New Moon Premiere Photos

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Premiere Night Pictures. Enjoy!!

See the rest of the pics from the Twilighters.orgHERE.

Top 10 Highlights of the 'New Moon' Premiere

A new article from Fearnet showing the highlights of the New Moon Red Carpet premiere!

Bella came dressed in Oscar de la Renta. Edward Cullen wore Gucci. Even young Jacob Black looked sharp in Calvin Klein. The entire Twilight universe sparkled in full force for Monday’s premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon -- well, with the exception of one flame-haired vampiress -- for a red carpet celebration that proved that this Twilight thing is only going to get bigger with each new installment.

In case you weren’t one of the thousands of screaming fans camping out for hours on the streets of Los Angeles for a glimpse of the New Moon cast, here’s a rundown of what you missed: celebrities, vampires, werewolves, rock stars, a few thousand-plus of the most devoted Twilighters and Twi-hards in the world, and the ever-present, ear-piercing sounds of unadulterated fan adoration. Start gearing up for next summer’s Eclipse!

Last year’s Twilight premiere was insane, but New Moon was even bigger.

Last year’s Twilight premiere brought an estimated thousand fans to the streets of Westwood, CA, for a mass love fest that showed the rest of the world that this Twilight thing was a bona fide phenomenon in the making. This year, the cat was out of the bag and the fever pitch multiplied even further. Fans arrived as early as Thursday to camp out for five days to nab a spot at the front of the line, just for a chance to see New Moon’s stars up close and personal. They didn’t even get to see the movie! Now that’s dedication.

Think teenage fans are the craziest? Think again.

Kids skipped school. Adults called in sick. Some drove in from Oregon and flew from New York and Canada just for the three-hour event. There were more fans, more paparazzi, more desperation was in the air, and more pitiable security guards attempting to rein it all in. There was pushing, shoving, yelling, threata of sabotage; it was every Twi-hard for herself. One little girl told us that a grown women pulled her hair to get her out of the way, and that’s just wrong. And yet, not all that shocking.

Stephenie Meyer made a rare public appearance, but lost points for fashion.

After writing her Twilight novel series, author Stephenie Meyer retreated into the safety of her bubble of privacy to take time off from making public appearances and doing interviews. So it was nice for fans to see her hit Oprah’s couch last week and walk the red carpet at the New Moon premiere, where she met fans and spent time talking with a number of fan sites.

Unfortunately, at an event so saturated with meticulously styled designer gowns, where even 15-year-old Dakota Fanning wore Valentino, Meyer’s old timey updo and Victorian-style dress did not fly with the fashionista set.

Anya Marina on the red carpet: A delight or a disaster?

Soundtrack artist Anya Marina co-hosted the live MySpace red carpet stream to mixed reactions – some fans dubbed her "Annoying Anya," which is not generally what you want to go for when making your talking head debut. Her song, Satellite Heart, appears on the chart-topping soundtrack to New Moon, and it’s pretty good; unfortunately, Marina took every opportunity to tell exactly that to the stars she was interviewing throughout the night. Watch for yourself and decide.

Coolest celebrity of the night: Joan Jett

The New Moon cast brought plenty of their famous friends along for the big night, including Rob Pattinson’s Remember Me co-star Emilie de Ravin, the cast of Fox’s Glee, Emma Roberts, Brett Ratner, Kevin Smith, Grey’s Anatomy’s Justin Chambers and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and So You Think You Can Dance hostess Cat Deeley, who came on the arm of Eclipse actor Jack Huston. Basically, everyone in Hollywood who’d been pestered by a girlfriend or a child to get into the premiere. But all bowed down to one star’s black biker boots: Joan Jett, the rock star and role model for Kristen Stewart’s next film, The Runaways.

Nicest celebrity of the night: Kellan Lutz

Twilight’s Emmett pulled the best move of the night when, after signing autographs, he pulled two fans wearing 'Nutz for Lutz'shirts out of the crowd and escorted them into the premiere screening as his impromptu guests.

Random celebrity of the night: 50 Cent

Red carpets draw a lot of random stars, but who would have guessed that Fiddy himself would show up to support New Moon? Coincidentally, he just released a new album, but we’re sure that had nothing to do with it.

Rob and Kristen and their red carpet distance.

The rumored off-screen couple arrived separately at the end of the red carpet, just hours before MTV aired a special program investigating their real-life romance. Pattinson strolled through first before Taylor Lautner and Stewart pulled up the rear to do a quick sweep with the press and fans, and the trio posed for photos – just not all together. It seems Robsten was avoiding the red carpet 'couple' poses that would inevitably be picked apart by curious fans, although they were snapped together, along with Lautner, at the after party.

Rachelle Lefevre was “too emotional” to attend the premiere.

The only no-show of the night was actress Rachelle Lefevre, who lost the role of the vampire Victoria to Bryce Dallas Howard after playing her in the first two Twilight films. With her beloved dog in the hospital, Lefevre Tweeted her explanation to fans during the premiere: “'2 fans at the premiere: w/ Honey in hospital & being fired from Eclipse tonight was just 2 emotional 4 me & I couldn't manage it. So sorry.'

The after party had real live wolves. That’s right, wolves.

The premiere’s well-heeled crowd headed to the after party at the Hammer Museum, where real, live wolves had been brought in (and kept in cages) to enhance the New Moon vibe. Wonder how PETA spokesmodel Christian Serratos felt about that? Or New Moon’s Wolf Pack, who only transform into wolves with the magic of CGI?

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Exclusive Interview with Kristen Stewart from Twilight Fans

Twilighters.org got the chance to participate in a conference call interview with the cast from New Moon! It was really awesome of Kristen to make time in her very busy schedule to talk to the fansites and she was amazing!

Q: Obviously New Moon is a really emotional journey for Bella. How did you prepare yourself for shooting the scenes in which she was really depressed and distraught?

Kristen: Right. I wish that there was a more solid way, prep for an actor, I mean just in terms of being sure that you’re ready to do what everybody expects you to do, but there’s just not. I was so completely intimidated by that scene. I mean in the book there’s nothing there’s literally nothing like it that I can think of in the real world that I could relate to. You know what I mean? Like I’ve been broken up with, I’ve had my heart broken whatever, like I think. But it was still higher than that. Like “oh, oh you think you know what it feels like to hurt? Have you ever died? You don’t know what you’re talking about.” You know what I mean? Yeah, so it was about being really comfortable with Chris and knowing I could say anything to him, ever. Chris is great and he is the most, like, I just feel very comfortable around him and he made us feel really safe and considering those parts of the book I actually don’t have any of the other actors to play off of so I was very much alone and terrified, absolutely intimidated by the material and he made it so much easier.

Q: We have heard so much about the physical activities that the guys had to go through, and the way they had to build up their muscles and just prepare for all their stunt work; but we haven’t really heard much about you. You’ve been cliff diving and under the water, and I was just wondering what sort of preparation you got to go through and then what stunts did you get to do yourself.

Kristen: I didn’t do any preparation for any of the stuff. I did have to go into like the scuba tank at some point to basically make everybody feel comfortable with me being in the water that I wasn’t like a total you know, stupid who’s going to drown as soon as they get put in – it was a ridiculous session that I was like “I don’t need this, I hate water, I’m supposed to look scared”. But I did all that stuff in the water myself. There was like a semi truck of water that was released like onto my actual- there’s one shot right after I jump off the cliff, it’s supposed to be this moment of elation like I get what I wanted for a split second. I turn around and I’m smiling and BOOM, another wave comes. That was like a semi truck full of water that was released onto me. It was really scary. And other than that I don’t really have any. I probably should have been in better shape, the amount of running, the amount of desperate ravaging through crowds and falling down that I had to do. By the end of the movie I was completely bruised, like all over my arms and legs I was covered in bruises because I’d just gotten back from Italy and I had to go do the MTV awards. I looked like I was a battered housewife and I was wearing Chucks because I couldn’t walk because I had sprained my ankle running in Italy. The only reason I wore flats was because of that and people like freaked out. And that’s it, so like if I had prepared maybe I would have been more able to, but I’m just not like an action hero. But I think that’s kind of the cool thing about Bella is that she’s so sort of incapable until she needs to be and then she’s like “alright, I will do anything”. And I feel like it sort of comes across in the physicality maybe.

Q: I want to know what your favorite scene is from the movie since you’ve seen it, and what you think the fans will most enjoy from the movie.

