The cast on the upcoming sequel
The supporting cast of The Twilight Saga: New Moon dazzled 2,500 shrieking fans at TwiCon on August 1 in Dallas. Peter Facinelli, Jackson Rathbone:, Kellan Lutz, Alex Meraz, Billy Burke, and Christian Serratos waxed on the much-anticipated sequel due in theaters November 20.
NEW CAST, NEW BLOOD
Alex Meraz: This is the first time I’ve really been in front of such a massive crowd. (Crowd screams.)
Peter Facinelli: Makes you feel like a Jonas brother, doesn’t it?
Meraz: The experience has been really good, a bit premature since the movie hasn’t come out and the fans are so excited about it that says a lot about the fans themselves, that they really enjoyed the books and just to be attached to it, that they know the characters, and that they know my journey, which as an actor in this franchise, it’s pretty fantastic. I couldn’t ask for anything better or greater. Thank you.
FAVORITE TAKES
Jackson Rathbone:: My favorite scene, of course, is getting a little bloodlusty. You all got a taste of that in the trailer. You get a little action between us and Eclipse is going to be a lot more.
Facinelli: I like that scene too. I liked when Jackson freaked out. That was fun. Kellan and I had to hold him back. Between takes, we had to hold him back too – from the craft service table. I liked the stitching scene I did with Bella, because they gave me this little kit to practice stitching with and they gave me foam-board. I got bored of that, so they gave me a chicken. The maid would come in and I’d have all these raw pieces of chicken all stitched up in the refrigerator. But, I was so proud, that I brought my chicken to Kristen and said hey, Kristen, look. I’m getting really good at stitching. She looks at it and goes, “Yeah, I’d never let you stitch me up.” And then I didn’t realize that when I had to do the scene, I put the contact lenses in and I couldn’t see. I should have practiced with a blindfold.
FATHER FIGURE
In Twilight, Charlie and Bella’s relationship is easygoing. In New Moon, things drastically change. How do you shift your character to fit those modes?
Billy Burke: What happens in New Moon? (Audience laughs.) Some of you may know that I’m not big on reading. I haven’t actually read the books yet.
Facinelli: Tar and feather him!
Burke: Some people find that endearing. Charlie stays â much like myself â oblivious to a lot of the stuff that goes on in Forks. There’s a lot of murders and stuff going around and he’s the chief of police — I find it a little odd. But, yeah, the relationship between Charlie and Bella does get a little more heated in the next one, then a little more heated in the one after that. I have read the script.
PAGING DR. CULLEN
How did you portrayal of Carlisle change from Twilight to New Moon?
Rathbone:: He got a new colored scarf.
Facinelli: I got a new scarf.
Rathbone:: He’s going to fight with the scarves too, in the third movie. It’s Carlisle’s secret weapon.
Facinelli: We’re gonna use it as a weapon, get it wet first, then snap it at people. (Audience laughs.) I think for me, with Carlisle in the first movie, I worked on who Carlisle was, and on the second movie I worked more on his relationships within the family.
You also play a doctor on Nurse Jackie (on Showtime). How does it differ from playing Carlisle?
Facinelli: They’re so 180 degrees from each another. Someone sent a picture of the two characters side by side, and I was like, I can’t believe the same person is playing these two characters. They look so different. Carlisle is a rock, the founder of this family, cool as ice â no pun intended there. If there’s any chaos, you look to Carlisle to stay calm. Coop is a catastrophe. He’s complete chaos and walks around like he drank three Red Bulls. They’re fun to play.
THE DARKER SIDE OF JASPER
If Jasper were to start a band, what would its name and genre be?
Facinelli: The Grateful Undead.
Rathbone:: I’m going to steal that answer from you.
Facinelli: 100 Vampires? (Rathbone moonlights with his band 100 Monkeys.)
In New Moon, you get to see the darker side of Jasper. How did you prepare for that?
Rathbone:: Peter helped me a lot. (Audience laughs). He really taught me how to act and really took me to the next level with this technique he calls “The Birthday Technique,” which is funny, because we used it in the birthday party (scene). I pretended it was my birthday, but nobody knew. But then Peter told me I had to add another depth to it: it is your birthday and people know, but nobody’s doing anything about it.
ON RAPPORT
For Christian, how are you preparing for the growing relationship between you and Bella?
Christian Serratos: Well, I think that’s going to come naturally anyway just because we’ve kind of all gotten to know each other over a significant amount of time. We’re all kind of growing as friends anyway. It’s pretty simple.
If Emmett could be a werewolf, who would he be most like?
Kellan Lutz: If Emmett could eat a werewolf? Is that the question? (Audience erupts.) I think my boy Alex here has the most meat.
Meraz: I’m too bitter.
Lutz: I don’t mind that. A little bit of salt and pepper and everything tastes good.
FUNNY PEOPLE
Rathbone:: Whenever we were at the house, where we had to put on the big birthday party scene, they were really adamant that we couldn’t wear shoes inside the house – which is kind of hard with a crew of 50 people and a cast of about 10 people and everybody had to be in booties, those little hospital scrub things you put over your shoes. Walking around in those kind of made me laugh â- a bunch of vampires in booties. They were really nice floors.
Lutz: Nice booties too.
Facinelli: I was in the card store and found a card that was really pretty on the outside with a ribbon and a bridge. On the cover it said, “You are not what you do.” Then it said on the inside, “Even though you’re going through troubled times, know you’ll find the job that’s right for you.” So, I bought it and I gave it to Rob. He read it and was like, “Oh that’s so sweet,” and I was like it’s a joke. I had to explain it to him and then he got it and laughed. I told him he should give it to Kristen (Stewart), that it was really funny. So, he gave it to Kristen and Kristen got mad at him. So, then I had to go explain to Kristen that it was just a joke. So, I started giving the card to everybody. Then I gave it to the director.
Source: Loretta Hunt
