Cast Related News
Xavier Samuel (Riley) will be featured in a new film, ‘The Loved Ones’. Xavier has a new look in this one 
Check out the film’s trailer below:
Oh dear….
Cast News – Edi Gathegi in X-Men & Bryce Dallas Howard intvs Xavier Samuel
Interview Magazine had Bryce Dallas Howard interviewing Xavier Samuel.
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD: So now that you’re almost on the other side with Eclipse, how has everything been for you? It’s all been a little wild, right?
XAVIER SAMUEL: Yeah, it has. It’s kind of like being struck by lightning in a way, because it all seems so improbable.
HOWARD: Eclipse is your first American film.
SAMUEL: It is. I’ve been doing American auditions for a while, and it always felt sort of like sending these audition tapes off into the ether. So just hearing anything back from anyone was kind of startling.
HOWARD: When we were shooting Eclipse, it was amazing for me to see how the girls all went berserk over you. These girls were totally losing their minds—and much like everyone else in the cast who experiences those sorts of things, you dealt with it really graciously and wonderfully. Were you at all startled by that?
SAMUEL: I mean, it’s kind of bizarre, isn’t it? Having that kind of attention. I’m not under the microscope in the same fashion that a lot of the other cast members are, so I think I can slide under the radar a little bit more, but getting any attention at all is completely new for me.
HOWARD: Well, it’s been interesting to see how these young women have responded to you and your hair and your accent.
SAMUEL: My hair and my accent are sort of my main assets.
HOWARD: So many great actors come from Australia—I just had the great pleasure of working with one recently who you’ve worked with, Mia Wasikowska. Do you find that Australian actors are sort of like a little tribe?
SAMUEL: Yes. We hold these secret meetings, like a cult.
HOWARD: Where you talk about how you’re going to take over Hollywood? I wouldn’t be surprised—that’s exactly what’s happening.
SAMUEL: I don’t know that many Australian actors in Los Angeles, but there are a few of us. I mean, we kind of get together occasionally, but I wouldn’t say it’s an alliance or anything like that.
HOWARD: I’ve found, just from working with Australians like you and Mia and Sam Worthington—actually Gus Van Sant, who directed the film [Restless] I worked on with Mia, also noticed this with Nicole Kidman—that you guys have such a sturdiness. I don’t know if it’s just the terrain in Australia or the kind of training you do or the way acting is taught over there, but there’s a sturdiness that we as Americans could definitely learn something from. There’s also a sense of gratitude.
SAMUEL: Well, I think it’s the training coupled with the fact that the films that get made are so few and far between. In Australia, getting an audition can be a rarity. There just aren’t as many opportunities. So I guess the mentality is that you kind of give your all whenever you get a chance to work. When you put that in the American context, where you’re getting a substantial number of auditions a week by comparison, I guess your strike rate is a bit better, in a way. I mean, being in a film like Eclipse is such a great opportunity—and there’s a massive fan base with these Twilight movies that you need to respect. So I don’t think I could sleep at night if I didn’t give it my best shot.
Read the rest of the interview at InterviewMagazine.com
Deadline.com has this great news about Edi Gathegi!
EXCLUSIVE: Edi Gathegi, who played a chillingly evil vampire in Twilight and Twilight Saga: New Moon, is joining X-Men: First Class in the role of Darwin. That character, the first bi-racial mutant (in the comic series), has the power of “reactive evolution,” which allows him to adapt to any situation or environment. Plunged underwater, he’ll grow gills, he’ll gain night vision in pitch black and his skin grows fire retardant when burned.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS is a prequel to the X-Men Series -
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-MEN.
(From IMDB Written by Twentieth Century Fox)
Eclipse News – USA Today : Eclipse spawns a new star in Xavier Samuels
Remember last July when we heard Riley was casted. We saw his previous work and were wowed by him. Its bound to happen anyway with the talent he has and we’re so glad it did. YEAH XAVIER!!!
When Australian actor Xavier Samuel shipped off an audition tape to Twilight producers, insta-fame seemed oceans away.“It’s kind of strange because you send them off into oblivion and you don’t know if anyone watches them,” says Samuel, 26.
