Mike Welch: Fans Howl for 'New Moon' at Riverton Walmart

As a true testament to the Twilight phenomenon, the midnight release of "Twilight Saga: New Moon" drew more than 5,000 people to the Riverton Walmart Supercenter Friday night, all of them clamoring at the door for a chance to brush shoulders with cast members and get their hands on one of the 300 signed special edition DVDs with bonus scenes from "Eclipse," the third movie in the Twilight saga.

Riverton resident Erin Thompson and her friends Tina Powell and Mindy Pehrson headed the line. A self-proclaimed "Twi-mom," Thompson said she had been standing in line since noon to snag a signed copy for her "Twilight" memorabilia collection.

"This is nuts, this is so crazy," Thompson said. "We went to the movie opening and this is the worst it's ever been."

Pehrson had also been in line since 12:30 p.m. with her son, James, who said his favorite thing about the series is "how there's a love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob."

Pehrson said she planned on watching the movie as soon as they get home.

"We are so excited, we can't wait," she said. "We've watched it on the Internet and we are psyched."

Scott Trudo, Riverton Walmart general manager, said his staff has been preparing for three weeks for the event and has worked on everything from ordering extra security to getting the games ready.

"It's been a lot of fun because a lot of the associates here are Twilight fans," Trudo said, "so they helped design their own shirts and they're wearing them tonight."

Trudo said the 1,000 copies of the Walmart exclusive Ultimate Fan Edition are a big draw for the store, which led the nation in "Twilight" DVD sales at the last release.

Three of the cast members slated to make an appearance, Justin Chon (Eric), Michael Welch (Mike) and Christian Serratos (Angela), said they expected the chaos that comes with the supernatural series.

"I would be, frankly, surprised if the DVD release wasn't just as crazy as every other part of this franchise," Welch said. "When the books come out it's a crazy thing, when the movie comes out it's a crazy thing, when Rob (Pattinson) is on the cover of GQ sales are up 40 percent of any GQ, ever, so I would expect nothing less from these magnificent, crazy, wonderful fans," he said.

Welch said the cast enjoys getting to meet personally with the fans who have contributed to their success.

"We will be able to shake hands and look in people's eyes and kiss babies just like we're running for president," Welch said. "It's almost the least we can do; it's only because of them that this thing is a big deal at all. I'm replaceable, they're not," he said.

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20 Differences (That Work) Between ‘New Moon' and the Book

Twilight scribe Melissa Rosenberg faced an enormous challenge adapting Stephenie Meyer's 500+ page novel for the screen, but it's clear that the filmmakers chose to remain steadfastly faithful to Meyer's book. (Perhaps to a fault, considering the reviews.) Still, for fans, New Moon should feel just authentic enough to drive it toward an enormous opening weekend. So how do Rosenberg's additions, changes, and omissions from the text affect New Moon on film, and which ones work the best?

Way more shirtless boys!

We all hoped to get a glimpse of Edward's alabaster chest in Volterra, but who knew we'd get to see so much hot werewolf skin? Thankfully, the Wolf Pack run such high temperatures and explode away their clothes so frequently that cut-off jeans and no shirt are their shared ensemble of choice.

We get more fights, including an awesome Volturi throw down.

New Moon the book is infamous for its slow pacing, thanks to Bella's crippling depression (see below). So it's a good thing that the film throws in fistfights, wolf skirmishes, and chase scenes to liven things up a bit more. Our favorite: watching Volturi guard Felix put the smack down on our precious Edward, a scene crafted for the film.

Instead of talking to herself, Bella sends emails to Alice.

New Moon, like all of the Twilight books, makes frequent use of Bella's internal voice-overs to tell us what's going on in that angsty head of hers. In New Moon, Bella writes emails to her lost BFF, Alice, to work through her issues. We still get the voice-overs, but they're cleverly disguised as Bella's messages to Alice, and therefore much less "Vampire Diaries." (Also, creating a movie email address for Alice was a clever way to sneak in product placement for Apple's MobileMe email application.)

