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Quileute Nation Tribal School Prior to filming Eclipse, Tinsel Korey spent a week at the real Quileute Nation on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. She volunteered to teach acting classes at the K-12 Tribal School there. "As native people we're taught than when you have a gift, you give back. So this was my way of honoring the Quileute's being in the book and also bringing them to be a part of it," says Korey. "The Quileute are a real nation and they're small, only about 750 people. They are a fishing tribe and they do actually have wolves in their own creation stories. So wolves are significance within their culture, but the difference is that they don't really turn into werewolves," laughs Korey. Tourism has increased greatly since the phenomenon began. "It's a really great thing that their small nation is being acknowledged, but there's some weird things that happened too, like people ask where Jacob lives. I said to them that this is so amazing for their nation, because everybody wants to know who they are. Their eyes light up -because no one's really given them this attention before. They're now a part of something that I think will go down in history." Korey's character Emily is actually from the Makah tribe, so she also travelled up the Washington coast to Neah Bay to visit youth and elders of the neighboring Makah Nation, where she was given a flag to their nation in an honoring ceremony. "The effects of Twilight can be so overwhelming. They said 'Who wants Tinsel's autograph?' and a flood of people just came at me. Whoa. I don't think you really can be prepared for anything like this. It's just so out of this world. The Quileute didn't even know that they were in the book, until all of a sudden, busloads of little blonde girls started coming to the beach. It's all very bizarre for them." For further information about the real-life Quileute Nation visit their website at www.twilight-quileute.com.
The werewolves loved collaborating with director David Slade Like the vampires, the werewolves loved collaborating with their new director. "I like David Slade because he's real meticulous, he knows what he wants, and he's fast," comments Spencer. "I like directors like that - he gets right to the point, you get cranking it out, and looking good." "David Slade is definitely bringing a darker, edgier side to it" adds Meraz. "I think the book already has that and asks for that. David is just very intuitive and has an amazing sense of detail. He takes of time in what he's doing. He's always walking around with a camera and he's taking pictures of things he likes." "He's interesting as a director because I thought he was going be a lot more serious. But he's got that British wit to him, a very dry humor," laughs Korey, "which as a Canadian I totally understand. I don't really know what I thought a horror director would be like, maybe really creepy and mysterious. But he's cool." "I think we'll definitely see a lot of blood, which is awesome. I think David's going to bring the gore… and then he'll also bring the romance," adds Booboo Stewart.
The Humans As Bella's in-the-dark parents, Billy Burke also returns as Charlie Swan, with Sarah Clarke reprising her role from Twilight as Bella's hippy-dippy mother Rene Dwyer. "I like to think that Charlie is the passageway to reality for these movies, in addition to maybe a little bit of the moral compass," says Burke. "Charlie is pretty much oblivious to everything that goes on in these movies, which is ironic because he's the Chief of Police in Forks. So, I would prefer not to know anything that I don't need to know. Too much information for me is just going to get in the way." "Charlie, particularly as played by Billy Burke, is one of my favorite characters to write," comments Rosenberg. "Billy is phenomenal and just steals every scene he's in. He just lights up the screen, so I love writing for him. One scene in Eclipse that I just love is when Bella tells Charlie she's a virgin. Billy is just so funny and so real, as is Kristen. This conversation just has that horrible awkwardness between father and daughter, neither of whom are particularly vocal to begin with. Neither are very communicative and he just plays fumbling around the subject so beautifully." Oscar-nominated Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air) as Jessica Stanley, Michael Welch as Mike Newton, Christian Serratos as Angela Webber, and Justin Chon as Eric Yorkie - are all back in their roles as the classmates of Bella and Edward at Forks High School. "All the kids at school show a real contrast between the worlds that Bella is living in. This really serious vampire and werewolf world where everything is a life of death situation, and her life at school which is fun and light. She gets to see what her life could be if she weren't involved in the Edward world. The thing about these kids in high school, you're all so concerned about yourself. Why would you really stop to notice that they're all really pale? We think they're fascinating, but scary and unapproachable. Then it's immediately back to your own little worlds." "Jessica is like the worst parts of yourself in high school, just so needy and so desperate, and always wanting to be the center of attention, but saying the wrong thing," says Kendrick. "I think everybody's got as much Jessica in them as they do Bella. She exists to embody everything that Bella is not, to be the antithesis of all things Bella." "There's definitely a light and dark to the whole saga," says Serratos. "You need that brightness every now and then and that's where the humans come in. We bring a little laughter to it. Angela's like a little bunny… a small town girl who just loves everyone. She very quiet and timid, but she's slowly coming out of her shell. She's definitely more confident. She and Bella have been friends now for a while and they're growing closer. I think that's why Angela's loosened up a little bit more, because she has a confidant who's similar to her." "At this point, Edward and Bella are together, and I think we have to accept the fact that they're being integrated into our group, but it's a little awkward. There's that dynamic where we're a little afraid of them and we're not sure why, but fascinated. We just never notice that they don't eat anything," laughs Kendrick. "Mike embodies the small town high school experience for a lot of people - the hopeless heartbreak that is inevitable no matter where you are on the social spectrum. But in this case, it's a little heightened because he's competing with a vampire and a werewolf, who also happen to be two of the most beautiful, powerful creatures on the planet," laughs Welch. Chon adds, "Bella obviously bridges the gap between the humans and the Cullens, she's the connecting chain and it's becoming more and more natural as time goes on. The fact that we're just completely oblivious to all these dark things that are going on and we're just having regular conversations that completely brings the mood up. There's not a whole lot we have to do, it just happens by us being there. It definitely shows that contrast very starkly. They bring levity just in the fact that they're just acting like normal teenagers." "Eric's changed from a hopeless romantic to now having a girlfriend," reveals Chon. "He's