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Hollywood.com has a bunch of new interviews with Taylor Lautner (Jacob), Michael Sheen (Aron, Charlie Bewley (Demetri), Rachelle LeFevre (Victoria) and Jamie Campbell Bower (Caius) from the set of ‘New Moon’ in Vancouver.
Taylor Lautner
On his stunt work:
Taylor Lautner: I’ve been doing a lot recently. The cool thing is that they’ve pretty much let me do all of my stunts. I got to do all the dirt-bike riding. I got to do this really cool sequence that I’m actually not going to tell you about. You’ve got to wait to see it. But the stunts have definitely been my favorite part so far.
On his physical preparation for New Moon:
TL: I had to put on some weight. While filming Twilight, I knew Jacob’s character transformed not only emotionally and mentally, but also physically. So I immediately, the day after filming Twilight, hit the gym and started eating a lot, good food, and trying to pack on pounds. Here I am, 30 pounds heavier.
What’s been the biggest difference between the Twilight and New Moon shoots?
TL: We know what we’re making this time around. For the first film, we really had no idea we were making a big film, we just knew we were all in love with the series and wanted to make a great movie, but we didn’t know that all the people were going to fall in love with the movie and it was going to be as big as it was. Now we’re coming into New Moon with a little bit more pressure. But we’re trying to push that behind us and not think about that and just stay focused on what we need to do.
Full interview here
Michael Sheen
How did you approach playing Aro?
MS: I loved the thing in the books where Stephenie wrote about how the Cullen family is all really beautiful, and that’s what kind of lures people into their web. And Aro is not like that. She describes Aro as being not the same sort of thing.
I like the idea that it’s his voice that lures people in — and his sort of demeanor rather than the way he looks — because he looks very weird and kind of scary. So I’ve tried to sort of go down that route to make him very mesmerizing. That his voice is quite gentle and soft, and yet there’s something kind of unhinged about him. They’re great scenes.
Stephenie was saying that she loved writing this scene that we’re doing now. I read it over and over and over again, that particular bit in the book. There’s a part where she describes his voice as being quite feathery. That’s what gave me sort of the idea of making him very soft and light. I think she describes it as being like a sigh, his voice. And that he’s a bit like a concerned grandfather at times with Edward. Even though he’s this deadly, really dangerous character, there’s something quite sentimental about him, something soft.
Full interview here
Charlie Bewley
In Stephenie Meyer’s book, Demetri is described as polite …
CB: Very polite, yeah. And I’m just a nice English guy. I’ve had my trouble, and it’s gone. I’m just a nice guy who doesn’t want any trouble. [Laughs] I think Demetri is someone who … seeks out trouble and adventure. He’s getting very bored, having been alive for thousands of years. I think he’s interested in trouble — nonspecific — or adventure — nonspecific — or any kind of action. I think being a vampire, or being alive for 3000 years, just makes you very bored. Look at Marcus’ character; he’s very apathetic, and he just sat there … he just wants to die.
Do you actually know Demetri’s backstory, based on what’s in the book?
CB: I made it up.
Tell us!
CB: Demetri was obviously Italian. And at a young age, he was orphaned. He was living in the foothills of Mt. Vesuvius — the big, volcanic mountain — and in 900 A.D., it erupts. Lava starts pouring down, and his parents get caught in it. Their house gets taken apart. I outrun the lava, into the foothills, where I found a place where I was safe, essentially. But I couldn’t provide for myself, so I was thrown into slavery. I went through various masters but they couldn’t pin me down, because I was so nonchalant and arrogant and just ran away from everyone; it was really frustrating. I kept getting sold on to the next guy — the next master, for the best price they could get — and I was too nice for someone just to kill me.
So eventually I got sold to a merchant trader in Rome, who dealt specifically in fighters, and I found myself in front of the Coliseum with these baying, bloodthirsty Romans, desperate for gladiatorial combat. I didn’t have any fighting skills, so I just ran around for three hours and no one could catch me — until somebody shot me with an arrow. I was lying on the floor, I was about to die, I was waiting for Commodus’ verdict of thumbs up or thumbs down, and he’s about to give it a down when Aro comes in and whispers in his ear and says, “Don’t kill him, I’ll take him.†Aro converts me in the depths of the Coliseum himself, and I’ve been working loyally for him ever since.
Did you think of sharing this with Stephenie?
CB: [Glances at Stephenie nearby] Oh, yes, Stephenie’s there! I actually asked Stephenie.
Full interview here
Rachelle LeFevre
Will New Moon’s action look the same as Twilight’s?
Rachelle Lefevre: It’s so much wirework. It’s so much actual doing-it. In terms of the look of it … I think Chris has approached things as it should be, a little rawer and a little more literally grounded.
I think it was very flighty in the first one, so when we were running fast it was almost like you weren’t touching the ground … I think he’s factored gravity in a little more than they did in the first film, so that might have a different look as a result.
On New Moon’s underwater action:
RL: I spent six hours in a pool doing the underwater stuff. They did a really interesting thing where they did this amazing stunt with the bit where Bella gets caught in the tidal wave … I think it must have been 2,000 gallons of water in massive — they looked like huge, rectangular cargo containers you put on the back of trains.
