GQ interviewed Riley, Xavier Samuel, on the phone about his role in Eclipse. Here is a portion of the interview:

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.

GQ via HisGoldenEyes

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1. Who is Xavier Samuel, aka Riley?
2. Xavier Samuel Confirmed As Riley!
3. Xavier Samuel Interview
4. ‘Eclipse’ spawns a new star in Xavier Samuel
5. David Slade Tweets Pic of Xavier Samuels as Riley

Unfortunately in a two hour film, expanding a role means cutting back on other more significant roles that were actually focused on in the book. The question is which other characters had to be watered down for Riley’s role to be hyped up? The Cullens, Leah, Seth, other wolves, Edward and Bella’s romance? I am just curious how they managed to compress a lot of material from Eclipse into two hours AND expand a character. That is the question I have had since they started promoting Riley even more than they promote Victoria!

I was very happy with Riley’s role being expanded. I haven’t read the books but honestly, I don’t think the movie would’ve been worth watching without Xavier’s notable talent and Dakota Fanning’s sense of evil. I’ll be hated for this but all Kristen, Robert, and Taylor bring to the table are the good looks.