Kristen: What’s my favorite scene. I think I have to pick one with Jacob and one with Edward. My favorite scene with Jacob is when he comes through her window and they have the talk about the fact that she doesn’t know what’s going on, but she does know already and it’s right after this big sort of blow-out fight that they have and somehow they’re able to just not say anything – instead of actually talking about the fact that they were just so mean to each other and like they had this big fight, they don’t even say anything about it just instantly becomes – the second she sees him, just okay. And he’s totally like it’s so clear that he’s in a different place, it’s just sad. That’s my favorite scene in New Moon between Jacob and Bella. Then I think between Edward and Bella oddly enough sort of like the same sort of, the same but completely different. When I go to Italy and I push him back, well I mean when Bella pushes him into, out of the light I mean and they’re able to reconcile their relationship without even saying anything. And they just look at each other and it’s done. And it’s like so you left me for a year and I have a million things to say to you but not right now. Those are my two favorites. I like it when people know can each other without having to talk. Words sort of fail me consistently so those are my two favorites. What was the second part of the question?

Q: What scene do you think the fans will be most surprised by?

Kristen: I’m not sure.

Q: Or enjoy the most?

Kristen: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I always try to answer the question way too specifically. F***! I don’t know. I think maybe what’s most important to them; because this was definitely the most important thing to me, was the breakup scene – period. I mean like that was what I was the most scared of and hopefully if we did it justice enough, what they’ll be most excited about. And then probably when we get back together. Those are the highest points of the movie.

Q: We talked earlier about getting into character and having all that grief from your character; I’m wondering how did you let it go at the end of the work day? How were you able to just separate yourself from all that pain that the character is in?

Kristen: Right. Sometimes you just don’t. Sometimes …it’s funny, when I was at Comic Con I said – one of the questions was what was the best point, what was the best moment of New Moon and I said without explanation which was stupid, that it was when we were finished. But that wasn’t, I totally understand how that could come across as like ‘oh I couldn’t wait to be done’, but it wasn’t like that. I can’t alleviate the pressure until I’m done, like literally. Because you shoot out of sequence and you can’t just take the normal like emotional ride that you think you’d have to as an actor portraying a character who has to go through whatever she does. I have to know the story every aspect of it at all times and be able to split back and forth from being with Jacob and happy and alive to with Edward and questioning our relationship to without him and dead. I’m a crazy person when I’m working literally, and especially on these movies. It’s just there’s like a lot of tension. So at that moment once we were all in Italy together the last shot we did… Sorry this is a stupid long winded answer, I hope this is ok.

[No it’s great]

Okay cool. So it was, I’m running around the corner, it was just like one of those little shots in the montage where I’m going through Volterra and they don’t, it’s like you’re not sure if I’m going to get to him or whatever. And so it wasn’t that big of a shot but I could feel the end coming and I knew. I’m not allowed to be off until I’m literally done so it’s like all of a sudden throw me into the middle of space, like I’m nowhere suddenly. But it was the coolest sense of like united accomplishment. Basically I cannot alleviate that pressure at the end of the day. But that’s what keeps me going, that’s why I can go to work the next day, because it’s like I haven’t gotten it off my chest yet. So that moment came at the end and it was so cool, so amazing. I literally like broke down and I couldn’t – yeah it was great.

Q: Last year’s premiere you said you really liked the fact that Bella is like a strong-willed person, and that she’s confident in her decision making. I was just wondering with the events of New Moon did you play her that way or was there more give in her resolve for this film?

Kristen: Yeah, the only way that I can play Bella is if I could justify every decision that she made and stand behind it as well as, as much as she did. And the cool thing about New Moon is it is literally taking that and saying “No, sorry! Do you think you know something little girl? You know nothing!” And that’s the story, that’s why she – I mean people call Bella fickle all the time to me; people are always saying like “Oh, you know you’re playing a really immature girl that doesn’t know what she wants and she’s sort of in love with this mythical creature”. It’s like who are you talking to? This girl is willing to put herself through the most asinine – and so not selfish, with a really great perspective. You have to be a pretty strong natured person to do that. And then to, I think in New Moon she becomes sort of hardened and cynical because she’s been told that her whole world that she was willing to spend eternity in was just wrong. And the fact that she can from there, even in the same movie you believe that she’s of the mind to make a decision to go back from that. You have to believe that she’s lived enough and that she’s mature enough and knows herself well enough to make decisions like that. And I feel like in Twilight she doesn’t have that and in New Moon she gains that. Like she’s been through it so it’s like okay actually now it takes a strong person to say I was wrong and that I’m willing to forgive you and hopefully if you can forgive me, we can be together now. That’s why I really love her.

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New Moon Virtual Items from Habbo Hotel

DETAILS REVEALED AS THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON
TAKES OVER HABBO HOTEL

Interactive Experience to Include Virtual Items and Chats with Cast Members
Hosted by the Largest Global Virtual World for Teens

LOS ANGELES – November 5, 2009 – Summit Entertainment and Habbo Hotel, the largest virtual world for teenagers, today revealed new details for the exclusive The Twilight Saga: New Moon-themed activities, rooms, virtual goods and much more planned to kick-off at Habbo Hotel this week to celebrate the highly anticipated release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon on November 20.

Beginning November 6, log in to Habbo Hotel or join for free by going to www.habbo.com and clicking on the “Register Now” button. Habbo Hotel will introduce The Twilight Saga: New Moon-themed virtual items and activities throughout its 31 communities worldwide. Users will have the opportunity to decorate their online rooms with virtual goods based on the film, including a dreamcatcher, a piano, the Volturi crest and a table topped with a birthday cake and gifts.

To show support for all the activities happening in Habbo Hotel, a select actor from The Twilight Saga: New Moon is scheduled to log in, which may be announced or may be a surprise, to check out the festivities and conduct an in-world chat. You never know who may be stopping by Habbo Hotel during the festivities. Will it be your favorite Twilight Saga character? Log in and don’t miss out.

“Habbo users have been very vocal in expressing their interest in the Twilight Saga film series,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, president, North America, Sulake Inc. “Our goal is to provide a fun and easy-to-access online venue for Habbo members around the world to meet up and share their excitement for the upcoming movie, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

There are currently Habbo Hotel communities in 31 countries on six continents. To date, more than 148 million Habbo characters have been created and nearly 14 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month making it the largest virtual environment for teens anywhere in the world.

Kristen Stewart + Taylor Lautner Brazil Pics

New Moon stars Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner at Brazil Press Conference for Twilight saga: New Moon..







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Access Hollywood Sneak Peak of New Moon Clip

New ‘New Moon’ Trailer Debuts

The trailer promotes the second film in the “Twilight Saga” series, featuring Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack Release Party

Stop by any Hot Topic location on Friday, October 16th at 7PM to hear The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack with special messages from featured bands and get 10% off any purchase during the release party.* Plus, purchase your copy of the CD and get a special gift!**

Click Here to Find a Store

*Offer not available online. Discount not valid on prior purchases, clearance, vinyl, DVDs, electronics, gift cards, packaging, taxes or S&H. Discount cannot be combined with any other offer. Item return equals price paid. Hot Topic, Inc. employees and their family members are ineligible. Void where prohibited.
**Subject to availability while supplies last from time of open on 10/16/09. Limit one per person. Offer not available online.

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Twilight Saga: New Moon Movie Guide Teaser!

Weitz Talks 'New Moon'

It started with a pie. Once Chris Weitz and brother Paul deflowered the dessert in 1999's American Pie, they became two of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. Though he was barely out of his twenties, Chris Weitz was smart enough not to squander the opportunity, and instead of signing on to keep the sequels coming (seven, counting the straight-to-DVD installments), he held out to direct more literally adult fare like Chris Rock's Down to Earth and About a Boy, the Hugh Grant-led adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel. Weitz invested the next several years in his passion project—the big budget fantasy film The Golden Compass—but the film's irreligious subtext coupled with Weitz's high ambitions and the studio's anxiety doomed the American release. Though worldwide grosses of $372 million justified the estimated $180 million budget, its comparatively small US take left everyone involved backing away from what had once considered a surefire franchise. But with The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Weitz has taken the reins of another hit franchise, and he's certain to steer this one to box office success. Weitz talks to BOXOFFICE about the power of break-up stories and his family's gratitude to vampires—a lineage that stretches back to his grandparents.

How do you direct a film when everyone knows the story and ending?

