 "Photo: All photos Hollywood Blvd. and Hollywood Palms Cinemas")
 "Photo: All photos Hollywood Blvd. and Hollywood Palms Cinemas")
You may remember a certain movie about sparkly vampires that came out last year. It was based on some romance novel (of the trashy paperback variety) masquerading as a serious coming-of-age tale/gothic horror story. Stephenie Meyer wrote it. I can never remember its name. Was it Evening? Maybe Late Afternoon? The Crepuscular Moment? Wait. . . Twilight! It was called Twilight.
Does the very mention of this word excite you? If it does, then I don’t need to remind you that the next installment of the Twilight movies, New Moon, comes out on Nov. 20.
Based on the second book of Stephenie Meyer’s four-book epic, New Moon continues to follow the angst-ridden love affair between sparkly vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), the human girl who excites Edward’s appetite for both romance and blood. It’s Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with the substitution of supernatural creatures for human beings and plodding clichés for effervescent poetry. New Moon will be followed by the third movie, Eclipse, next summer.
Last week I had the good fortune to meet with 24-year-old Kellan Lutz of Dickinson, ND, who plays Emmett Cullen in The Twilight saga. He’s the vampiric brother of romantic stalker Edward. Emmett acts as the cheerful muscleman in this gloomy tale of undead hormones, making him a welcome (though underused) presence onscreen.
In person, Lutz is just as good-looking as he is on screen, though he has clearly benefitted from the attention of studio make-up artists and hairdressers. He also dresses like he just walked off the catwalk, though considering he was an Abercrombie and Fitch model (and the romantic lead in the music video for Hilary Duff’s “With Love”) before appearing in the Twilight movies, I wouldn’t expect anything less.
Definitely a charmer, he casually starts off the interview by asking if I have brought a taser with me. I experience a moment of bewildered panic before realizing that he is pointing at my tape recorder, which is a terrifying piece of technology that honestly looks like it could switch from stun to kill at any moment. I laugh and say no, and then we set to the task of seeing what lies behind that pretty face.
Phoenix [PH]: So what led you to the movie?
Kellan Lutz [KL]: I liked [the script], but [my agents] wanted me to go out for Edward because that was the lead. I had just gotten done working [Generation Kill] where you kill people and you see the poverty and was just like ‘I don’t want to be and play a depressed vampire,’ so I kept on passing it up. I just didn’t even want to audition. And then they’re like, ‘Well, what about the role of Emmett?’ So I reread it, and I loved Emmett. He’s the comic relief, he’s funny. He just seems so happy to be a vampire and to have that strength. So I said, ‘Yeah, sure, why not.’ I auditioned and got the part, which was amazing.
PH: Had you read the books before you auditioned?
KL: Once I had the role ... Ashley Greene [fellow vampire Alice Cullen] came by, who has been one of my best friends forever. She knocked on my door and asked if I had read the books. I joked it off and was just like, ‘Haha, what books?’ So she ran off and got the books and I was just like, ‘Shut up, there’s books? This is awesome.’ So I quickly read those and after meeting with fans that came to the set I get why they are so amazed and marveled by this franchise. The books are amazing. They really are.
PH: To what extent were you allowed to perform your own stunts?
KL: We all have stunt doubles. It’s kind of mandatory, for insurance reasons ... [But] I give 150 percent with the stunts because my character doesn’t have much dialogue so he’s really there as a figure and to do the action. I’ve found that I put more effort in to it than the stunt guys do. You see them do a tackle and with my kick boxing and jujitsu background ... seeing [my] stunt guy doing something not so crisp and being like, ‘Let me do it once! Just once! I’ll sign off on it and whatever.’ Then I’ll do it once and they’ll be like, ‘Thank god you did that. That was the best one.’ That way you get to show your face some more. But we had great stunt guys ... They made sure the lines are safe when I jump over the ravine in Eclipse, which is pretty intense. It’s nice to put your trust in a group of people and have them really go to bat for you.
PH: How was the atmosphere on set in general?
KL: Ashley Greene and I were probably the closest on set because of the years we have been friends. We just love playing board games and I think it’s kind of contagious, the happiness and smiles we have on our faces … With the rest of the cast, no one has changed. With all the work Rob [Pattinson] and Kristen [Stewart] have to do and [Taylor Lautner as werewolf Jacob Black] at his young age. You know being thrown into something epic as Twilight and seeing all the fans, it could go to some actors’ heads. But no one has changed. No one has changed their numbers and blocked the rest of the cast … It’s a really talented group of actors, really down to earth.
PH: What can fans expect from Eclipse that is different from Twilight and New Moon?
KL: It’s more an action movie. To be honest, I don’t think I would have seen Twilight if I wasn’t a part of it. I would think it was a chick flick … New Moon right off the bat when I saw it at the MTV Music Awards I was like, ‘Wow, these wolves look amazing! It just looks so cool. It looks so action packed. It looks like a guy-friendly movie.’And that’s what it is.
PH: Has there been anything you haven’t liked about the productions thus far?
KL: Um … [In] New Moon I didn’t like how little time I was able to be on set. I was only on set for a week. I wish I had been there all the time to hang out with the cast. Crap service … You know, not enough gummy bears. But no, no complaints. It’s just such a fun process to be a part of.
PH: Have you been approached off set or mobbed by fans?
KL: Yeah, it’s always quite funny when they start chasing you. I’ll be walking down the street with my dog and hear a car screech and the girls jump out screaming, ‘Emmett!’ or ‘Kellan!’ Then you start running. They’re adorable, especially doing these mall tours. There’s just so much love. It’s really some euphoric love. It’s just really cool to have fans like that.
PH: What are some projects that you are working on now that we can look forward to?
KL: Well, the Twilight bubble is never ending. Every day I think there is something to do with Twilight or New Moon or Eclipse. I have Warrior coming out with Ashley Greene … [The remake of] Nightmare on Elm Street, amazing movie, scary movie. [Jackie Earle Haley as Freddie Kreuger] is terrifying and the movie is just great. It comes out in April I believe. Then we have Eclipse coming out in June, July roughly. I did another movie called Meskada, which is really cool. It’s … about the hardships of living in a poverty-stricken town when your main occupation gets taken away … I think that’s going to festivals, and I hope it does well.
So what have we learned about Kellan Lutz and the Twilight movies? Well, first of all, even the guys involved with the production knew that what they were making was for girls only. We also found out that I am not the only one that thinks of Edward Cullen as that “depressed vampire.” And most importantly, we now have first-hand knowledge that Kellan Lutz thinks that even his most fanatic fans are adorable, so if you really do have a taser this might be your chance. Lutz will be appearing at the Hollywood Boulevard Cinema in Woodridge on both Nov. 21 (4 p.m.-10 p.m.) and 22 (noon-6 p.m.) to promote New Moon. You should note, however, that taking this review seriously and attempting to assault Kellan Lutz or any other cast member is a sign of severe mental illness. Don’t blame The Phoenix when you are thrown in jail.
Are you or a loved one a Twi-hard? TV doctors recommend a daily dose of Twilight fan fiction until this weekend, when New Moon opens wherever teenage girls are found.
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