Bella's (a little) less mopey than she is in the books.

Much of the book is devoted to Bella's heartbreaking, months-long break-up depression, so it's a good thing that the film condenses her lost period a bit for the sake of storytelling. Critics complain already that Bella spends so much time staring into space, pining over Edward; if only they knew how much more we/she suffer in the books! Thankfully, Rosenberg's script snaps Bella out of her funk and moves on, sort of, in a relatively short span of time.

Bella's months-long depression, in the blink of an eye.

Fans were wondering how Chris Weitz would treat the infamous "lost" months of Bella's depression, which are depicted by blank pages in the book. After all, October, November, December, and January fly by as voids of nothingness to the girl. Weitz and Rosenberg's solution? A clever scene where Bella sits listless in front of her window as the camera moves around her to show the changing seasons outside. The trick captures her melancholia and is perfectly punctuated by Lykke Li's haunting, wistful track, "Possibility."

Edward doesn't hide Bella's photos.

In the book, when Edward decides to break up with Bella and leave town, he also sneaks into her room and hides her photos of him so that she'll have no reminders at all that he existed – a complete and total abandonment. (Can you imagine a world without pictures of RPattz? It would be horrible, indeed.) In the film, we see him in her room, but there's no messing with photographs, which would have been an unnecessary minor plot point anyway. Plus, those folks who think Edward's a little stalker-like might have been even more creeped out by him rifling through her stuff. Instead, we get the full impact of Edward's absence in Bella's misery.*

Jacob gives Bella a dream catcher.

One new scene in the film has Jacob giving Bella a dream catcher for her birthday, killing two birds with one stone in the process: giving her a present when Edward feels he cannot and putting the mack on her with a big bear hug right in front of Edward. Bella hangs the dream catcher above her pillow, but unfortunately for her, it doesn't help keep the nightmares away.

Bella goes for a bike ride at One Eyed Pete's.

Bella's attempt to put herself out there by going to Port Angeles with Jessica takes a dangerous (and hilarious) turn when she accepts a ride with a burly, beefy biker in order to hang on to her visions of Edward. In the book, she stops short of hopping on the chopper, but in the film she takes a full-on joyride with a stranger. How boring would it have been if she'd just turned around and walked back to safety?

More snarky Anna Kendrick!

Besides giving Bella her very first brush with danger, the biker scene serves another purpose: letting Anna Kendrick shine. As Jessica, Kendrick once again steals every scene she's in, and Bella's foolish biker episode gives her some of her very best frenemy lines of dialogue. Bonus: Kendrick's blissfully ignorant snark attack on zombie movies.

Two words: Face Punch!

In addition to the zombie genre, New Moon has a little something to say about stupid action flicks. One of the best additions to the script involves Bella, Mike Newton, Jacob, and a popular (fake) blockbuster movie entitled Face Punch. (Tagline: "Let's DO this!")

Visions of RPattz dance in Bella's head.

While Bella's hallucinations of Edward in the books are purely auditory, there's no way that would fly in the film. So Weitz injects plenty of pretty Rob Pattinson shots throughout the entire duration of Edward's absence, scrumptious visions that come and go like wisps of smoke. And really, there's tons of RPattz bookmarking New Moon, so we don't miss him all that much. (What am I saying? There's always room for more RPattz!)

Victoria is definitely in the water.

When Bella is drowning after cliff-diving in New Moon, we clearly see Victoria swimming toward her in the water right before Jacob pulls her out of the water – something that was hinted at, but kept ambiguous, in the books. We like it better this way, as it makes Bella's danger more present and, let's be real, gives Rachelle Lefevre a little more to do, considering that she has exactly zero lines in the whole movie.

Bella hits Paul in the face!