In a way, that's an advantage. That people know and love the book means that people know and want to see the movie, which is what you hope for when you're making a film. It's a fine balance between being as faithful as possible to the spirit of the book, and bringing changes. I regard myself as fan as much as any other, and the way that I see the book in my head is just like any other fan's ability, except that I happen to have tens of millions of dollars at my disposal to realize that vision. One hopes that it's a strong enough envisioning of the book that people will be amused and entertained and excited even though they know how things are going to end.

One of my favorite New Moon conspiracy theories is that the producers are ordering Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson to keep their love hidden because it will affect the way people will perceive the story, even though the story is already known even until the next two books.

The fans know what the Volturi look like or what Taylor Lautner as Jacob's amazing bod is going to look like—the producers know these things are big points of curiosity about whether we've been able to be faithful to people's notions. And they want to parse these things out over time. [Laughs] It is a conspiracy, but the conspiracy is called marketing.

There are so many films about vampires, vampire romances, teenage romances—what is it about Twilight's love triangle that's catalyzed this phenomenon?

To me, it has a lot less to do with vampires and werewolves than with readily identifiable emotional situations. Bella has a choice between the loving friend who's nearby and the distant, unattainable object of her affections. That's a pretty common scenario, and unfortunately also, so is being dumped. I know I've experienced it—pretty much anybody except the incredibly lucky has experienced it—and the supernatural element of things just allows for a degree of wish fulfillment. We can play out these scenarios on a grand scale. When you get broken up with, you'd like to think that if you just did something brave enough, something amazing enough, you could rescue the relationship that's been broken. And you would like to think that the person who's left you has left you for your own good against their heart. That's usually not the case, but in New Moon it happens to be, so that's a lovely way to fulfill one's wishes. A great thing that Summit as a studio understands is that there are dark places that the movie has to go in order for it all to work. They're not afraid of the angst and the sorrow that's in the book. In a way, the film can be kind of a throwback to weepies as well as very cutting edge in terms of visual effects.

It's got this operatic tone that's like soma for anyone with a broken heart.

We're probably going to put out one of the greatest breakup mix albums of all time on the soundtrack. Alexandre Desplat doing the music means there's this sense of French Romanticism that goes back to Alexandre's mentor Maurice Jarre and everything he did for David Lean's movies—going back to Debussy and Ravel and that kind of stuff. There is a lot of luxuriating in the emotionalism of the piece. I think I'm probably now supposed to add at this point that there's great stuff for guys as well. But leave that aside for the moment.

You talked a minute ago about Pattinson being an 'unattainable male.' We always see stories about men pursuing a woman. It's rare to see stories where a woman really pursues a man, and when you do, it's usually handled like All About Steve, where it teeters into comic stalking.

Farce.

Exactly. You always hear about the male gaze in films, but this seems to have such a strong female gaze. One of the prerequisites is how many times Pattinson and Lautner take off their shirts.

It's there in the script, and that's one for the ladies, really. Women have been objectified plenty in Hollywood films. And there's still sort of a chasteness to the objectification in Twilight and New Moon. One approaches it hopefully with a bit of tact—not just an exercise in beefcake peddling. You hope when you're shooting any kind of above-the-waist nudity that it suits the demand of the moment, it isn't just in there for the hell of it. That being said, I think we did come to Comic-Con with a lot of muscles and it was really fun to see the reaction to it. I've tried to make films that take into account the female members of the audience. Even American Pie, which comes from a genre that is notoriously misogynist.

I would agree with that. In American Pie, you make a point to show the girl's side of why she would or wouldn't do it on Prom Night—it was fair.

We were trying to say, too, that they were really in control of the scenario, and the guys were more or less hopeless schlubs just trying to navigate these waters. The girls were in control of what happened when.

American Pie—like Twilight—was one of those films that made stars of everyone in the cast. This time around, do you find yourself wanting to give this new generation career or life advice?

I don't particularly feel qualified because I'm not in their situation. I don't have to deal with that fame; I'm able to turn it on or off—or rather, the publicity department is able to turn it on and off. I don’t walk around and get recognized. I'm recognized in inverse proportion to my nearness to Rob. There's some kind of equation I could work out. Basically if I'm within 50 yards of Rob, I matter. If not, I just don't. I think that they don't really need my advice because they are determined to remain true to their own life, in spite of anything that might turn their heads. That's the only advice I could give them: that they stay the clever and decent people who they already are. And I don't think they're manifesting any problems in that regard.

I heard that the on-set experience has been like living in A Hard Days Night.

It was like that in Italy. Although it wasn't so much running and chasing. I'd compare it more to The Birds. You look around and then there's suddenly ten girls over there. And then there's 20. Then 30, then 40. And then suddenly the street you're intending to walk down to get to your next location or lunch is just blocked and there's no way to get through. Or you will get through, but it'll take you hours because you'll take pictures and sign autographs. Which is fair enough because they've come all this way and they're really the reason that we're there. Or you'll have to be a real meanie and just run past. I've developed a preoccupied look that sometimes works. I try to seem as though there's something going really badly at a different location, and sometimes that gets me out of situations.

Have there been any crazy fan experiences?

The crazy thing has been how extraordinarily supportive, friendly and enthusiastic people are. They really want this to be done right, but they're not hyper-critical. There's a degree of good faith between the people making the movie and the people who want to see it, and we are innocent until proven guilty. And that's great because that's not always the case with fan boys. I did encounter this Italian girl in Montepulciano who then appeared in Vancouver who speaks impeccable English. That's one of the reasons I recognized her. She came up to me and said, 'Do you remember me?' and I said yes, I did. And then her mom was there and I sort of wanted to ask her mom what else she and her kid were up to because it seemed like she should be in school, but it's really not my place.

Which other book would you love to film?

To be honest, I would love to film The Golden Compass. I would love to have been allowed to do my own cut of The Golden Compass because I did film that book and there could be a real version of it, but it would cost millions of dollars to complete with the special effects. The cut was taken away from me and that was a devastating experience. That's the other book that I would like to film. I wouldn't have the strength to go through another three years to do it, but it is a great shame that the fear of the ideas in the book led the studio to do a version which I think caused its own downfall.

It was a beautiful film, the look of it.

It's a good-looking film. And there are moments where it's precisely the way I wanted it to look or to feel. But it's been put through a blender so that the interesting ideas that it had in it and the real emotional heft of the story was lost. And that's a shame because I take very seriously my responsibilities to an author in trying to represent their vision on film. Failing Philip Pullman in that regard is a big sadness for me because he's one of the authors I most admire in the world.

Between the author and the studio, that can be a lot of weight.

It is, and I have to say that Summit understands that the fans want to see the book in the film, not just a popcorn movie.

It's almost a safety net, having that many people know the book already very well, more than American audiences knew The Golden Compass.

Yes, American audiences weren't that familiar with The Golden Compass. Once you start monkeying around with the plot and characters and key concepts in the film, you really lose what made the book appeal to anyone in the first place. If you take the example of The Lord of the Rings, it wasn't that it made everybody into a geek overnight. People were able to see what had been great about it in the first place, and the adherence to story and character really paid off, even though a lot of people went to see it who hadn't read Lord of the Rings in the first place and didn't know anything else.

What can you tell me about The Game, the film adaptation of the Neil Strauss guide to picking up women?

I can tell you that Rawson Thurber [director of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story] is going to direct it, and that he is rewriting it now. It's an attempt to walk a very fine line with a project like this. It has things to say about the relationships between men and women and it could be perceived as misogynistic or as a textbook in how to manipulate women. But it's really not about that—it's about the weaknesses of men and women more than anything else.

And your brother Paul also has a high school vampire movie coming out?

He does. That was not planned at all. It's very funny. A week before I was offered New Moon, I was wondering why there were so many vampire movies around. Paul had wanted to indulge a long-standing love of the grotesque, which the Cirque du Freak series allowed with its visuals and that sort of perversity—not perversion, but perversity—of the books and the script. It's a funny coincidence. Actually, if you want to take it one step further, my grandmother was a silent film actress in the Mexican version of Dracula. They shot it on the same sets as the Todd Browning version, but they started shooting at midnight. My grandfather, who was a producer for Universal at the time, was courting my grandmother, and when talkies came out, there were no parts for women with strong Mexican accents. He convinced Carl Laemmle at Universal that you could make a profit by using the same sets during the night and making Spanish-language versions of the same film. Hence, the Spanish Dracula. It's a film geek delight to compare the Todd Browning version to the Mexican version.

And if your grandfather hadn't done that, you might not exist.

