The Deadbolt Feature - Twilight Weekly Wrap: New Moon Cast and Crew Speak Out

Twilight Weekly Wrap: New Moon Cast and Crew Speak Out
by Larson Hill

Twilght New Moon Ever since Twilight hit theaters in November 2008, the online stories surrounding the Stephenie Meyer penned Twilight Saga sequel New Moon have been flooding the web like one giant, relentless and romantic tidal wave. Although the sea of online Twilight Saga stories is getting bigger by the day, there's not a lot of real news on New Moon out there for fans to sink their teeth into. However, as the official November 2009 release date gets closer on the Twilight horizon, more New Moon actors are sharing their thoughts on both New Moon and their second time with the Twilight franchise.

In the past week of Twilight and New Moon related headlines after the recently aired MTV Movie Awards, director Chris Weitz spoke out about his vision for New Moon, actor Peter Facinelli shared personal thoughts on Twilight pressures, New Moon actor Michael Welch talked Twilight sequel smack, actress Ashley Greene chatted about Robert Pattinson, and New Moon Volturi leader Michael Sheen admitted to feeling intimidated on the set of New Moon. Also, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke revealed her hopes of reuniting with her former Twilight at some point in the future given the bond they formed on the set of the first movie in The Twilight Saga.

Here's a look at some of the most recent New Moon and Twilight related bits from those closest to The Twilight Saga:

Peter Facinelli on Twilight Saga Stars Feeling Pressure

Twilght New Moon Are the Twilight Saga stars feeling the pressure of the New Moon spotlight? Although returning actors Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, and the rest of the New Moon cast had an easier time adjusting to life on set for a second Twilight film, New Moon actor Peter Facinelli who plays Dr. Carlisle Cullen recently revealed that the Twilight Saga stars are indeed feeling pressure to live up to the first movie. Well, the only thing we can say after seeing Peter Facinelli on the streets of Vancouver when New Moon was filming is that if you have to go pseudo-incognito in a city where people leave celebs alone, there must be some pressure.

Facinelli also mentioned that being associated with Twilight and New Moon is similar in nature to fan craze surrounding The Beatles of the '60s. Head this way for more useless news on New Moon.

Chris Weitz Chats New Moon

Twilght New Moon How is the Twilight sequel shaping up now that production is almost over? New Moon director, Chris Weitz, recently spoke with Metro News about a wide variety of topics related to Twilight and New Moon, including his initial reaction to taking on The Twilight Saga sequel, adaptation issues, the casting of Dakota Fanning as Jane, the music of New Moon, whether New Moon aims at an older audience, and more. Interestingly, Weitz elaborated on his vision for New Moon, stating, "The idea is that this will look like a Victorian narrative painting in a way, with those medieval jewel-like colors as well as very glossy deep blacks, and for the composition of the frames to be classical. In some ways, this is going to be a rather old-fashioned film. There are elements that incorporate the latest technology and there are things that are very dynamic in the action scenes. But it’s more Dr. Zhivago than Iron Man."

Thanks to the New Moon director's comments, we're now wondering what it would be like to see "Dr. Zhivago meets Iron Man". For the full Metro News interview with New Moon Director Chris Weitz.

Michael Welch Talks Return Twilight

Twilght New Moon Although much of the actor related attention surrounding New Moon has be focused on Twilight Saga stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, other Twilight stars are feeling the glare of the Stephenie Meyer based spotlight, too. On the red carpet at the recent MTV Movie Awards, actor Michael Welch who plays Edward and Bella's schoolmate, Mike Newton, shared his thoughts with About.com about returning to the Twilight Saga for New Moon. Despite being on the fringes of the New Moon acting spotlight, Welch shares the same sentiment as his Twilight cast mates, telling About.com, "It was great. I mean, you know, Twilight - none of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into. We knew that it was a successful series of books, obviously, but you never really know if that's going to translate. But it did - so this time around we all sort of knew what we were getting ourselves into, and we're all very supportive."

From what we see of the Twilight Saga popularity, it wouldn't surprise us in the least if the gang in the Kraft Services truck on the set of New Moon are now huge stars, cutting book deals and making the talk show rounds.

Ashley Greene and the Robert Pattinson Pressure

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this one. Twilight star Ashley Greene recently spoke with Nylon Magazine, revealing her thoughts on the pressure New Moon actor Robert Pattinson is feeling from the increasing popularity of The Twilight Saga. In the interview, Greene talks about the life of Pattinson under the cinematic spotlight and how's he's handling his Twilight and New Moon fame, "His whole life is documented. If he picks his nose, it’s all over the Internet. He’s just done for. I think he’s kinda freakin’ out, like, ‘What the f--k is going on?’"

Well, living life under the Twilight spotlight must be tough. From what we see at this stage in the career of Robert Pattinson, being "that Twilight guy" over "that guy from Harry Potter" is working out a lot better.

Michael Sheen and New Moon Intimidation

Twilght New Moon Last week New Moon actor Michael Sheen spoke with Empire magazine about how he feels as one of the older cast members on the Twilight Saga set among a New Moon world of young stars. Although Sheen who plays Volturi leader, Aro, in the Twilight sequel did have fun working with director Chris Weitz, the Frost/Nixon actor admitted that he was intimidated by being an older Twilight actor among a slew of younger New Moon stars. Michael Sheen told Empire "It was quite intimidating being on the set with so many young, beautiful people. That was quite extraordinary being the old, ugly one amongst loads of young, beautiful ones. It's not something I'm used to really. Not because I'm young and beautiful but usually there's loads of old, ugly people around me."

What's interesting about Michael Sheen and his comment about being one of the older New Moon actors is that there's only a four year age gap between Sheen and Twilight Saga actor, Peter Facinelli.

Also, in other news connected to The Twilight Saga ...

Catherine Hardwicke and a Twilight Star Future?

After bonding with stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart on the first Twilight film, director Catherine Hardwicke revealed to MTV on the red carpet at Hollywood Life’s Young Hollywood Awards that she hopes to work with her Twilight cast again sometime in the future and that she does have a few projects that she hopes would be a good fit. For the full video, head to MTV for a brief chat with the Twilight helmer.

Before we close out on thoughts from Catherine Hardwicke, here's a Twilight bone to chew from the online New Moon recycling bin.

-- Larson Hill