie. There are a lot of things about acting that are really fun, but at the same time, it is work and it is a job. We were on set for 12 hours a day, for three and a half months. So I was away from my friends, I was away from my family, I wasn't playing sports. But, while the whole experience was really interesting and fun and I learned a lot, there was days where you have to work, like anybody has to do.”

However, he says the fun definitely outweighed the work, as he relished the opportunity to work with a superb cast including John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, and Salma Hayek.

“One of the best things, for me, about doing this movie was just working with all these guys,” Chris notes, “Being able to do your first movie with a bunch of Oscar-nominated actors and actresses and directors and stuff like that is, I think, a really big privilege. We had good examples.”

One actor he particularly enjoyed working with is John C. Reilly, who plays vampire Larten Crespley. Chris recalls his initial intimidation when he first met Reilly.

“I remember the first day I was working with John, I was a little intimidated,” he recounts, “And, [director] Paul [Weitz] came up and he kind of just started talking to me, and we got my mind off the subject. And then, John came up and we had a really cool conversation, and then, it was fine and it was a lot of fun. I asked him a lot of questions, throughout filming, like ‘What was it like for you?’ and ‘How would you deal with certain situations?’”

“The biggest thing for me was just being able to observe how he worked with like the crew members and different cast members that would come in and go,” Massoglia adds, “It was fun, not only like because I got to see how he acted professionally in what he does, in how he works and stuff, but I also in how he relates personally with all the other cast and crew. It was really awesome for me.”

Massoglia’s most interesting scene, he says, was one that involved flitting with Reilly.

“I liked being able to be on John's back. That was fun,” Chris remembers, “You get the air knocked out of you. I had that experience in the movie. I thought it was cool. At first, I got out, I was like, ‘What is flitting? What are you actually doing?’”

“And I kind of understood it to be like a combination of slowing down time and running really fast,” he continues, “But, I think it's a really cool concept and it's probably my favorite supernatural power that we get to do in the film.”

One actor Chris says he particularly found intriguing was Michael Cerveris, who plays Mr. Tiny.

“He was really fun to work with,” Massoglia says of him, “He was really nice. It was kind of weird because he'd walk around set just kind of normal. He's like really skinny and pretty short, and then he had this huge, fat head on, so it was like a little man with a really fat head.”

“So It was kind of weird, but, yeah, he was really fun,” he adds. “It was really cool. He's a huge fan of New Orleans and he did a lot to help out when he was there. He played shows there. I still think he has an apartment there. It was cool to see how much he cared about New Orleans, too.”

Massoglia said he’s definitely ready for a sequel should a Cirque du Freak franchise take off with the success of The Vampire’s Assistant.

“Yeah, I'm signed on for some more projects, and I'd love to do more,” Chris says, “I think from what I've heard is that, if the fans really come out and support the movie, then everybody is really interested in making another one.”

However, should success come the way of Twilight, Chris says he’s not really interested in being a pin-up idol for swooning teen girls a la Robert Pattinson.

“I don't really think I feel pressured to become a teen sensation because that's not really my goal in life,” he says, “It's not about being a star, being popular or having lots of girls or whatever.”

“It's really about continuing to be able to act and have fun, and do what I like to do,” Massoglia says, “So, for me, it's just about learning and being there, and understanding and developing my acting abilities, and being able to look for the next project, so I can act in it. It's not really about being a teen star, I guess so I don't really feel pressured in that way.”