This is true. If it weren't for vampires...

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'New Moon' stars to be in Knoxville for movie's premiere

Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner will appear at Regal benefit Nov. 17

Bella and her would-be new beau - or at least the actors who play them - will come to Knoxville for the premiere of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" on Nov. 17 at Regal Cinemas' Pinnacle 18 at Turkey Creek.

Kristen Stewart, who stars as Bella Swan in both "New Moon" and the film series' 2008 breakout first release, "Twilight," will be accompanied in Knoxville by actor Taylor Lautner, whose werewolf Jacob Black was a secondary character in the first film, though his deepening relationship with Bella catapults him into a lead role in "New Moon."

Regal has annually presented major-film premieres in Knoxville since 2003 to benefit Variety - The Children's Charity of Eastern Tennessee, and interest in "New Moon" has been unprecedented.

Since the July announcement of the upcoming screening, Regal has been "inundated ... from all corners of the United States (plus) Canada and Mexico," said Greg Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Regal Entertainment Group. "It's a must-see event, and it's happening in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"By far, this is going to be our most successful event," said Dunn, who estimated the benefit screening will raise in excess of $400,000 for Variety, a Regal-founded organization that aids numerous local and area children's charities. The film's production company, Summit Entertainment, is partners with Regal for the "New Moon" benefit.

In addition to the tickets that will be distributed to sponsors and Variety patrons, there will be a limited number of tickets available to the public, distributed by drawing.

Fans can register for the drawing Oct. 9-11 exclusively at Regal Cinemas locations in Knoxville - Pinnacle Stadium 18, West Town Mall Stadium 9, Riviera Stadium 8, Knoxville Center Stadium 10 and Downtown West 8. Registration will be during the theaters' regular business hours, and there is no purchase necessary.

Those who register must be 18 or older, and only one entry per person will be accepted.

Winners' names will be drawn Nov. 3, and they will be given the opportunity to purchase two general admission tickets for $100 each. Tickets are not for resale, and ticketholders must show valid identification before admittance to the event.

In "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," which like its predecessor is based on Stephenie Meyer's popular novel series, teenage Bella is heartbroken when the vampire she loves (Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson) abandons her for her own safety, and her friend Jacob attempts to fill the void. The 2008 film made nearly $400 million worldwide at the box office.

The only other scheduled premiere of "New Moon" is a red-carpet event in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, the evening before the Knoxville premiere.

Unlike Regal's Knoxville premieres, the general public is rarely given the opportunity to buy tickets to such events in Los Angeles. But in Knoxville, those with tickets will be able to view the red-carpet entrance of the "New Moon" stars and attend a reception for the actors in the theater lobby, plus see the movie.

"New Moon" debuts in theaters nationwide Nov. 20.

For more information, call Variety at 865-925-9906.

Entertainment editor Chuck Campbell may be reached at 865-342-6443.

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Twilight actress Kristen Stewart on New Moon

At only 19, Kristen Stewart has already starred alongside Jodie Foster, Sean Penn and Robert De Niro and is the lead in the scarily successful Twilight series

I think she has a much bigger rack than I have.” Kristen Stewart is pondering her Twilight action figure — the little plastic doll that represents Bella, her character in the film franchise — while checking the proportions of the bust. “I also think she looks much older than me,” she adds, before setting the figure aside. I pick it up and, on closer inspection, the doll does look a little older than its real-life progenitor (as to the “rack”, closer inspection would be inappropriate). “It’s strange,” continues the 19-year-old actress, “but people often think I’m a little bit older than I really am. A French journalist asked me earlier on how my teenage years had affected my later life. I’m still in my teens.” She smiles. “Really, even if I was older, how could my teenage years not have shaped my life? I don’t know how to answer that.”

The French journalist should have done his research, although, to the uneducated observer, Stewart might well seem beyond her years. Her conversation, for example, most certainly belies her age. Not many teenagers are quite as articulate or as self-aware — although not many teenagers are carrying the world’s biggest burgeoning film franchise, the teen vampire series Twilight. With JK Rowling’s much-loved characters pottering into their final big-screen chapter, Twilight will soon stand as the top teen-movie franchise, and with their leading lady, the film-makers have snared a supremely talented and highly intelligent young star.

Stewart’s most recent movie, the understated indie comedy Adventureland, is a case in point. In this semi-autobiographical tale, the writer-director Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers, Superbad) draws upon his experience of working in a theme park during his teens in the 1980s. Stewart plays the troubled Em Lewin, the main character’s love interest. The film took only $16m at the US box office, but is better than those figures suggest, working as an ensemble piece (the Saturday Night Live favourites Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig provide hilarious support, while The Squid and the Whale’s Jesse Eisenberg shines in the leading-man role) — although Stewart’s character is, quite deliberately, granted plenty of screen time.

“Kristen was one of the few people I cast without even auditioning, even though she’s younger than the character she plays in the film,” Mottola tells me. “But I think she’s the best actress in her age range. She can make thinking look dramatic.” Mottola’s favourite scene sees Stewart deliver a story about her father having an affair while her mother was dying of cancer. “She tells it in this very matter-of-fact manner and instinctively knew that someone who hasn’t processed those feelings yet wouldn’t know how to talk about them,” he says. Other people he auditioned for the role transformed the speech into what he describes as “some of the most melodramatic monologues I’ve ever heard”.

Stewart looks bashful when I relay the compliment. “I am not a terribly introverted, damaged girl at a theme park in the 1980s,” she smiles, “but I can imagine what it would be like to not like yourself very much, and to be kicking it alone. Also to feel like you're sort of smarter than everybody, but nobody gets it. I get all that, and then the masochistic aspects girls are good at. Also, I guess I have always felt older than I am. I felt I should have been an adult at the age of five. And I thought I was an adult when I was 12. I wasn’t like a warrior, but I have never been that kid who doesn’t care a fig about anything. It’s just the way I’ve been brought up.”

Stewart’s full-time education in her home state of California tailed off when she hit 14. Both of her parents are familiar with the film business (her father, John Stewart, worked as a stage manager and television producer; her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, as a script supervisor) and trusted her to continue her education via correspondence while she concentrated on her fledgling acting career. The move has paid off, and, as Stewart has already noted, these early years have informed the rest of her life. At only 16, she had already worked with arguably the best actress and actor in Hollywood today, appearing first with Jodie Foster in 2002’s Panic Room (as Foster’s sullen daughter) and then, in 2007, as Tracy, a waif-like trailer-park teen who falls for Emile Hirsch in Sean Penn’s directorial hit Into the Wild. Foster and Penn have proved invaluable mentors.

“Those two have had a massive influence on me, of course,” she offers, “and in Sean I have seen something that I have never seen in someone else — this huge sense of conviction. It kind of kicks you out of the room.” It sounds intimidating. “Yes, definitely, and it is also gently persuasive. Sean takes things so seriously. If he is doing a part, he never stops until it’s done, whereas Jodie takes it a little less seriously. She is able to do the same thing without killing herself so much. But that’s what he needs. So from both of them, I get the same thing: they only do what they feel strongly about, and there is never anything to be ashamed of.”

In between her films with Foster and Penn, Stewart earned strong notices for 2004’s Speak, in which, at only 13, she starred as a young teen who is raped and stops speaking. She also worked with Mike Figgis and Sharon Stone (Cold Creek Manor, 2003), Jon Favreau (Zathura, 2005), Griffin Dunne (Fierce People, 2005), the Pang brothers (The Messengers, 2007) and Robert De Niro (What Just Happened, 2008). “I’m glad I could do those films, and I was glad to leave school,” she recalls. “I couldn’t relate to kids my own age. They are mean and don’t give you any chance.” Does she feel as though she missed out on anything? “No, I think the social aspects I haven’t missed out on. I am around people constantly. I meet hundreds of people at work. Once you have done with school, you realise it is just a smaller version of life. When I was there, I was never the type of girl to be walking around talking about acting, so I didn’t get a whole lot of hassle for that, until someone found out, until someone saw some old movie and realised. I was trying to play it down, but I definitely got, ‘Oh, she’s such a bitch.’ They’d never spoken to me, but instantly they were, like, ‘You are so rude.’ I am not rude.”

She’s right. In fact, Stewart is thoroughly engaging. Admittedly, some journalists find her a struggle, but I’d suggest that, like the Frenchman, they have underestimated their subject. In person, she is bright and quite charming, an eager smoker who regularly curls her knees up under her chin while talking. She is uncomfortable with the interview process — “I’m not very good at self-analysis” — and any poorly thought-through or ill-informed questions are given short shrift.