That was last year.
Fast-forward to the Eclipse premiere, where thousands of fans are not only screaming but are screaming for him. “It’s kind of 360 degrees of hysteria,” Samuel says just hours before the Los Angeles premiere of the third film installment of Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster series. “The sound (of Twilight‘s fans) does really knock you off your feet.”
Samuel steals not only the first five minutes of one of most anticipated movies of the summer, but much of its finale. He plays newborn vampire Riley Biers, who, alongside vengeful vamp Victoria, leads a bloodthirsty army of young vampires with one goal: killing human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and those who protect her.
Hailing from Adelaide, he now joins Hollywood’s short list of hot young Aussie men in the spotlight, including brothers Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) and Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song), and Sam Worthington (Avatar).
Joining the ranks of Robert Pattinson, Stewart and Taylor Lautner, “I ought to feel ostracized, but everyone was wonderfully down to earth,” says Samuel, who found battling a CGI werewolf in the wilds of Canada more challenging than making friends. “You’re just working with a piece of fur on the end of a stick just kind of poking you,” he says with a laugh.
The son of parents who teach history and English, the dry-humored Samuel, whose younger brother Benedict is finishing up acting school and whose sister Bridget is an opera stage manager, cut his teeth playing Hamlet in college, later appearing in a smattering of movies on the film festival circuit, including Newcastle, September and The Loved Ones.
Mom Maree now keeps tabs on his Google status (a quick search for her son’s name snags upward of 900,000 hits). “She’s kind of made it her mission to monitor the info on me on the Internet, which is an impossible task,” he says.
That includes the rumor that Samuel ditched his supposed band to follow his film career. “Completely untrue,” he says, though he did tote his acoustic guitar to Vancouver to relax between shoots and workouts. “I don’t have a burning ambition to be a rock star or anything,” he says, instead listing other musical favorites: The National, the Very Best and the Magnetic Fields.
Eclipse News – New video Interviews with David Slade & Eclipse cast by James Kleinmann
Film Critic & Interviewer James Kleinmann interviewed David Slade, Xavier Samuel, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nicky Reed, Boo Boo Stewart and Alex Meraz recently. VERY GOOD INTERVIEWS!!
Eclipse News – Eclipse cast on Jimmy Kimmel [UPDATED] WITH VIDEOS!
[[UPDATED] We now have videos!! Watch below! Jimmy Kimmel will have almost the entire The Twilight Saga: Eclipse cast on his show later tonight at 10p/9c Calling his show The Twilight Saga: Total Eclipse of The Heart. 
Who will be there? Okay here goes – Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Dakota Fanning, Ashley Greene, Bryce Dallas Howard, Julia Jones, Alex Meraz, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Xavier Samuel and Chaske Spencer. Lookout for it! Thanks to Thinking of Rob for videos!
Cast News – Robert/Xavier/Kristen/Chaske/Jodelle/Boo Boo/Tyson
Here’s Seventeen Magazine Argentina’s Exclusive interview with Robert Pattinson.
17: You had a lot of action scenes in Eclipse, was there a particularly complicated one?
RP: Hmm, I guess the hardest action scene was the fight scene. There is this great battle at the end of the movie. The set we were filming on was filled with artifical snow, and that snow was made out of paper. All of a sudden it got wet and the floor got incredibly slippery.. it was worse than real snow!
So after a while, it was terribly hard to work there.17: What was the biggest lesson that playing Edward has taught you?
RP: Something similar to what my dad told me once, that if you are a good person with the whole world when you are becoming famous, when you stop being famous those same people will be good to you. I think that is a good thing.
17: The best part about being an actor is…
RP: I believe it’s the daily work, as you prepare to play a character. It’s doing extensive research about whatever you think will help you.. whatever! You can listen to music, enjoy the arts, read books or simply study people. I think it’s the only job that allows you to do all of that.
17: You participated in the effort to help the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti, how was that experience like?
RP: It was amazing. When you become famous, you spend a lot of time thinking what that’s all about, or what to do with all that attention on you. When you discover that you can use fame to do good things, it’s amazing. I hope that what I did helped, and that it really made a difference for the people of Haiti.