In a film packed with phasing wolves and marble-cracking vampire fights, it's nice to see Bella get a little action. Angry that they've brainwashed her beloved Jacob, Bella confronts the Wolf Pack, shoves Sam Uley, and smacks Paul right in the kisser! Sure, it seems a little out of character, but at least in this moment, Bella is an agent of action and not merely reacting to the people around her. Plus, it leads into Paul's transformation and Jacob's mid-air phase, and the huge revelation of the Quileute secret.

Carlisle's Volturi painting comes to life.

Instead of waiting ‘til the end to meet the Volturi, we get an early peek at them when Carlisle's painting comes to life as Edward explains their history to Bella. Thank goodness! It would be such a waste to have even less of Aro & Co. in New Moon than the brief sequence we already get.

Victoria attacks Harry Clearwater.

While tracking the Wolf Pack – and slyly covering their footprints – Harry Clearwater suffers a fatal heart attack in the woods. But in the film, we see that Harry's heart attack comes from the shock of being attacked by Victoria, who is seen stalking Charlie's hunting party from up in the trees. The change here allows plot points to converge, as the ensuing wolf pursuit of Victoria runs parallel to Bella's fateful cliff-jump into the ocean. And again, it gives Rachelle Lefevre something to do.

New Moon has way more funnies.

Credit Rosenberg for injecting more sly humor into New Moon, which was especially necessary in this installment. Supporting humans like Jessica, Mike, and Charlie add levity to their scenes with the somber Bella, while more subtle winks, like the comparison of werewolfiness to a "lifestyle choice" and Bella's transatlantic ride aboard a Virgin Atlantic airplane, display a self-aware sense of humor.

Jacob and Bella almost kiss. Twice!

New Moon is Jacob's movie, so Rosenberg rewards him with not one, but two almost-kisses. If you look closely, their lips ACTUALLY TOUCH the second time!

Jacob and Edward face off in the woods – just not when you expect.

If you've read New Moon, you're already expecting the tense "treaty" discussion between Jacob and Edward. Rosenberg wisely juggles the timeline a bit, placing it before the key conclusion (see #19), and adds one last phase for the furious Jacob. (It's the closest Bella's two men come to blows in New Moon.)

Edward proposes!

Rosenberg saves the best for last, leaving Bella (and us) with the biggest possible cliffhanger. Again, the re-jiggered placement of the scene works better cinematically, and leads into the next film, Eclipse!

Alice's vision. OMG, spoilers! (Seriously, MAJOR spoiler here concerning future installments of the Twilight Saga.)

When Aro "sees" Alice's vision of the future, he lets her, Edward, and Bella go with the knowledge that sometime soon, Bella will become a vampire. As a special treat, the film shows us Alice's vision of Edward and Bella running through the woods (alas, in giggle-worthy outfits and slow motion). But after the snickers die down, think about exactly what you are seeing and you'll realize that it's essentially a preview of sorts… of something with the initials B and D!

That said, there are a couple of changes that don't work so well. Jacob's mood swing in the theater and subsequent threat of physical violence to poor Mike Newton seems incredibly out of character. Later in the film when the phone rings in Bella's kitchen, Jacob definitely knows it's Edward on the phone (as opposed to thinking it's Carlisle as in the book), which makes him more of a jerk.

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Twilight Saga: New Moon's Human Casts Interview

Sure, New Moon's vampires and werewolves may get all the attention, but it's Bella's gang of high school friends who keep the movie centered in reality. Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Justin Chon and Christian Serratos (who play Jessica, Mike, Eric and Angela, respectively) talk about providing the franchise's comic relief and keeping it real as mortals amongst all the supernatural shenanigans.

Unlike Twilight, which was shot in Portland, you shot New Moon in Vancouver. What was that like?

Justin: The weather's actually been better here. Portland was very, very, very cold and rainy. It's a little bit nicer here.

Anna: One of the freaky things about shooting New Moon in a different location than Portland was the re-creation of things, like the high school parking lot. It was like déjà vu because we were in a different country but they completely recreated the parking lot from the school we shot at before.

You also got a new director. What was it like working with Chris Weisz?