In securing the role of Bella in the Twilight series, she stands as one of the most sought-after teen stars in the world. The first film in the franchise, released last November, snaffled more than $380m at the box office (recouping 10 times its original budget); the second instalment, New Moon, will most likely fare even better. In the second chapter, the hunky vampire of the series, Edward Cullen (played by a big-eyebrowed Robert Pattinson) leaves Bella Swann (the two are hopelessly in love), allowing another male, Jacob (Taylor Lautner), to enter the scene and form a sticky love triangle. Cue plenty of soul-searching and teen-tinged heartache. “There’s also a bit more action in this movie,” she offers. “The werewolves are introduced, and you have the character of Jacob. The way it all pans out, it’s quite tragic, really.”

Given the first film’s popularity, has the Twilight saga transformed her life? “Well, I never worked to some grand plan,” she says, “but I’d be lying if I said Twilight hadn’t afforded me other opportunities. Most of the films I like to make are tiny and barely see the light of day, but after Twilight, people are more likely to go, ‘Oh, let’s go see Bella in that stripper movie.’” The stripper movie is Welcome to the Rileys, a low-key emotional drama she shot with James Gandolfini after making the first Twilight film. She has also recently finished The Runaways, which charts the early years of the eponymous 1970s all-girl rock band, fronted by Joan Jett (Stewart’s role) and Cherie Currie (played by her New Moon co-star Dakota Fanning). “Joan is the ultimate role model,” she beams. That Stewart bonded with the spiky rocker herself on set should come as no surprise. “While Cherie struggled a bit with the fame, Joan knew how to handle the pressure and knew what it could do for her career.”

Like Jett, Stewart must now live her life in the glare of the media spotlight, and there are persistent rumours of on-set shenanigans between Stewart and Pattinson, although the actress has always brushed away the tittle-tattle. When the first film hit cinemas, she was already dating her Speak co-star Michael Angarano. “He’s cool with the whole thing,” she had told me at a previous interview, earlier this year. “I think he likes the first movie. I don’t really know, but he is not a jealous guy. He is fine. He can handle that.” And what were her thoughts on true love at first sight, a keynote of the movie? “I guess, for Bella, her feelings for Edward Cullen almost change the chemical structure of her body, like heroin. And now that has happened, she’d rather die than be without him. Maybe that happens for people — I don’t know. As for me, I haven’t left my boyfriend for Robert Pattinson.”

Bar the gossip, has fame fostered any other troubles? Twilight fans, for example, are notoriously zealous (indeed, the “Twihards” are positively fanatic). “Really, people don’t recognise me often. I think I just look different in person or something. I'm also not very approachable, and maybe they’re just thinking, ‘Ooohhh, she’s scary.’ It is weird seeing all the marketing, though, and the billboards. I like burgers, but do I want to see my face all over the burger cartons? Not really.” And what if the marketeers bring out further additions to her line of Bella action figures? “The doll?” She smiles. “Well, I guess I can live with that. In fact, I’m getting used to the bigger rack.”

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'New Moon' EXCLUSIVE: Get Your First Look At Volturi Vampire Alec (Cameron Bright)!

A few weeks ago we got our first fleeting glimpse of Volturi vampire Jane (Dakota Fanning) thanks to the "Meet Jacob Black" trailer, which premiered before "Bandslam." Since then, Jane's fellow Volturi members have sadly remained concealed in the shadows. Until now. The villains of Volterra are stepping into the light (so to speak), and we've got your first look at Jane's twin brother Alec after the jump.

Portrayed by Cameron Bright ("Thank You For Smoking," "X-Men: The Last Stand"), Alec is described by "New Moon" author Stephenie Meyer this way: "The pale boy in the pearl gray suit could have been Jane's twin. His hair was darker, and his lips were not as full, but he was just as lovely."

See if Alec's movie look is on par with Stephenie's vision after the jump!

In this promo pic, the 16-year-old Canadian is wearing an obviously darker suit, but he's nonetheless a solid match for the eternally youthful vamp. His back story is said to be the following: "The Volturi were waiting to change Alec and his twin sister Jane until they were older, but humans tried to burn them at the stake, so the Volturi were forced to 'change' them while they were young. Since acquiring Alec and Jane, the Volturi have seldom needed to fight — their victims are simply slaughtered."

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Exclusive Picture: Meet Caius the Volturi Vampire of 'Twilight: New Moon'

As if James, Victoria and Laurent weren't menacing enough, 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' introduces us to a new band of baddies far more eeeeeevil: the Volturi.

Allow us to reveal the first official image of Caius, the most sadistic of the ancient Italian vampire coven. Caius is played by Jamie Campbell Bower, who knows a thing or two about bloody good times from his stint as Anthony Hope in 'Sweeney Todd,' and will also soon be seen as Gellert Grindelwald in the 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' movies (can he and R. Patz broker peace between warring fan armies?)

So what else do you need to know about Caius? This ominous vamp was born in a suburb of Cincinnati in 1988, is a Libra, and enjoys snowboarding, Fruit Roll-Ups and old re-runs of 'Blossom.' (Kidding!)

Caius was born around 1300 BC, though the date of his transformation and his special powers are unknown. But we do know that he really, really wants to kill Bella, Edward, and Alice. And we're not going to lie, he looks pretty good for a 3,300-year-old.

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'New Moon' Trailer: What's Missing?

Where are the Volturi? Or Jacob's wingman Quil Ateara? We give you a rundown of what we want to see more of in 'New Moon.'

Shirtless Taylor Lautner? In-costume Dakota Fanning? Strung-out-looking Robert Pattinson? Check, check and check. But although the "New Moon" trailer entitled "Meet Jacob Black" gave us plenty of fun things to look at — again, and again, and again — it also continued to omit plenty.

Depending on your point of view, the two "New Moon" trailers have either held back all the best stuff or done a good job of giving us glimpses at just enough to get our butts in theater seats. But at the risk of paraphrasing Veruca Salt: We want it all, and we want it now! Here's our list of the Top Five Things We Still Need to See From "New Moon."

The Cliff Dive — Kristen Stewart told us long ago that Bella's pivotal cinematic near-suicide will be CGI, and we've got to admit: We're still a bit concerned. Fan-made videos like this one give us an idea of some things to expect from what could be the most powerful moment in "New Moon," but so far, nothing official. Come on, Chris Weitz — cough it up!

Fight Scenes — Although Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight" won the hearts of millions of women, it won't be stealing men away from sports and "Star Trek" sequels anytime soon. Now, with male directors in place for the next two films — and increasingly darker, more action-oriented plotlines to come — it's time to start convincing the dudes that seeing "New Moon" will do more than put you in your lady's good graces. But what have we glimpsed so far? Shirtless Jacob, shirt-open Edward, shirtless wolf pack. "Fight Club" gave the same number of abs, but also brought along just as many punches to the face — so bring back the honey and chicken, already!

The Vanishing Volturi — As any good Twilighter knows, the Volturi feature prominently not only in "New Moon," but also in the overall arc of the "Twilight" saga. So, why have they become the J.D. Salinger of the film series? We want full-on, official shots of Aro, Caius, Marcus and the rest. No more slowing down video clips to see if that's Michael Sheen in the background — it's time to bring out the big guns.

Quil Be Seeing You — Everybody's got their own favorite quasi-obscure "Twilight" character, and mine is Jacob's "wingman" Quil Ateara. We know he's played by Tyson Houseman in the film, but we haven't seen so much as a publicity shot yet. Sure, some might laugh — but I'll be wearing a "Team Quil" shirt when I see the film on opening night. Which reminds me of a second complaint: Why has no one invented "Team Quil" T-shirts yet?

It Ain't Easy Being Human— They're the nicest people in the world and the backbone of the "Twilight" film series: Mike Welch, Christian Serratos, Justin Chon, Anna Kendrick, Billy Burke and others. But although these fan favorites are among the most visible at "Twilight" conventions and other events, we haven't seen so much as a glimpse of them in the "New Moon" trailers. It's bad enough that these guys don't get to pretend they have superhuman powers, the ability to live forever or even a clue as to all the craziness going on in Forks. "Twilight" is nothing without the humanity that Stephenie Meyer injected into it — here's hoping that Weitz remembers that element as he's working all those long hours and late nights in the "New Moon" editing bay.