17: Do you thing that with those actions you inspire other people?
RP: I don’t know, I’m trying. I believe that if you work hard enough, it does make a difference. I try and inspire people in a positive manner, and with luck that turns into something good for the world. You can’t judge yourself when you are contributing to the planet, or when you’re inspiring others. That’s for other people to say.
17: Is there something that bothers you?
RP: A lot.. millions of things (laughs), almost everything bothers me (laughs).
17: Do you have a dream that’s pending?
RP: I think recording an album. I would love to make that dream come true. I’m always writing songs, but I never give music enough time, much less to start working on an album.
More, more and more at RobPattzNews!
Xavier, you’re calling from Europe, I understand. Whereabouts?
I’m driving in a black-tinted car on the streets of Berlin.That’s how you roll?
This is how I roll, man!Nice. You’re in Berlin shooting—wait for it—a Roland Emmerich movie about Shakespeare. Is this the same Roland Emmerich who did Independence Day and 2012? Please tell me the Rose Theatre blows up at the end of this one.
No, but there is a lot of green screen, a lot of special effects. They’re really re-creating the London from that time. It’s going to be quite visually spectacular. I play the Earl of Southampton. He’s one of the only people that Shakespeare ever dedicated his work to.Speaking of thrillers: You’re on the poster for the new Twilight film, Eclipse. How did this happen?
I did the audition from Sydney. I put the audition down on tape and sent it over.Actors are always putting themselves on tape. But they never actually get the role that way!
I’ve been doing that for quite a while—doing these auditions from Australia and sending them out. I don’t know whose desk they land on, or if anyone even watches them. To hear back was a surprise. I flew to Vancouver on a maybe. It was me and four other guys. And I was shooting before I knew it.Were you a fan of the Twilight series? Tell the truth.
I watched the first film on the plane, on the way over to Vancouver. Then I went straight to the bookstore.Funny. You play Riley, a hungry newborn vampire out on a rampage. Full disclosure: I read the book, and Riley’s only on one page.
Yes, I was flipping through the book, thinking: Where’s Riley? He’s whittled down to one line. But in the film, we venture into the world of Riley and watch him assembling this newborn army. It’s more action-packed. And it gives me something more to do, thankfully.Do you get to inflict much damage on the world?
There was no neck biting. I threw a vampire off of a burning car. I also threw a massive log with one hand. The log was attached to a hydraulic system. It made me look really strong.
Finally the July issue of British with Elle Kristen Stewart is out. Read on and Watch the BTS video!
The NativeTimes has a feature on Chaske Spencer.
Spencer’s character, Sam, and the rest of the wolf pack will have to step up in “Eclipse” to fight side by side with the good vampires to protect the humans who live nearby from the bad vampires.
The Quileute characters in the book live on the La Push Indian Reservation in Washington and “New Moon” director Chris Weitz insisted on authenticity when casting the characters for the movie.
“They had to have papers that proved their heritage,” Weitz said in a 2009 interview with USA Today.
Though many fans now see his face and automatically think of him as Quileute alpha wolf Sam Uley, that’s OK with Spencer.
“It’s great,” he said. “Sam is a great character. It is great to do something beyond the leathers and feathers roles that are often available,” he said.
Spencer, who’s appeared in “Skins,” “Dreamcatcher” and the TV miniseries “Into the West,” said it’s been very exciting to him to see such success in the entertainment industry.
“(It’s) a dream come true,” Spencer said. “It was nice to act in a movie as a Native American minus the stereotypes.”
Through the whirlwind of fame, traveling, events and shooting for the next movie, Spencer recalls his most memorable moment up to this point.
“Probably when my manager called to tell me I got the role (of Sam Uley,)” Spencer said. “And I couldn’t tell anyone!”
He now resides in Brooklyn, New York, and his work calendar is filling up faster than he can keep up with.
Spencer is currently finishing a film called “Shouting Secrets” which is scheduled for a 2011 release. He has a lead role along with other Native actors. Shooting will be wrapping soon, then Spencer has other projects lined up including “Winter in the Blood,” and the fourth movie in the “Twilight” saga, “Breaking Dawn.”