Michael: Chris was really great. Catherine [Hardwicke] was wonderful too, but they're just totally different in terms of their style and their process. And I think that as a result, you're going to end up with a film that just feels very different. I think that Chris made more of a conscious effort to have a visual cohesiveness in terms of how the film is going to look and feel with the vampires, the werewolves and the humans. Visually, it's more stylistic. And as far as the way he likes to work on set, he's just very calm and very clear-headed and intelligent. He knows what he wants and puts a lot into the preparation so by the time we get to the set it's all sort of mapped out for us.

Christian: He's really awesome. He's very well-organized, well-spoken, fun and carefree - simultaneously. It's incredible.

If you weren't playing humans, which would you prefer to play: a vampire or a werewolf?

Anna: I would personally rather be a werewolf since they seem to get to have a lot more fun. The vampires are very cool, but they have to be very calm and collected all the time. The werewolves get to let loose a little bit more.

Michael: I'd much rather play a vampire. Being a vampire would be cool, I think, for the first 100 years or so. It'd be fun to be able to play because vampires are just too cool; they're just sexy and interesting and complicated.

Christian: I'd play a wolf. I'd play Leah, 'cause she's sassy.

The mood for New Moon is pretty bleak for a lot of the film. You guys represent the normal world for Bella, but you also provide a lot of comic relief.

Justin: Bella's really depressed throughout the movie so we really have to bring light to it, otherwise it's just too dark the whole time.

Michael: Our job is to add a little humour, add a little levity, and just come across as realistic kids in a small town in Washington.

Anna: And I think that there's an inherent comedy in our blissful ignorance of everything that Bella is going through in the supernatural world.

Have any of your characters changed since Twilight?

Anna: Jessica's still pretty self-involved. I would definitely say she hasn't done a lot of personal growth between Twilight and New Moon. She does provide a level of silliness at a point where Bella is feeling pretty hopeless. I don't know that she necessarily cheers up Bella, but hopefully it ends up providing a little bit of a break for the audience.

One of the funniest scenes in the book is Mike's "date" with Bella, when he takes her to a horror film and ends up getting sick. What was that like to shoot?

Michael: That was a lot of fun to shoot. That's one of those moments that I think pretty much anyone can relate to. I've certainly had moments in my life that are almost unbearable at the time but as you're watching it, I think the audience will find it very sad and funny. I think that's what's so great about playing Mike: I get to relive all of these horrible high school moments and it's almost given all of that a purpose; it allows me to connect to that very easily.

Everyone always talks about Team Edward and Team Jacob. Don't you think it's time to start Team Mike and Team Eric?

Michael: Ya, I do! Actually, I've had friends who've jokingly made up some Team Mike t-shirts.

Justin: I would love to do that. I think you'd have to campaign. It's political. I'd need lobbyists and stuff.

There's a lot of new cast members in New Moon, including Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning and all of the new werewolves. Who haven't you shared a scene with that you'd really like to work with in the upcoming films?

Michael: It's funny because I worked with Dakota Fanning years ago in an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. She played my younger sister; she didn't have any lines and all she did was run around trying to bite the Reese character. And then like three months later she got I Am Sam and became a superstar. So I would be really curious to catch up with her again. And Michael Sheen is also just amazing.

Justin: I'd like to be in a scene with the Volturi, but it doesn't happen in the books so it's never going to happen.

Christian: There are so many great people on this project now. I can't even believe how large and massive this cast is.

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Twilight" Cast Hits a Home Run for Make-A-Wish

Members of the cast of "Twilight," including Peter Facinelli, Rachelle Lefevre, Edi Gathegi, Michael Welch and Christian Serratos--as well as Alex Meraz and Kiowa Gordon of "New Moon"--made a great showing today at PGE Park in Portland for the Twilight FanTrips Vampire Baseball Event, benefiting Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Guests also included members of the local cast, including Solomon Trimble, Ayanna Berkshire, Trish Egan, Sean McGrath, Gavin Bristol, Catherine Grimme, Logan Welch and Tyler Nordby; crew members such as Bruce Lawson, Chris "Chalky" Chalk, Dan Gorczyca and others.