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A Closer Look at New Moon Director Chris Weitz

Will Weitz's background as an actor's director make a difference to the upcoming Twilight sequel?

During our visit to the set of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, we watched from afar as director Chris Weitz ran a seemingly tidy ship. His quiet, polite mannerisms, even during take after take, and his relative expedience moving from one set up to another spoke to a sea change from the type of set Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke reportedly ran: the focused, well-mannered workman vs. the wonderfully eccentric artist. The fans will be pleased, we thought to ourselves. Weitz looks like he knows what he's doing.

Coming into the project, Weitz's filmmaking pedigree was already impressive. In the span of just a decade, he's notched numerous successes under his belt, including an Oscar nomination (shared with brother Paul) for About a Boy; a hand in the successful American Pie franchise; and most recently, the honor of bringing Philip Pullman's enormously weighty His Dark Materials novels to the big screen, in the form of 2007's The Golden Compass. But our earliest familiarity with Weitz himself was as an actor in the darkly comic indie, Chuck & Buck, where he starred opposite Mike White's obsessive man-child as Charlie (formerly known as Chuck), a yuppie record exec trying to put his past (and his childhood buddy, Buck) behind him.

(Because of this, we find Weitz particularly fascinating. Watch Chuck & Buck and you'll understand why.)

Even more intriguing is the fact that his mother, actress Susan Kohner, notched an Oscar nomination for playing Sarah Jane in Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life. Or that his grandmother, actress Lupita Tovar, was a successful silent film star well known for Mexico's very first talkie, Santa, and starred in Universal's Spanish-language version of Dracula.

Producer Wyck Godfrey, speaking exclusively to Rotten Tomatoes, surmised that Weitz's own acting experience and affinity for actors made for a remarkably comfortable working environment on the set of New Moon: "I think having been in a movie himself and having acted before, he really trusts actors and I think they can really feel that inherently. And as a result, we've gotten much more authentic, very natural performances from all the actors."

While on set, we spoke further with cast members and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg to get their takes on the new director.

Melissa Rosenberg on working with Weitz, who she called a "lovely guy": "Chris is a writer himself, so I did one or two drafts with him, and was really able to trust him to take it from there, to make any changes that might need to be made for production or for whatever reason."

Taylor Lautner on Weitz: "What I love about Chris is, the set is very calm and we're just having a lot of fun making the movie. And then you sit back and you look at the results that are happening, and it looks amazing so far. I'm so excited to see it. And you just sit back and see what's going on, and you're like, 'How are we having such an easygoing, relaxed time making this movie, and it's turning out the way it is?' At the same time, the conversations with Catherine -- she just related to us so well. So does Chris. They're both talented directors, and I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to work with both of them."

Rachelle Lefevre on Weitz: "Chris is much quieter and calmer anyway, he just has a different style, but also he's come into a world that somebody went through all of that to bring to life. And so I feel like part of the reason he came in maybe a little more quiet was just sort of respect the fact that he didn't just show up and go, 'All right guys. It's Chris Weitz's Twilight now.' He didn't do that at all. He completely respected that somebody else had laid the foundation and he was like, all right, here's where I'm going to take it within the realm of what's already been established. And so it's a different job, you know? It's something that he's executing beautifully because we all really feel both directed and respected in terms of what we've already done. We love him."

When he was confirmed to direct New Moon, Weitz wrote an open letter to fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books and Catherine Hardwicke's film. "I want to write briefly to try to put you at ease," he wrote, "and to give you reason to hope for and expect the best."

Exclusive Interview: From New Moon to Nurse Jackie with Peter Facinelli

Best known for his portrayal of Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch of the Cullen vampire clan in the hugely successful Twilight saga films, Peter Facinelli is also currently starring in the popular Showtime television series Nurse Jackie, opposite Edie Falco.

Juggling fatherhood (he and his wife, actress Jennie Garth, have three young daughters) with a film and television career, the New York native has proven his versatility, doing comedy, drama and action, on both the big and small screen. Getting ready to start filming the third installment of the Twilight saga, Eclipse, with director David Slade, Peter Facinelli spoke to IESB for this exclusive interview about what it's like to have the job security of a successful film franchise and a critically acclaimed TV show.

IESB: What initially attracted you to acting? Was there someone or something that inspired you to do it, or did you just know that you wanted to be a performer?

Peter: No, I was the opposite of a performer. I was really shy, when I was growing up. I saw a movie called Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in third grade, and I thought Paul Newman and Robert Redford looked like they were having a really good time, and I said, "That's what I want to do, when I grow up." I always was inspired by Paul Newman and Robert Redford to want to be an actor, but I never really did anything about it because I was shy. So, all through high school, I never did a play.

Not until college, did I start to do acting. I transferred into NYU from St. John's University and started studying theater. I was going to take law because it seemed to impress people in my family when I said, "I want to be a lawyer when I grow up." One time, I told them that I wanted to be an actor and they all looked at me like I had five heads. The next time they asked me what I wanted to be, I said, "A lawyer," and I got a lot of oohs and aahs in the family. When you watch movies and you watch Law & Order, it looks so interesting.

IESB: When did you realize that you were not meant for a law career?

Peter: I did one year at St. John's University, and I studied pre-law and I worked for a law firm, and I realized that lawyers spend most of their time trying not to go to court. They look for precedents so they don't have to go to court. They told me that court was the last place you want to be. I was like, "Well, that's what I want to do. I like the courtroom drama," and they were like, "Well, then you need to do something else."

So, I threw away the courtroom drama and just went straight for the drama, and I transferred to NYU. I told my parents, "To be a good lawyer, I have to be a good actor, so I'm going to take acting classes at NYU and study theater there," and they bought it. And then, I started working, right out of NYU. So, when my parents realized it was something that I could do, they were behind it.
IESB: What was the point where you realized that you could actually make a living and a career out of acting?

Peter: I don't think I ever thought I wouldn't make a living or a career out of it. I never had a back-up plan. For me, it was always a do or die kind of thing. When people ask me if there's any advice that I'd give them, I say, "Don't have a back-up plan ‘cause you'll use it." I didn't have a back-up plan. I started working, out of college, and I just went from job to job and never looked back. I always made my living, from that point on, as an actor. I never thought that I wouldn't.

IESB: You seem to constantly be working now, and yet you manage to successfully maintain a marriage and family in an industry where that seems impossible. Do you feel like you've succeeded at finding a balance between work and family, or is it a constant juggling act?

Peter: It's always a constant juggling act. While I'm doing this interview with you, I'm standing in the Empire State Building with my kids, who are hanging out, waiting for me, so I can take them up to the top. You're always juggling, back and forth. I just take it day-by-day, and then all those days add up, and you look back and that's your life.

IESB: How did you get involved with Nurse Jackie? Was it just a regular audition, or did they ask to see you? Had you been looking to do more television?

Peter: I had just finished Twilight, and I knew the writers from Nurse Jackie, so they called my agent and said, "Hey, there's a part in here that we like Peter for." But, I wasn't looking to do television. Also, because I have a family, I have a steadfast rule that, if a TV show doesn't shoot in L.A., I won't do it. But, the previous year, I had done Damages and I realized that, if it's a cable show and only has 13 episodes, I could do it because it's like going to do a movie. You're only going to work for two or three months and then you're back, and you can go back and forth.

I wasn't looking for a 23-episode commitment ‘cause then you're just gone for nine months out of the year. So, when they called my agent, my agent just told them, "Oh, he won't do it because it doesn't shoot in L.A.," and they passed on it for me, without asking me. And then, I actually got a copy of it. My agents told me, "Hey, we passed on this for you, but if you want to read it, read it." The cover of it said, "Untitled Edie Falco Project," and right there, I knew it was going to be special because Edie Falco was attached and, if she was coming back to TV, then it had to be good.

IESB: What did you think, once you'd had a chance to read the script?

Peter: I was already a fan of the writers because I had done a pilot with them the year before, called Insatiable, for Showtime, which didn't get picked up. It was very well-received, when they did the test scoring, but they could only pick up one show and they ended up picking up the David Duchovny show, Californication, over it. So, I had a relationship with the writers, I was a big fan of Edie Falco's, and I read it and it was unlike anything I had seen.

