I have come to a hotel room in Seattle to catch a shard of the “Twilight” phenomenon: two of the film’s actors have arrived, to do interviews and appear at Nordstrom for a meet ‘n’ greet with fans.
These two members of the “Twilight Saga: New Moon” cast are not the top-billed performers. In fact, they’re fairly far down the list, but such is the power of the “Twilight” name that they’ll draw the crowd anyway.
They are Daniel Cudmore, who grew up near Vancouver, B.C., and looms somewhere around the 6-foot-7 mark; and Charlie Bewley, a blond English bloke.
Their demeanor is reflected in their stature: big guy Cudmore exudes calm, while the more compact Bewley drapes himself across a couple of handy chairs as he gesticulates.
Cudmore played Colossus in the “X-Men” pictures, while “Twilight” is Bewley’s first screen work. They play members of the Volturi, elite vampires from novelist Stephenie Meyer’s fictional saga and they were busy signing souvenirs for the department-store giveaway when I came in the room.
Q: Have you guys seen the movie?
Daniel Cudmore: We haven’t seen it yet. Some of the cast have seen it, but we see it on Monday (Nov. 16) at the premiere in L.A.
I’m excited. It’s such a big film, it’s going to be this massive blockbuster that’s completely stepped up as compared to the first one.
Charlie Bewley: Let’s be frank about it: The first one was an indie film made as a stand-alone and this one is a huge blockbuster movie. It brings in all these big, aggressive, primal characters that turn the “Twilight” universe on its head.
I think they’ll bring in this totally new demographic and bring in more males to watch this film. This is more of a male film, if you think about it. But it’s very exciting for me, I haven’t seen myself on the big TV yet, so I’ll be going in there as excited as anyone else, very nervous. It’s a bit of a trip, I’ll tell you.
Q: Have your castmates told you anything about it?
DC: I’ve told them, I don’t want to hear anything. I want to go in as a fan and just take it all in.
Q: Do you guys find it strange to be involved not just in a movie, “Twilight,” but also the whole galaxy that surrounds it?
CB: Absolutely. You could make a career out of this. The publicity is nonstop.
I went back to London a few weeks ago, I had nothing to do for four days and I went to my publicist the day before and said, “What can you get me?”
And they got me a car, a hotel and two dozen interviews in about an hour. People just want to soak this whole thing up because they realize how big it’s going to be. And furthermore, they don’t realize how big it’s going to be. It’s going to be huge.
Q: Do you ever feel like you’re in one of those “Star Trek” things, where you’ll be signing autographs at conventions when you’re 75 years old?
CB: I hope not to be in that situation where I have to live off that! I’m looking forward to enjoying this for what it is, really appreciating my character and the whole “Twilight” universe, and then putting my doll in a glass box and walking away from it.
Q: You mean the action figure?
CB: The action figure!
DC: It’s not a doll. Not a doll.
CB: Sorry! Well, I’ll tell you, I’ve seen the Bella doll and it’s definitely a doll. It’s a flippin’ Barbie doll with black hair.
Q: You were suggesting that the sequel has changed the tone; in what way?
CB: To freshen up the series and keep it rolling forward, they got (director) Chris Weitz involved, who’s a great CGI expert and very good at these kind of things, and he has created an action film — and with that, you have the idiosyncrasies of the action film and a big Hollywood feel about it.
DC: The third film (“Eclipse”)has finished filming and it’s in post-production. And they got this director David Slade (“30 Days of Night”) in who brings a darker mood, because there’s a darker feel to that book.
They’re working at a pretty fevered pace, and doing a great job of it. Fast, fast, fast.
Q: Where were these shot?
DC: “New Moon” was shot mostly around Vancouver, and then we had six days of shooting in Montepulciano, Italy, north of Rome, which was just — what an experience for us. This is quite a job, where you get to travel to beautiful places and get paid to work there.
Q: Have you heard what “Twilight” has been for the real Forks, Washington (setting of the story)? They’ve really embraced it.
DC: How great is that, that something like “Twilight” has kind of breathed new life into a town?
CB: It’s amazing, you’re on the set, and there’s this one lady sitting behind a monitor, and it’s Stephenie Meyer, and you just think about how many lives her creativity has impacted. I look at her, and she’s a very unassuming lady with obviously a brilliant database of emotional interplay and knowledge.
If I was in her situation, I would look at myself in the mirror on occasion and think, I’ve changed so many lives.
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