Q. You’re a new addition to the franchise. How did Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and the others actors welcome you?
JODELLE: It’s always the little things that count, like saying “hi” to me, or saying “Oh, come sit over here, you look lonely.” You know, all those little things that I really appreciated because it made me feel more welcome. … They’re all really nice people.
Q. What’s really cool about “Eclipse”?
TYSON: There’s going to be a lot more action. … There’s a very climactic fight scene. There’s an entire war at the end of the movie, and I think it’s going to be a lot more guy-friendly.
Q. So guys will want to come with their girlfriends?
TYSON: Definitely. … Another thing that’s really, really cool … you get a lot of really cool background stories, like with the Quileutes [the wolfpack's Native American tribe]. And with the other vampires, too, like, you get to learn about the history, about who they are.
Q. For “Eclipse,” Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Rachelle Lefevre as the vengeance-seeking vampire Victoria. What can you tell us about her?
TYSON: She does a great portrayal of the character. I accidentally walked into her on set one day, and it terrified me. I walked around the corner and there she was, and she was in full make-up and everything, and I got so scared. … She was really, really intense.”
Q. The wolfpack is all about the abs. How did you prepare for the film?
BOOBOO: My mom actually trained me. She trained me at the gym. She’s really tough. She’s a personal trainer and she’s a Pro Fitness competitor, so she kicked my butt. … I put on about 10, 15 pounds.
Cast News
Some details have emerged about Water For Elephants! Thanks to VCStar for the pics & article!
The county of Ventura confirmed that a production company has taken out a film permit for Thursday to start shooting a movie in Fillmore. That project is likely a Fox 2000 film based on “Water for Elephants,” Sara Gruen’s best-selling Depression-era novel about a traveling circus.
No big tops have been reported in Fillmore or environs, but on Sunday, circus trains and wagons painted with the words “Benzini Bros. Most Spectacular Show on Earth,” the circus in Gruen’s book, were spotted in the city’s downtown.
Our favourite Newborn has been making his own waves – Riley played by Xavier Samuel has been featured in Teen Vogue.
When Xavier Samuel arrived in Vancouver last summer, he didn’t make it far past baggage claim before he started making headlines. With just a few offbeat Australian flicks under his belt, the sandy-haired 26-year-old had been chosen to play newborn vampire Riley, the latest heartthrob in The Twilight Saga. Almost instantaneously he was being hailed as Robert Pattinson’s doppelgänger and couldn’t get coffee without seeing flashbulbs.
“It was all very sudden, not just with the paparazzi but also with being cast in general,” says Xavier, who’s been acting since high school. “I did an audition from Sydney on tape. Then I got word that it was down to four guys—and that I was one of them.” (Rumor has it he beat out Channing Tatum and Harry Potter‘s Tom Felton for the part.)
He is exceptional!
Learn MORE about Xavier Samuel at Teen Vogue!
Cast News
WOOT!! You guys MUST check this out!! VMAN’s #17 Spring 2010 Issue coming out April 20 will feature a couple of our Twilight: Eclipse guys… Just wished it was the whole gang though. Nonetheless, am eyeing the damn HOT newborn! Thanks to MTV’s Hollywood Crush for the tip.
What a face! What a smile!
Oh Emmett!
The #17 VMan Issue is with Nick Jonas on the cover!
Eclipse News
The talented Xavier Samuel (swoon!) has done a short interview in Australia on The Kyle & Jackie O Show.
Check out the radio station’s, 2Day104.1 Twilight Gallery that has interviews of the Twilight cast who visited Australia last year!
Thanks to TwilightPoison !
Eclipse News
THEY ARE BACK (except for Rob & Kristen) IN VANCOUVER! The cast were spotted having dinner together. It’s back to work – with a new director! Remember, it’s David Slade for Eclipse.
Nikki Reed with Taylor Lautner
Jackson Rathbone
Peter Facinelli and Xavier Samuel
Bryce Dallas Howard, Ashley Greene & Kellan Lutz (Why So Serious, Kellan?)