I'm not a huge medical television show kind of person. I've never seen Grey's Anatomy, E.R. or Scrubs. It just wasn't my genre of things that I watch. I just thought it was an interesting show, and I liked the concept that it was telling the hospital story from a nurse's point of view, and I liked the characters. I called up and said, "I'd love to meet with them," so they called the writers, Linda Wallem and Liz Brixius, and they said, "We're testing people for that role on Monday," and that was on Friday, so I thought, "Oh, well. That ship has sailed." So, I sent an email to one of the writers saying, "Hey, I just read your script. It's fantastic. If this show goes, give me a ring and maybe I'll come and do an arc. I'd love to work with you guys ‘cause I think it's a special show."

IESB: Then, how did you end up actually getting cast?

Peter: Well, none of the guys that they tested on that Monday were right for it, so they realized then, by getting my email, that I liked it and they came after me. I had lunch with them. I'm not a huge fan of auditioning, but in this case, I actually asked them if I could audition. They're friends of mine and I wanted to make sure that what I was doing was along those same lines of what they wanted. It's a very tricky tone. It's a tone that I had never seen before on a show, so I wanted to make sure that my tone of comedy and what I was going to bring to the table was something that was going to work for them. I didn't want to say, "Let's sign the deal," and then get on the set and have them be like, "This isn't what we wanted at all." And so, I went in and read with them. They put it on tape and were like, "That's what we want. That's perfect." And, they sent the tape to Edie and Edie put the stamp of approval on it and, within two or three days, I had the role.

IESB: Is it hard to find ways to identify with a character like Dr. Cooper, or to make him likeable?

Peter: If you play anybody who is seen from the outside from the outside as a bad guy or a jerk, nobody walks around trying to be a jerk or trying to be a bad guy. They always have motives. Maybe those motives don't line up and the end result is that their character is perceived as a jerk or a bad guy. So, I'm very careful not to try to play people as jerks or evil or bad. When I took on this role, I tried to look at the qualities in him that are likeable. Even though, on paper, the end result was sometimes unlikeable, I tried to find the reasons why he does things.

IESB: What, specifically, did you find likeable about Dr. Cooper?

Peter: For me, I find him very loveable. I like that character. I find him very sympathetic and I feel sorry for him, at times. Because he's so oblivious to his surroundings and because he's so unaware that people don't really like him, he thinks everybody likes him. He walks around thinking he's the most charming guy in the world, and everyone thinks he's full of it and dislikes him. He also has a lot of issues on the inside, which give him a lot of layers.

He's not as confident as he tries to be, and so, a lot of times, he overcompensates because he's not confident. I find that the most confident people don't have to try to be confident. You look at them and they appear confident because they are. And, he has to go the extra mile of trying to look confident because he's not. I look at those characteristics and, when he's around people and he tries to get people to like him and they don't, I feel sorry for him. He's very lonely. He doesn't have a lot of friends. I liken him to a puppy dog in a room full of people who don't like dogs. He's jumping all over people's legs and wants to be liked by everybody, wagging his tail, and everybody is kicking him.

When you look at him like that, I find him very sympathetic, very lovable and very likeable. He's fun to laugh at because he's so unaware of his surroundings. He has no idea that the pharmacist character, Eddie, doesn't want to be friends with him. My character, Coop, wants to be best friends with Eddie, and Eddie wants nothing to do with him, but he has no idea. That makes it funny to the outside public, but to me, as the character, it's pretty sad. It's a hard character to hate. Even Nurse Jackie wants to hate this guy, but she can't. There's part of her that just can't hate him.

IESB: How has it been to work with Edie Falco? What does she bring to the scenes, when you guys work together?

Peter: What Edie brings is that she's just genuine, as a person, and is so real and honest that it just carries over into her acting. Whenever Peter_facinelli_smallI'm acting with her, I don't have to do anything, but react off of what she's doing. When the scene starts, there is no break between action and right before action. She's just as genuine and real before as right after. It just sucks you in. I've worked with actors that are very special like that, like Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and Burt Reynolds, and they all have this quality that, when action hits, they just suck you into the scene because they're so honest and real, and it makes your job, as an actor, a lot easier. That's how I feel with Edie.

IESB: Was it nice to have this to do, in between doing Twilight and New Moon, to give you a break from playing that character?

Peter: Yeah. I enjoy the fact that these characters are both doctors, and they're completely different people. The contrast between these two roles, when you put them side by side, visually and in personality, is so great that, as an actor, I'm proud to say, "Hey, look at these two people. Even though they have the same occupation, they're worlds apart." The fun of it for me, as an actor, is to be able to step into other people's shoes and play different characters. These two characters are so opposite that it's an opportunity to show people what I can do and the range that I have. It's a nice break because you have this one commercial franchise that's become this cultural phenomenon and, on the other hand, you have this great actor's piece that the critics love and it got great ratings. Nurse Jackie is a little bit more of a mature audience, so as an actor, it brings me a whole other audience for my work.

IESB: In regard to making the Twilight films, at what point did you get the sense that you were part of something that would become so huge?

Peter: Not until the premiere of the movie, did I realize how huge it had become. When we finished filming, it was an independent film that was based on a book that had a good size fan base. But, somewhere between the end of filming and the premiere, it just snowballed into this cultural phenomenon. I was on the beach, over the summer, that year and people were reading the books. I couldn't count, on one hand, how many people were reading the books on the beach. And, I thought, "Wow, a lot of people are into this book." People were coming up to me, before the movie was out, saying, "You play Carlisle Cullen." They were already on the Internet, checking out who the characters were.

I remember being on the beach in Hawaii and some fan of the books knew that I was playing that character, even before the movie came out. And then, when the movie came out, on the night of the premiere, it was just completely surreal. There were five lots of screaming fans, and I'd never seen anything like it before. It was really weird because they hadn't seen the movie yet, and they were screaming and cheering. I thought, "Well, this could become an angry mob, if they don't like the movie." But, thankfully, they did, and now it's only gotten even bigger.

I did a charity autograph session in West Virginia recently and people flew out from, like, Ohio to come to a signing, and that's pretty amazing. To get people on an airplane, to fly somewhere to go get an autograph from somebody, just shows the power of that fanbase, and how loyal and faithful and amazing they are.

IESB: Was there a certain comfort level, in returning to this character again for New Moon, having already played him before?

Peter: Definitely. It's like putting on an old pair of jeans, the second time around. You feel like you already know this character and you've created him, and you know the other actors and you know the relationships, but you're always looking to dig a little deeper and find more because you don't want to keep churning out the same thing. You try to keep finding different layers. With the first movie, I did a lot more research on how this character was. For the second movie, I worked more on his relationships within the family structure.

IESB: Does it help to have those other actors to go through this whole crazy process with?

Peter: Definitely. There's a definite comfort when you see the other actors. You feel like you're all in it together. It's a very family-oriented group. We go for dinners, and we like being with each other. I don't think there's one person who doesn't get along with the others, in the group, and it really has become a family. When you see the other person, even if it's for a non-Twilight event, there's a comfort level there. When you look across and see them, they make you smile. Some of my favorite scenes are when all of the Cullens are together. When I'm doing a scene and I look across and see that whole group of actors together, in one scene, it just makes me happy. It makes me feel like the whole gang is there and the whole family is together.

IESB: Does it make things more exciting to have different directors for each film, since they bring their own vision each time?

Peter: Yeah. I love Catherine Hardwicke. I loved working with her. She cast us, so we owe her a lot because she was the one who hand-picked us to play those roles. Then, we had another director, Chris Weitz, come in, who put his spin on it and gave us his vision, and came up with things that we hadn't thought about, in the first one. And, David Slade is going to do the same for Eclipse. It does keep it new and fresh. I'm used to it because I've done television and, in television, like with Nurse Jackie or Damages, we had different directors for every episode. The tone is always the same, with those shows, but the director brings a new flavor, and it keeps it fresh and exciting.

IESB: Have you been doing any research into David Slade and his work, to see what kind of director he'll be to work with?

Peter: I've seen Hard Candy, and I think he did a great job on that. And, I'm going to rent 30 Days of Night. Once he was hired, I sent him an email saying that I'm excited to work with him, and he sent me back one saying, "Ditto."

IESB: Are you looking forward to getting back into this character again so quickly?

Peter: Yeah. It's been a nice enough break. I had the summer off, to spend with my family, and now I hit the ground running. In August, I go straight into Eclipse, and then, after Eclipse, I go straight to Season 2 of Nurse Jackie, so the Fall is pretty busy. And, in between that, I'll be flying back and forth, playing the role of dad.

IESB: Isn't it nice, as an actor, to have the security of a successful film franchise and a critically acclaimed TV show?