And let's not forget the biggest star: Honey, Rachelle's dog!

Here are some highlights. Enjoy!











































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'Twilight' Actor Michael Welch Explains Robert Pattinson's 'New Moon' Role

'In the film, it's more of like a hallucination kind of thing,' Welch says of fitting the largely absent Edward Cullen into the second movie installment.

Without a doubt, huge groups of Twilighters all over the world fantasize about Edward Cullen every day. But as popular as breakout star Robert Pattinson has become, those who've read "New Moon" know that his character Edward is absent for much of the story. Now, we've got the scoop on director Chris Weitz's dreamy solution to the problem.

"They figured out a very clever way to get Edward back in the film much more than he is in the book," revealed "Twilight" series star Michael Welch when he stopped by the MTV studios recently, acknowledging that Weitz and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg have devised a plan to work around the "New Moon" plot — which has Edward breaking up with Bella (Kristen Stewart) early in the story and fleeing to Italy. "It's more of, like, a hallucination kind of thing."

As any good Twilighter knows, Bella is heartbroken by their breakup but slowly begins dealing with her Edward-less existence through the realization that dangerous activities — motorcycle riding, cliff diving, etc. — cause her to hear the sexy vampire's voice in her head. Welch was fascinated by Stewart's pretend hallucinations on set and explained to us that Weitz intends to insert sequences of her seeing Edward as "New Moon" inches closer to its November 20 release date.

"It's tricky," he said of the filmmaker's dilemma. "I mean, [Edward] leaves for months."

"In the book, she just hears his voice," continued Welch, who plays rival Bella pursuer Mike Newton in the movies. "In the film, it's more of like a hallucination kind of thing. He will be [in the movie more than the book] for sure."

While the news of more RPattz is sure to excite some fans, others may be concerned about the tweak — and the manner in which Edward will be glimpsed in Bella's hallucinations. Will he be an Obi-Wan Kenobi-like figure, giving her advice from the great beyond? Will Edward come across more like a god, overseeing her safety from half a world away? Will the sequences play like a bad acid trip from a '60s movie, or more like Bella interacting with an imaginary friend?

"It's going to be interesting to see — I have no idea," Welch explained. "You can sort of picture it reading [the script], but I don't know how they actually went about filming that stuff."

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'Twilight' Actor Michael Welch Talks 'New Moon' Mini-Movie Details

Welch gives us some insight into the mini-movie shown during the 'three-way date' scene in 'New Moon.
It's a beloved moment in the "New Moon" novel, a rare moment of comic relief as Bella Swan attempts to get over her Edward Cullen-induced heartbreak by going on what becomes a three-way date with the love-struck Jacob Black and Mike Newton. Recently, actor Michael Welch made big news by assuring Twilighters that the scene would be in November's "Twilight" sequel — and now, we've got the scoop on the key tweak masterminded by director Chris Weitz.

"I really should've checked with someone if this is information I can give away or not," grinned Welch, the fan favorite who plays puppy dog-like Mike Newton in the blockbuster series. "But, whatever — here we are."

Welch stopped by the MTV studios to discuss such far-ranging topics as his concern for Robert Pattinson's safety and the "three-way date," a scene that has Bella, Mike and Jacob at a movie theater, watching a horror film. But, in the grand tradition of such films as "The Player," "Bowfinger" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo," director Weitz is inserting his own mini "movie within a movie" into the mix.

"The film is called 'Face Punch,' " revealed Welch, telling us about the tongue-in-cheek movie that Bella, Mike and Taylor will be seen watching on the big screen. "It's an action film."

When the cast of "New Moon" began planning out the pivotal date scene, they got a laugh out of some of the silly, fictional action-movie names that Weitz and his crew had assembled. But in the end, "Face Punch" was the winner.