Eclipse News
The cast are back in Vancouver to film the third film of The Twilight Saga, Eclipse. Spotted: Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed (& boyfriend), Bryce Howard and Xavier Samuel.
More at Twilight Indonesia!
Meanwhile, Peter Facinelli and Jackson Rathbone talks about Rachelle leaving the family. Read it here at MTV. And thanks to twilightbritneyfan for providing the YouTube video:
Peter also gives us more info about Eclipse’s rehearsals and stuntworks. *Spoilers*Spoilers*Spoilers*
AB: What was your favorite part of Eclipse?
PF: I actually like that, in the book, a lot of the family members are talked about, and in the movie they’re in it a lot more. The books are all told from Bella’s perspective, so a lot of times, when she’s not in the scene and things are happening, you don’t actually get to see them, like the battle scene, for instance. In Eclipse when the whole family and the werewolves are fighting the newborn vampires, it’s talked about and through Edward you kind of get something, but in the movie you actually get to see it, you know, so I like that in the interpretations of the movies, it’s not always about Bella’s perspective. She isn’t always in the scene, and so that opens up the story a little bit. The Cullens are in it a lot more throughout.
New Moon News
MSN Superfans were one of the 5 internet media outlets that were especially invited to Vancouver to visit The Twilight Saga : New Moon set. The other 4 were Hollywood.com, RottenTomatoes.com, HitFix.com, Fandango.com. Lookout in the next few days and weeks for their observations and reports on the Making of New Moon. All of them basically have the same story as they were brought in together a group through the film shoot and met various members of the cast in the space of 2 days. The beauty is reading through their reports for their individual takes on what they saw. 
Now lets get back to MSN Superfans’ Myriam Gabriel-Pollock, here’s her report:
It’s about a month and a half into the production of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” and director Chris Weitz and crew have begun filming the highly anticipated Volturi scenes. We are in a soundstage about 45 minutes outside downtown Vancouver, and the dimly lit studio smells of sawdust. Looming almost 40 feet high and occupying most of the building is the Volturi lair’s interior set. The outside of the rotunda is covered in scaffolding, but the interior is breathtaking. Two arched doorways lead into a long hall that follows the curve of the building. Beautiful statuary and ornate columns look so real — until I knock on one and discover that it’s carved and painted Styrofoam. Movie-making magic, indeed!
Day 1
…The screens show Dakota Fanning as Jane and Cameron Bright as Alec, two of the most dangerous and specially gifted Volturi. Michael Sheen is off camera, but his chilling voice intones, “Let’s see if she’s immune to all of us. Shall we, Jane?” Dakota does two more takes of this scene, in which she has no dialogue. She spends long moments looking fiercely at someone (probably Bella) her smug smile slowly giving way to a quiet rage. In her red contact lenses, vampire makeup, and a coiled white-blond up-do, she is the perfect incarnation of a demon with an angel’s face. When Fanning finishes the scene, she comes by with a quick hello before taking leave; up close, her red eyes are even more disconcerting.
…We are leaning against the wall when the stage door opens and a small group enters. As they approach, I notice the tallest one of all; the well-coiffed, bronze hair is a dead giveaway. Robert Pattinson in Edward makeup and clothing, walks right by on his way to the set. In person he is tall and lean, and leaves no doubt that he is the physical embodiment of Edward Cullen, with a profile and facial features that are preternaturally beautiful and heart-stopping.
…The scene we watch is of Aro stepping down from his throne to greet Edward, Bella and Alice, who approach him with great trepidation. Aro cheerfully greets them, “What a happy surprise, Bella is alive after all! I love a happy ending.” He asks Edward, “Her blood appeals to me — how can you stand to be so close to her?” Edward’s restrained, velvet voice answers, “It’s not without its difficulties.” Aro turns to Bella and adds, “Fascinating. I’d like to see if you are an exception to my gift as well. Would you do me the honor?” Bella places her hand in Aro’s, at his behest.
They film this scene at least five times, from different angles, with the camera on different actors. A helpful production assistant explains to me that they take many varied shots of the same scene so the director and film editor will have several angles and shots to choose from when they put the scene together in the editing room.