First, they did it with a stunt double, and then they did it with Kristen’s photo double, and then they literally, on action, pulled the hatch and she got pummeled with a massive tidal wave and you could watch underwater, which I did because I was in the pool, or you could watch in the monitor. You could literally see her spinning, they created a tidal wave, and they literally filmed until she got spit out. And when it spit her out, the cut was over.
How will New Moon be different from Twilight?
RL: A lot of times when I ask fans, “What’s your favorite book?” people say Twilight. The reason I hear a lot is, “Well, it was my first entry into this world,” and it’s sort of like that first bit that you can never really get back. Your first time. So New Moon is kind of like you know who the characters are, you have some idea of where it’s going, particularly if you’ve read the books, and now what you get to do is watch the real struggle.
Now, nevermind figuring out who everyone is, figuring out who the actors are with who you had in your imagination vs. who they cast. All that is gone, and now all that is set, you get to watch a really horrifically gut-wrenching love triangle. And a real struggle. It’s so character-driven. They haven’t lost any of the actions sequences … but at its heart, I do think it’s becoming a coming-of-age story, more than just a boy-meets-girl romance, which was beautiful, but not as complicated as it gets now that Jacob is really in the mix.
Full interview here
Jamie Campbell Bower
Your character, Caius, wants Bella dead the most. How much of that will we see in the film?
Jamie Campbell Bower: As in the book, the Volturri play a small but necessary part in this film. They come much more into play in the fourth film. I’m playing Caius very angry and agitated with the world, I suppose. Just glaring looks. You’ll see as much as you read in the books.
Do you think Caius is agitated because he’s the only vampire of the three who doesn’t have a power?
JCB: He doesn’t have a power! He’s just pissed off about that! He’s so angry! He doesn’t like Bella because he can’t eat her. He’s not happy about that. Why is she there if he can’t eat her? What’s the point?
What went into your research? Did you read the books? Did you get to talk Stephenie?
JCB: I haven’t had a long discussion with Stephenie. My plan is to have a long discussion with her at some point today. Maybe it won’t be a long discussion, maybe it will be like five minutes.
Yeah, I read the books and I did a lot of online research, because it’s good to know what people who’ve read the books think about the characters as well. Because the books alone have such a huge fan base. You’ve got to stay true to what people want to see, I think. So I did that and talked to lots of people. And my friends gave me their ideas as well.
Full interview here
Hollywood.com also has a timeline documenting every detail of the time they spent on the set of ‘New Moon’ in Vancouver.
Here’s a sample:
May 7, 2009, 3:04PM The Vancouver afternoon is wet and gloomy. The peaks of the North Shore Mountains are obscured in fog. This is weather that might lure out a vampire. Or so I hope. I’m in Vancouver to find them.
Amid the gas stations, superstores and baseball fields of the industrial south side of the city is Vancouver Sound Studios. Our van rolls into the parking lot, and suddenly, I am at the epicenter of a worldwide sensation and a billion teenage (and middleage and every other age) fantasies.
This is the set of New Moon.
3:36PM Our passes for the day say “USM,†for “Untitled Sports Movie.†Seems New Moon, which has been filming here and around Vancouver since March 23, is a major covert operation.
3:37PM The five other reporters and I are escorted onto Stage B. The soundstage is a massive warehouse filled by a nearly-as-massive set. On its outside, the structure looks like a plywood shell, but a glimpse through the door reveals an ornate marble palace very similar in appearance to a traditional Italian cathedral. I have entered the Volturri lair.
3:40PM A bank of monitors display what New Moon director Chris Weitz is filming on the other side of the wall. Onscreen now are Dakota Fanning and Cameron Bright, both Twilight Saga newbies, sporting deathly pallors and red contact lenses. The pretty woman with the long glossy hair sitting to my right is Stephenie Meyer. The only way I could get closer to central command of the Twilight universe would be to climb on her lap and ask her to tell me a story.
3:45PM Michael Sheen, as the Volturri leader Aro, taunts Edward on the other side of wall. The scene goes like this:
Aro: “Let’s see if she’s immune to all of us, shall we Jane.â€
[Cut to Dakota. Her black-rimmed red-centered eyes coordinate with her evil little smirk. Sinister. Whoever she’s directing her gaze towards — presumably Bella — is in for a world of hurt. Jane’s power is the ability to inflict pain.]
3:55PM A group of male, seemingly Volturri-affiliated vampires hang out under a pop-up tent. All are dressed in black suits. Some read and others play with their phones. They all wear red contacts, which are, out of context, alarming.
3:57PM A second tent is for the New Moon royalty. No one is inside, but the back of one director’s chair reads “Alice Cullen.†On the other two, “Edward Cullen†and “Bella Swan†have been taped over. Someone took a Sharpie to the tape and scrawled “Robert†and “Kristen,†respectively, in big block letters. Robert’s chair is in the middle. Make of this what you will.
You can read the entire timeline here.
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