"We started out with a few other comical names, but it turned out those were actual films so we couldn't use those titles," Welch laughed. "I forget the first few titles, but it was like 'Crazy Explosion' — and it turns out, there actually was a 'Crazy Explosion.' "

"Chris came up with the title," he continued. "And apparently there is no 'Face Punch' that we know of."

And although Welch and the other "New Moon" stars weren't able to watch "Face Punch" while they shot their scenes inside the movie theater (they were repeatedly shown the trailer for "Defiance" while Weitz's camera caught the flicker on their faces), he hopes that the filmmaker will shoot some silly action footage for his "Face Punch" mini-movie.

"That'd be interesting — maybe for the DVD, if there's a 'Face Punch' trailer," he grinned. "That's actually not a bad idea." It's a beloved moment in the "New Moon" novel, a rare moment of comic relief as Bella Swan attempts to get over her Edward Cullen-induced heartbreak by going on what becomes a three-way date with the love-struck Jacob Black and Mike Newton. Recently, actor Michael Welch made big news by assuring Twilighters that the scene would be in November's "Twilight" sequel — and now, we've got the scoop on the key tweak masterminded by director Chris Weitz.

"I really should've checked with someone if this is information I can give away or not," grinned Welch, the fan favorite who plays puppy dog-like Mike Newton in the blockbuster series. "But, whatever — here we are."

Welch stopped by the MTV studios to discuss such far-ranging topics as his concern for Robert Pattinson's safety and the "three-way date," a scene that has Bella, Mike and Jacob at a movie theater, watching a horror film. But, in the grand tradition of such films as "The Player," "Bowfinger" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo," director Weitz is inserting his own mini "movie within a movie" into the mix.

"The film is called 'Face Punch,' " revealed Welch, telling us about the tongue-in-cheek movie that Bella, Mike and Taylor will be seen watching on the big screen. "It's an action film."

When the cast of "New Moon" began planning out the pivotal date scene, they got a laugh out of some of the silly, fictional action-movie names that Weitz and his crew had assembled. But in the end, "Face Punch" was the winner.

"We started out with a few other comical names, but it turned out those were actual films so we couldn't use those titles," Welch laughed. "I forget the first few titles, but it was like 'Crazy Explosion' — and it turns out, there actually was a 'Crazy Explosion.' "

"Chris came up with the title," he continued. "And apparently there is no 'Face Punch' that we know of."

And although Welch and the other "New Moon" stars weren't able to watch "Face Punch" while they shot their scenes inside the movie theater (they were repeatedly shown the trailer for "Defiance" while Weitz's camera caught the flicker on their faces), he hopes that the filmmaker will shoot some silly action footage for his "Face Punch" mini-movie.

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"That'd be interesting — maybe for the DVD, if there's a 'Face Punch' trailer," he grinned. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Michael Welch on the Set of New Moon

Up until about six months ago, you probably knew Michael Welch, vaguely, from...somewhere. "Joan of Arcadia," maybe, or "The Riches?" "CSI?" "Star Trek?" "Law & Order?" The actor has, after all, been acting for a full ten of his 21 years, and he's worked on everything from happy-family fare to edgy premium cable series to big-budget blockbusters. And yet, until recently Welch had enjoyed that fuzzy ubiquity that comes with years' worth of small roles in film and on television.

But then came Twilight. On November 17, 2008, The Greatest Love Story of Our Time opened in theaters everywhere, and Michael Welch instantly forsook "Where do I know him from?"—level fame for the kind of face recognition one gets when one is in a record-breaking, heartthrob-making, teen-obsession-for-the-ages kind of movie. True, Welch doesn't get to engage in any Edward Cullen-style smoldering eye-gazing sessions—his character, Mike Newton, is known for his overly-friendly demeanor, pleasantly-popular social status, and hopelessly-enduring crush on Bella Swan (Need we say it? Kristen Stewart.)—but then, he's also not getting hit by cars. We spoke with the young actor while he was on a brief hiatus between filming New Moon and the saga's third installment, Eclipse, and he filled us in on a little behind-the-scenes gossip.