Day 2
It is Day 2 of our visit, and we return to the Volturi set in Studio B. Ramzy, the Summit representative who’s been acting as our tour guide, tells us we’ll be seeing some wire work today. The scene we are privy to is Edward in pain because of Jane’s mental manipulations.
As we watch, Rob is pulled forward abruptly by wires attached to his wrists. This brings his face very close to the camera and his head fills the monitor screen. He then looks up, neck tendons straining, as his face silently expresses sheer agony, before he drops to the ground with a grunt. I’m not actually sure if the grunt is a result of Rob’s pain or Edward’s pain. He does several takes of this scene, and he’s dropping to the hard floor, not onto a cushion.(!! Ouch)
…It is 3:30 p.m., and we’re famished. We head over to the craft services tent for a late lunch. There is a nice variety of food, nothing out of the ordinary or remarkable, except that the Volturi are also having their lunch. Fanning, Bright, Bewley, Heyerdahl and Sheen are all in here, as well as many other Volturi extras. It looks like a tent full of Marilyn Manson’s relatives. Lunch ends with some fabulous chocolate tarts.
As we wait for our vans, Bright stops by and talks to us for a bit. He’s a sweet young guy who lives just outside of Victoria, British Columbia. He is clearly excited to be a part of “New Moon,” and his enthusiasm is refreshing.
Please read the entire report here.
Myriam also spoke to Cameron Bright and here’s an excerpt of her interview.( Check it out! The Volturis also have their family crest! Woooo )
Were you a “Twilight” fan beforehand? Have you read the books?
Never read the books but I did watch the movie. Because a lot of people were saying like, it was half and half— all the guys were saying it was bad, and all the girls were saying it was good. I actually liked it, I didn’t mind it at all. And now obviously, I have to be in it, so…yeah [Laughs.]
Do you get to go to Italy with the rest of the crew?
Nope, the whole Volturi family is going except for me!
Awwww!
Yeah, exactly! [Laughs.] Maybe now they’ll be like, “We’ll send him, out of pity!
Your wardrobe, that pendant you’re wearing—do you know what those symbols are?
I don’t know, they just kind of slapped it on me. I know that’s a “V” for Volturi, I’m guessing? Because I’m a Volturi…I really have no idea what you’re asking. [Laughs.]
Does yours match Daniel’s?
The whole Volturi family has it because that’s their family seal. I don’t really know all of it.
Here’s Fandango’s Lizerne Guiting’s take on the visit:
Rachelle Lefevre Shares Stunt Secrets
At the end of Day 1, we visited a different sound stage to watch Rob Pattinson film special effects. He wore a dark gray suit with strategically disheveled hair, and spent most of the time standing on a platform in front of what looked like an IMAX-size neon green screen for his scenes in which he appears as a hallucination to Bella. A long dolly track was laid down for the camera to travel from one end of the studio to the other, where he was standing. We media folks stayed at the other end of the track, unable to hear anything he said, but Rachelle Lefevre (who plays Victoria) was also at that end. She let us in on all the stunts she’d been filming, which made up for not being able to hear Rob.
For the past two and half weeks, she’s been filming her own scenes – up 25 feet high in the trees. She and the cast have a running joke about not seeing each other while filming. “I see them all the time at night, but I never see them during the day,” Lefevre says. “They’re like, ‘Where are you?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, you guys don’t know, but we’re making a whole other movie in the woods, like half an hour away.’”
She has a stunt double, and she’s harnessed while shooting, but that doesn’t quell Lefevre’s fear of heights with all the shooting in the trees. “I’m absolutely terrified when I’m up there,” she says. “I’m like, ‘Wow, I don’t know how I’m gonna bring myself to jump from here, this freefall leap.’ And then they say ‘action’ and you just do it. It’s this bizarre thing where you don’t want to get all the way up there and then not do it. Failure’s just not an option.”
Click here for the complete article.