Peter: I couldn't feel more blessed right now, especially in this economic period where I have so many friends and family members that it's really having an impact on. I have two jobs to go to. It's a nice time to be working. My family is always there for me. I try not to go more than two weeks without seeing them, when I am on location, so either they fly to me or I fly to them. There are ways that we make it work. I have Skype and we eat dinner together on Skype. It's important to me to keep it all connected.

IESB: You've done really varied projects, throughout your career, and played very different characters, that appeal to all different demographics and genres. Has that been intentional, on your part?

Peter: It's all been intentional. When I first started, I had the last name Facinelli and I thought, "Okay, I'm not going to do any Italian roles." When I first started, all the auditions I got were for The Sopranos, and I decided I wasn't going to do any Italian roles. I have this fear of being typecast as one thing or another, and I didn't want to be typecast because I wanted to continue playing different roles. And so, whenever I finished a role, I would always do something completely different.

I remember I did Can't Hardly Wait and I got offered a teen movie right after that, and I passed on it and did a movie, called Supernova, where I shaved my head, grew a beard, put on 20 pounds and was the main bad guy in this $60 million Walter Hill movie. I was like, "If they're going to want me to be a teen, I'm going to go completely opposite." If you look at the characters I've played, and you put the character from The Big Kahuna with Kevin Spacey next to Van Ray from Fastlane, and you put that next to the character I did in Riding in Cars with Boys, and you put that next to Damages, and you put that next to Twilight, and then you put that next to Dr. Cooper in Nurse Jackie, what I'm proud of, as an actor, is that they're all different visually, the way they appear on screen, and in their personalities.

That's all intentional, for me. I didn't want to be the actor where, when you walk into their movie, you know what to expect. As much as it was done on purpose, it's actually easier when you do one thing really well because studio executives look and say, "Oh that guy? Get him. He does romantic comedies." For me, I've always had to prove myself and say, "Hey, look, I can do the comedy. I can do the action. I can do the drama." I've gone back and forth so many times that, as much as I didn't want to be stereotyped, it hurts because I'm not put in a box and people don't know what to do with me. I have to continually go in and prove that I can play something. But, it's been a great career and I'm proud of the work. When you line up all those different characters I've played, I find that's what drives me, as an actor.

IESB: You seem to also have fans that connect to each of the projects you've done. Does that surprise you?

Peter: It's really funny to me. Because I've looked so different in things, a lot of times, people come up to me and say, "You look so familiar." And then they, realize I'm an actor and they'll ask me what I was in, and I have to look at them and guess what they would know me from. Sometimes, they completely throw me because I'll think they must watch Damages and they'll be like, "No, I've seen Can't Hardly Wait." It's fun to meet my audience and learn what think I've done that's connected with them. One time, I walked down the block and I met somebody who said, "Hey, I loved you in Can't Hardly Wait." And, a block later, someone said, "Hey, I loved you in The Lather Effect," and I was like, "You saw that?" It's funny to meet people and have them know me from different things.

IESB: Are there any types of roles or specific genres that you'd like to do, in your career, that you haven't gotten the chance to do yet?

Peter: One of my favorite things, and I know it didn't last, was Fastlane, only because I got to do action, drama and comedy, all in one. That was a fun show to do. I haven't done a romantic comedy yet. That might be fun to do.

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New Moon 14 Seconds Trailer Preview

NEW MOON MOVIE COMPANION: THE COVER!!

The cover for New Moon: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion which is to be published by Little, Brown on October 6th. The book is packed with exclusive full-color photos of the cast, sets and locations and is the ultimate companion to your soon-to-be favorite movie!

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THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON Interview with Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner

Following a very enthusiastic Comic-Con panel for Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: New Moon, co-stars Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner sat down to talk about what fans can expect from the next installment in the story, and how much better prepared they are for all of the attention and adoration, this time around.

Q: So, how's your Comic-Con experience been?

Taylor: It's very similar to last year. It's just that we were expecting it, this time. Last year, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. This time, we brought ear plugs.

Q: How does it feel to be working on such a popular film with such a huge fan base?

Kristen: It feels good. There's nothing bad. Trying to describe what it feels like is so funny. Everyone feels like we're nervous about the pressure and having approval, but this art form is so subjective, anyway. People say, "I love this book. I'm obsessed with it." And, we can say, "Well yeah, me too.' Everything is better, if you're on some sort of common ground. It's like fire. There's nothing better than sharing passion. This is so far out of our scope of what's going on in our head, when we're shooting a movie. It was strange having fans so close, but like Chris Weisz said, it's like doing theater when they stand up and clap after every take, and sit there very quietly organized, in little rows, and try not to disturb us while we're all in character. It's a little bit more pressure, but at the same time it was motivating.

Taylor: It was encouraging.

Kristen: Yes, it was very encouraging.

Taylor: It was kind of cool to see you have this fan base behind you.

Q: How was it shooting in Italy?

Kristen: I had never spent more than a couple of days there. We went to Rome, for the first Twilight tour. It was so fleeting. I was only there for two seconds. It was so overwhelming to sit on the countryside for hours and just do nothing. It's a completely different world. I would love to spend more time there. We shot in this little town that was gorgeous.

Q: Do you enjoy working on different films, in between filming each of these installments of the saga?

Kristen: Yeah, if it was Twilight all the time and I did nothing in between, I would go a little batty. For me, I'd say it definitely alleviates pressure.

Q: How's The Runaways going?

Kristen: Really good. It's hard to talk about now because I still have four days of shooting left. I feel that what we're doing is really important. I feel like what The Runaways did was really important, so trying to convey that is really awesome. It's daunting, to say the least.

Q: What do you think the New Moon fans are not expecting from this film?

Taylor: Giant fuzzy werewolves.

Kristen: No, I think they expected those.

Taylor: I honestly don't think they're expecting to be as heartbroken as I think they will be. I know when I read New Moon, I really felt bad for Jacob's character and Bella, just because Jacob can't have her and he's trying to get her, and everything that's going on, and her being torn and confused. I felt really bad, but actually, when I lived the experience with Kristen, it was much worse, and I just can't imagine what the fans are going to think when they watch that.

Kristen: He feels bad for himself.

Taylor: I don't feel bad for myself. I feel bad for Jacob and I feel bad for you.

Q: What do you think the fans are going to enjoy the most about New Moon?

Taylor: Somebody like me would enjoy the action because I love action movies and New Moon takes that to another level than Twilight was. And, it's a lot more complicated, this time around. It takes what Bella and Edward developed in Twilight, and it smashes that at the beginning, and then it becomes complicated until the end of the movie.

Kristen: Yeah, it's not an easy story. Not that Twilight was, but Twilight was about two people who were already conflicted internally, throwing themselves against each other, mindlessly. It was just very impulsive. And, in this case, we had to think a lot more about what we were doing because it wasn't instinctual, like a chemistry love thing. Everything in these movies is heightened. If you get sad, you don't just get sad. It's like you'd rather just be dead. I guess people experience that in real life, but in our movie, it's more than that. So, it was just harder.

Q: Does something like that take the challenge for you, as an actor, to another level?

Kristen: Yeah, it's hard because you have no reference. I don't know what it's like to be shattered by somebody who physiologically completes you, and then you have that taken away, and what that feels like. I don't know because, for me, it doesn't exist. So, yeah, it's hard.

Q: Was there a moment in time when you realized Twilight was going to become this phenomenon?

Kristen: I think at Comic-Con last year.

Taylor: For sure, definitely. When we were filming, it had no attention as it does, this time around. The first big thing for us was Comic-Con. Just to walk out on that stage and hear the screams of the 6,000 fans was really different and I don't think any of us were expecting it. So, that was the huge eye-opener for us, the first time around.

Q: When the Twilight saga is done, how will you feel about getting your life back?

Taylor: I'm so thankful to be a part of this, and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I've made a lot of great friendships with everybody that I've worked with, and we've got a while left. I haven't really started thinking about that yet because it's my main focus right now.

Kristen: Yeah, which is good, I guess. I can't wait to be finished because, when I start a movie initially, I'm dying to get it done. I'm thinking about something all the time and I want to go through the experience. I want to do the scenes and I want to make sure that we do them right. And, in this case, I have so much ahead of me. Usually, I have six weeks and, at the end of the six weeks, we will have made our product. We will have gone through everything that we wanted to. But, in this case, I have to wait, literally, years. So, I'm waiting to get it done. I want it to be done.

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