LUCY MADISON: How's it going? Where are you? Are you guys done filming New Moon?

MICHAEL WELCH: I'm great! Right now I am in Silverlake, California. I'm outside and it's a beautiful day. New Moon is, is all wrapped up, and we're going to be doing Eclipse in August or September, I think, so we're knocking them out pretty fast.

LM: What are you doing in the meantime?

MW: I'm actually leaving Los Angeles in two days to go to Lexington, Kentucky to work on a film called Unrequited. It's a very intense little independent project, sort of a modern-day teen version of Misery. R-rated, though, so not for all of the Twilight fandom.

LM: Speaking of which... When you went into Twilight, did you have any idea what a huge success it would become?

MW: No, none of us had any clue that it would turn into—well, what it has. I originally went in auditioning for Edward, because that's sort of how it works: Your representatives always send you out for the lead first, and then you work backwards from there. So then I auditioned for Eric, and then finally with Mike. I went in probably four or five times, but the last time we all read together it just clicked. It just felt right.

LM: Had you read the books before you went in there?

MW: No, I hadn't. Frankly, I had never heard of the series—but I certainly did afterwards! I'm reading one book one at a time.

LM: But don't you want to know what happens?

MW: I don't like to get too ahead of the story. So far I've only read the first two. Although we're going to be shooting the third one pretty soon, so I need to get on that.

LM: But the third one is where the story starts to get really crazy.

MW: Right! Apparently there's a vampire war, and the director that they're getting for this one, David Slade, he did Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night, which are pretty dark movies. They're going dark, which I think is smart. Maybe trying to appeal to the boys a little more—‘cause they seem to have the young girl demographic locked down. [LAUGHS]

LM: Tell me about the new movie. I haven't read the second book, but I assume there will be equally swoon-worthy material in this one?

MW: The girls are going to melt for this second film. Edward recites Shakespeare; and obviously Jacob has totally transformed himself. He's been working out like crazy. People are going to go nuts.

LM: Was it very different filming the second film, in comparison to that first one, when none of you had any idea how big Twilight would become?

MW: A lot had changed. By the time the second film rolled around, we all pretty much knew what we were getting ourselves into. There was a lot more money to put in to the film, and a lot more prep time, and, you know, there were a lot more fans. In Vancouver, where we shot the film, we tried really hard to keep it a secret where our locations were, but, you just couldn't—all it took was one person to see, you know, Taylor or Kristen on the street and then that person would text message one of her friends and then, you know, ten minutes later there would be hundreds of people on set. It was crazy.

LM: What about the paparazzi? Did you guys have to deal with that a lot?

MW: [LAUGHS] It's funny you ask; we did, actually. It was my first experience with the paparazzi. They even got us when we were coming off the plane. I learned that they can just take a situation and put it into any context. There was one point when Taylor was talking to some people and the paparazzi took a picture and then I saw it online with a caption underneath that was like, "Taylor Lautner takes the time to talk to his fans, while Michael Welch is a jerk and just sits in his trailer ..." It was just so weird. It's a fascinating process to be a part of something this big, and this popular, ‘cause it's sort of a double-edged sword. But I mean, I certainly have nothing to complain about; I'm very grateful to be involved.

LM: What's happening with your character this time around?

MW: Well, you know, Mike Newton doesn't go through too much of a journey, I'll be honest. He sort of has his role to play in Bella's life. In the movie it's pretty much all about Bella, and how he relates with her, and him just being hopelessly in love—the character that is just really empathetic, and a little bit tragic in a lot of ways.

LM: There's so many of you guys. Are you all good friends? Do you spend a lot of time together off-set as well?

MW: Yeah, absolutely. We try and hang out, get dinner, you know, see movies or whatever. I love my little group of high school kids, I think they're just so fantastic and talented and great. You know, in most films you get to know people, you become really close, and then, after a month or so, chances are you will probably never see each other again. So I'm happy that I get to work with this particular group over the course of four films. This has been a journey for all of us; we've all been on this train together.