As we mentioned yesterday and confirmed by Rachelle LeFervre on her Twitter,
“So unbelievable happy about Xavier cast as Riley!!! He is so lovely & talented & perfect for the role. Ladies, hold on to your hearts…”
( Your warning is heeded Rachelle)
Xavier Samuel is Riley in Summit's The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Daily Telegraph has comments from the 25 year old Australian,
In Eclipse he takes on the role of a newborn vampire named Riley, a good-looking university student involved in a plot to kill Stewart’s character Bella.
Samuel is still getting his head around the Twilight phenomenon.
“I managed to catch the film on the way over on the plane,” he said. He admitted he’s not read any of the best-selling books of the series – yet.
“I’m going to start reading the first one tonight.”
New Moon News/Eclipse News( Riley Casted )
Looks like Hitfix.com and some other internet news outlets (whose news and reveals we are still waiting for!) will be running some The Twilight Saga : New Moon updates of their own! Lookout for these in the next couple of days when Hitflix will publish their interviews with the cast during their visit to the film location in May.
For now here’s some juicy tidbits Hitflix has for us today in their interview with Chris Weitz the director for The Twilight Saga : New Moon.
Q: …. What was your interest in coming on board a franchise that predominately been more popular with women then men?
Actually, in that regard my brother and I often end up doing movies whose audiences are predominantly women or tipping point of success relies on a female audience. Even ‘American Pie.’ I think the thing that distinguishes it more than the gross-out humor, because there is a lot of that going on. The way we tooled it was so that girls could be interested in it as well. And, in as much as the ‘Twilight’ series has a great appeal to women, I think it really concentrates on the emotions of the central character and romance and I think that unfortunately that the studio system has not been very good at getting boys to be interested in. They think and maybe incorrectly, that the male gender is interested in just thing blowing up. And I don’t think that’s true. I certainly didn’t make this movie towards only girls or women being interested in seeing it. There is a lot for diverse audiences including older audiences than the first one drew. Really, we are drawn to the cast. I thought the central cast were great and I wanted to work with them and it also employed some skills that I picked up along the way including working with special effects and working with younger actors and working on emotionally structured stories.
Q: In terms of the effects, I think everyone on this call was probably stunned after we’d been on set and we’d talked to the producer and he was like ‘We’re still working on some of the designs for the wolfpack’ and I think it was like two or three weeks later we saw the first trailer and that great shot at the end. Have you ever worked in such a quick process from beginning to end?
It is. I myself was surprised Phil Tippet’s company was able to turn out that wolf shot and I think they kind of did that as a matter of institutional pride that they could. Even that shot that was in the trailer has gone through 20-30 iterations since then, but they have done a really extraordinary job and Phil Tippet is a complete genius. He’s responsible for the walkers in ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’ and he’s kind of one of the legends of the visual effects community and it pretty amazing what they have been able to do on such short notice. We are working at kind of breakneck speed at the same time as trying to achieve something really quite elegant as well. It’s not just Tippet, it’s Frantic/CBS (LOOK UP) which is headed up by Mike Fink who is my old friend who was the visual effects supervisor on ‘Golden Compass’ which won the Oscar the year it came out. So, yeah, working very fast, but we’re also trying to work as beautifully as possible to make these effect kind of settle into the amazing cinematography that Javier Aguirresarobe brought us. We are kind of moving at light speed,but trying to deliver something that’s really elegant and beautiful.
Q: Just to follow that up, can you tell us how far along you are to completion right now?
I am about two weeks away from showing the director’s cut to the studio. I’ve got some wolves with fur. Some wolves are still invisible basically and some wolves are like — you’ve all probably seen the claymation versions. We are still in the light RD phases of what Edward looks like when he’s hit — what the vampires look like when he’s hit with light and the diamond effect. Also, the kind of hallucinatory effect Bella has when she hears Edward’s voice and she imagines him there. And then we are Alexandre Desplat has just started working on his music for the film. And we are just starting to put together what acts will be on the soundtrack, so it’s kind of like keeping ten plates spinning at once, but it’s all good because we’ve got Alexander Desplat who I think is one of the greatest film composers living and because of the kind of the strength of the franchise that I inherited, a lot of bands are really interested in working on the soundtrack and we got visual effects people. And that just leaves me hopefully not dropping the ball in terms of editing together the story.
