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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'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.

Twilight star Mike Welch dishes on New Moon

Blast was fortunate enough to speak with Mike Welch, who plays the Twilight Saga’s lovable human Mike Newton, today about the hype around “Twilight” and it’s upcoming sequel “New Moon,” his work with charity, and… meth labs?

BLAST: So how was shooting in Vancouver different from Portland?

MW: Vancouver is one of my favorite cities, not only to film in but just to be in. I’ve shot a few different things over there over the past 10 years. I mean, Portland is great, there’s some great poetry and a great book store up there, but Vancouver, there’s just something about the way the city feels… That’s just the differences in the city, the differences in the films themselves, I mean, totally different. By the time “New Moon” rolled around, we tried to keep it as big a secret as we could [our locations], but it was impossible because all it took was one person to spot Rob or Taylor on the street and in 20 minutes there were hundreds of people there and there was paparazzi there and you know, it was just much more of an ordeal.

BLAST: Speaking of Portland, are you going to be at the Twilight Vampire Baseball Event?

MW: Over the July 4th weekend? Yeah yeah, it’s for charity, it’s a Make-A-Wish event.

BLAST: And you’ve done charity work before. You did environmental charity right?

MW: I won some sort of environmental award for some reason a couple years back… I guess since I drive a Prius or something. I mean a made a couple of environmental videos.

The main charity I’ve been with is Kids with a Cause, and we’re a multi-cause charity, but the ultimate goal is to help kids in need. We started out as a local charity, visiting like, orphanages, burn centers, etc. Now we’re trying to go international and help kids that need some of the basic fundamental things in life so they can pursue their own happiness. It’s been very rewarding

BLAST: So there’s Team Edward shirts, Team Jacob thongs, even Team Tyler’s Van merchandise -– any Team Mike stuff popping up?

MW: There has been a little bit of Team Mike that I’ve seen. I’ve seen a couple t-shirts, but it was mostly my friends making fun of me [laughs]. I do get people every now and then telling me they are on Team Mike.

BLAST: If you had to pick a side, would you really be Team Mike, or choose between Edward and Jacob? Or are you contractually obligated like I’m guessing Kristen is to be ambiguous?

MW: I actually… between Edward and Team Jacob, I’m actually Team Jacob. I like Edward, but I… and I think it’s more of a gender thing more than anything else. I think Jacob represents more of a practical relationship, so I’d go Jacob -– but if there is a legitimate Team Mike that emerges, I will be happy to join it.

BLAST: Bella does some crazy stuff in “New Moon.” Did you do anything so daring in high school?

MW: You know, [laughs] one thing that I used to do was go into the local high school with my car with my friend in the passenger seat and do really lame donuts and stuff and every now and then I’d get into little shenanigans like that. The most dangerous thing I did as a kid was, my grandma lived in the senior center, well not a senior center, more of a neighborhood. [Laughs] This is just so lame I can’t believe I’m telling you, anyway, and kids weren’t allowed to walk around unattended so my cousin and I would just walk around and avoid security.

BLAST: That’s pretty bad ass.

MW: Oh now that I think of it –- when I was a kid, I actually grew up in a mobile home and there was actually what I later discovered to be meth lab right across from me. My neighbor and I would play cops and bad guys and we would spy on them and follow them around and stuff because we knew they were bad, but we had no idea.

BLAST: So has that ass shaking dance [from outside of the diner in “Twilight”] always won you the girls?

MW: Oh sure, that thing has followed me around like you wouldn’t believe [laughs]. No, nothing like that ever seemed to work in real life. I was similar to Mike Newton in high school — I hope I wasn’t that annoying — but that was my angle: “I’m the quirky guy, love me please.” But that never quite worked.

BLAST: So you said at some point they almost didn’t include the movie scene in New Moon? What’s that about?

MW: You know it’s a tricky thing when you try and turn a book into a movie because a movie is only two hours and there’s only so much you can fit in, but yeah, what they originally did was they took that moment between Jacob and Bella and put it in a different scene of the movie. Luckily Taylor and Kristen lobbied that scene for me to Chris Weitz saying it absolutely had to be in, and it’s a good scene. They weren’t really lobbying for me, it’s just, how can you not have that scene in there? Yeah, so I was really happy to hear that, and it was great for me because I got to do Mike’s best scene in the book.

BLAST: Any secrets from the “New Moon” set? Like maybe Justin Chon is really diva?

MW: Well I can tell you that Justin Chon actually has 3 nipples.

BLAST: You’re definitely making that up.

MW: Yeah. [Laughs] It’s funny, because that’s the thing everyone’s looking for, something to say, but these are pretty uncontroversial people.

BLAST: I guess that’s why pictures of the cast smoking cigarettes on set became some big scandal?

MW: Yeah, that’s about as scandalous as it gets.

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