also become a little bit more acclimated to his surroundings, school, and has a good group of friends who are all eclectic, and I think he's starting to really enjoy himself, but it's coming to an end." The graduation party provides an opportunity for the friends to finally get to see inside the mysterious Cullen house. "We're really looking forward to the party at the Cullens. It's a huge deal, because we want to see where they live. These are the mystery people of the school and we don't know what to expect. We just know that Alice invited us, so it's really exciting. We all get to dance and have fun…Mike and I have a robot battle - a robot dance-off," laughs Chon. Even thought their roles are small, the actors appreciated director David Slade's attention. "David is completely committed to making sure that everything feels right and that everybody is really going through what you would be going through at that moment. That's a great feeling knowing nobody's getting lost in the shuffle," says Kendrick. "David is very smart and very funny. He's very, very specific in terms of what he wants and what he envisions. Which is great when you're working with somebody who has really good instincts. So, I trust him. That's really all you can ask for from a director, somebody who you just trust to not make you look like an idiot… although Mike is supposed to look like an idiot," laughs Welch. "They're really picking directors that match each book and each movie perfectly," adds Serratos. "Catherine was so Twilight, and Chris was so New Moon, and now they have David. They all are the same color as their book." "David Slade is an amazing director. He's extremely specific and he's very clear on what he wants. He brings that element of darkness that's very present in this world and makes it more adult-like. He understands the story enough to know that there needs to be a little bit more lightness for the dark to become darker," explains Chon. "Each book gets a little bit darker than the last, so each movie progresses getting darker and edgier and cooler and faster," agrees Serratos. Filmmakers have taken some creative liberties with the dynamics between the high school friends. "The humans have had the most leeway because the fans don't let you get away with anything as far as the werewolves and the vampires are concerned. Everything has to be just as it was in the books," laughs Kendrick. "But the humans… we get to play around a little bit. I'm glad that we got to stray a little bit and find our own voices. And we're graduating, so this might be the last chance that we have to be involved in The Twilight Saga, so we're trying to have as much fun as we can while we're still here."
New Characters from the Past Oscar-nominated Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria, Jack Huston as Royce King, and English musician Peter Murphy appear in roles that flesh out the back stories of Jasper, Rosalie, and the Quileute Tribe. "Part of the fun of working on a movie like this is you get actors who want to be a part of it," shared Godfrey. "Catalina's agents called about Maria, which is a great little chapter of the book, but you don't expect to get an Academy nominated actress to call up and go 'Can I come just do those two days on the movie.' It really elevates the movie to have people like Catalina and Jack Huston, who plays Royce, in small roles. It's been fun not having to do all of these huge scouts to find the perfect person, because you've got five perfect people asking you if they can be a part of it." Flanked by Canadian actresses Kristen Prout (Elektra, "Stargate") and Leah Gibson (Watchman, "Caprica"), Catalina Sandino Moreno plays the leader of three beautiful ladies who Jasper meets one night in the 19th century. "Maria is a very powerful woman, a strong vampire woman who recruits Jasper to help her. Maria likes Jasper, she's very intrigued by him, and makes him second in command, helping her with all the killings," explains Moreno. Their connection is echoed in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse by Victoria and Riley's relationship. "Maria is the vampire that turns Jasper back in the Civil War. She created a Newborn Army and appointed Jasper as her right hand man and also her lover," explains Rathbone. "Basically, Maria was using Jasper for his special talent - to manipulate emotions - because he was able to calm down the newborns and train them to fight better." Moreno relished the opportunity to play a vampire. "Look at me - isn't it fun to just dress up and put in vampire eyes?" enthuses Moreno. "If you're going to do a vampire, you might as well be an evil vampire. For my taste, I think it's cool." Moreno also enjoyed collaborating with David Slade. "I love directors when they're open for any suggestions from actors, so I was very happy to meet another director that was open for anything," says Moreno. "If you want to try something, just try it, and I did." A member of one of Hollywood's oldest acting families, Jack Huston appears as Royce King, prohibition-era fiancé of Rosalie. "We brought in old cars and period costume, but to go back in time to Rochester, New York in 1933, it really became more about the mannerisms of people at that time than about the scenery," comments Slade. "It was really about the way people behave. Jack Huston - who plays the despicable Royce King and is a new face to the Twilight world - played in a Hemmingway project recently and he really brought this evil side to him. It was really was in mannerism more than anything else, more than it was in art deco and all of the things that you get from the '30's. It was a really good, close, intimate scene. It was very much about the way they would look at one another and laugh, that we looked at for our period piece in the '30's." The godfather of goth Peter Murphy was cast in a cameo as a Cold One from the 17th Century. David Slade explains, "Pete Murphy is a name that will probably be completely unrecognizable to almost everybody watching the DVD. I am old, so I grew up with different music. In the '80's, Goth music became quite big and there was this band called Bauhaus who had a big single called 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' about the actor that played Dracula in 1931. It's a vampire chic, ironic sort of song about the disaffection of youth and the death of the vampire. It's a great song and Peter Murphy was the lead singer of Bauhaus and he was the original vampire." "So, who's should play the first ever vampire in Eclipse? I said why not Peter Murphy? Why not the first ever vampire? It'd be cool," adds Slade. "We contacted him and he said he'd love to. He put his little wig and coat on and he was really into it… it was great. I know there are people my age and older who read Twilight books, so those people will know exactly who he is, and it'll be a nice funny little surprise. For younger people, it'll be good trivia. I think it's really nice and Pete was lovely." "David is English and there was that immediate compatriot understanding with each other's sensibilities," says Murphy. "When he would give me notes, he would enact out certain moves, and I felt that he was acting so well that it was quite easy to take a cue off that straight away, and not have to make too much up. He's a gentleman."
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