Q: Really quickly on the music. The first movie probably made Paramore as a band. Were you surprised by the number of acts wanting to be on the sequel and have you had to turn anybody down?
Well, fortunately I’m not at the stage where I have to turn anybody down yet, because everything is still kind of up in the air, but I am surprised by some of the bands that have said they are interested. It’s kind of great. The criteria will still be what’s right for the movie at that given moment, but y’know, Thom Yorke is interested. We might, if we’re very lucky, get Kings of Leon to do something. So, it’s exciting to have access to this kind of talent.
Q: Can you tell us about the proposal scene at the end of the book? Fans are worried that it’s either been altered or cut out of the film. Can you address those concerns?
They haven’t been cut out. I can tell you that much. It’s not going to hit them the exact way they think it’s going to, but I will say — how can I put it? It’s going to be quite special. I could have saved all of my gusto for that moment. I don’t think it will disappoint.
Read the awesomely long interview at Hitflix!
Katie Bain of Hollywood.com was at the film location as well and here’s what she has to say – mostly about Robert Pattinson on the The Twilight Saga : New Moon set. Her write up is in a numbered list form. 
… 2. Like the rest of the cast, Pattinson’s canvas director’s chair had his character’s name (that would be “Edward Cullen”) embroidered on the backrest. On Robert’s chair, however, “Edward Cullen” was covered with yellow tape, on which “ROBERT” was written in bold black marker. Seems our fantasy boy likes to keep things “real.”
… There were also pictures of him coming out of the printer as I walked by it. Literally. Everyone in the buzzy office seemed to be as dazzled by him just as we, of the general population, are — especially the harem of young, attractive women working there.
10. I stood behind Stephenie Meyer while watching Pattinson, Stewart, Ashley Greene, Michael Sheen, Cameron Bright and Dakota Fanning film a scene in the Volturri lair. It went a little something like this:
Edward, Bella and Alice stand in front of the Volturri. Edward, looking many gray shades of haggard, takes a dramatic step toward the vampires and seems to hit an invisible wall. He crumbles to the ground, writhing in pain. Alice, wearing red gloves, crouches down to tend to him.
Bella: “Stop, stop! Try it on me. Just stop hurting him!”
This scene was done at least five times, and despite it taking place on the other side of the set’s massive wall, I could hear the thud of Pattinson’s body hitting the ground each time. There’s no way this felt good. The man suffers for his art.
… 12. Regardless of the international pandemonium he causes, Rob is, according to co-star Lafevre, really just a humble, friendly guy.
She says, “Twilight was a very ego-less set, and the thing that’s really a relief is that everyone has stayed the same way. Outside we may be able to go outside and just get in a cab, whereas Rob has to do CIA-evasive maneuvers to meet at the same restaurant, but when we get to the restaurant and we sit down, everything is exactly the same.”
13. People cater to the boy. One of the stage managers made a point of putting together a plate of food for Robert so he wouldn’t miss a meal while filming, saying: “Just tell me what Robert wants, and I’ll set it aside for him.”
This must be what it’s like to be treated like a movie star, as no one offered me anything to eat.
14. Even Taylor Lautner has Pattinson envy. When I asked Lautner the one bonus power he would bestow on Jacob, he responded, “I want to steal one of Edward’s powers.” Seems even werewolves get jealous.
15. The only time I saw the very elusive Kristen Stewart not on a monitor was when she walked by me on her way to the set. She was with Robert. Maybe this means all those secret relationship rumors are true … nah, I’m pretty sure it was because they were both to be in a scene together. So I’d like to think …
Another great coverage! Read the entire thing at Hollywood.com
Frickin’ exciting news Summit has hired a new actor for THE TWILIGHT SAGA : ECLIPSE!!
He is an Australian actor and his name is Xavier Samuel. He will play Riley, the new born vampire and Victoria’s right hand man in her hunt for Bella Swan as vengeance for the killing of her mate James. Read about it here!!
And check out Xavier in action in these clips from his movies, Angela’s Decision (2006) and September (2007) .
He looks pretty good – his acting I mean I must say Summit Entertainment is pretty good at casting talented young actors for The Twilight Saga. Well done!
