"The vampire thing isn't really what appeals to me about this series of books. It's the characters, and it's Bella especially. And it's the chance to work with these young actors, and to be honest with Kristen [Stewart] especially. She's extraordinary," explained Weitz during New Moon's LA press conference.
Director Chris Weitz, Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, and Producer Wyck Godfrey Interview
Putting together the syllabus for the cast, what was your thinking behind that? Why did you feel you needed to this time around?Chris Weitz: "Well, I knew that I needed to do quite a lot of thinking coming into the movie because I was the new kid. So, all of the actors knew their characters but what often happens with actors, I think, is that they get kind of dropped into a war zone, into a room that they're supposed to have known all their lives, or into a scene with someone their supposed to have known all their lives, and they're not quite aware either of where they are, who they're meeting, or indeed what movie they're in. I mean they know that they're in New Moon, but what I really didn't want was a sequelitis or the idea that we're just cranking out a franchise. I wanted everyone to know what sort of movie we wanted to make and what had already been discussed with Javier [Aguirresarobe], our DP, and with David Brisbin, our production designer, what had gone into the script from Melissa, what kind of thinking had gone into where we were, so that it was a holistic experience rather than the somewhat brutal process that making a film can sometimes be."
There are a lot of hunky guy moments in this movie that the girls are going to go crazy for. Even Laurent gets to show up bare-chested. Can you guys talk about constructing those moments and then delivering on them?
Melissa Rosenberg: "I wish I could take credit for the moments of Jacob pulling off his shirt and Edward pulling off his shirt. They are in the book and it seemed unwise to leave them out."
Chris Weitz: "That would be a cut that you would regret. I like to say it's all essentially economics. You see, the Quileutes don't have very high average income and they can't afford the T-shirts they would need, given the amount of times they turn into wolves on short notice and their clothes burst. So, really, they'd have to go to Wal-Mart every 10 minutes. They just go around in shorts for that reason."
And were the scenes in there to get teenagers' hearts going?
Chris Weitz: "Well, yes. I will say that the last scene especially is constructed…Melissa and I talked about it and it's constructed in such a way that it's meant to be one of the most scream-inducing moments - and it doesn't even involve abdominal muscles – in recent film history. I think that there's this wonderful audience that appreciates what we do, wants us to do well, and really wants to engage in an emotional experience. And so to me it made sense to be unashamed of the emotionality of the piece. And there's werewolves fighting each other, vampires fighting each other, vampires fighting werewolves, and all sorts of great stuff for boys as well, but the girls needed to be given their due. And we, I think, deliver."
Was there ever a concern about making Jacob too appealing?
Chris Weitz: "It's a balance, isn't it, in terms of how he's written and how Edward's written, and how they're shot. I think that for the diehard Twilight fans nothing will ever beat Edward and so you've got this kind of very strong, simple fact that they know that he is the one, which allows you to push as hard as you possibly can and make Jacob as winning as Taylor has been able to be. Which gives me a lot of latitude. We didn't have to suddenly have a scene in which Jacob acted like a creep so that we're reminded that we needed to love Edward. It's just a lovefest."
Twilight having such a young cast and everyone wanting to know everything about the cast, did your work with the young cast in the American Pie days help you to adapt to this film in any way?
Chris Weitz: "Strangely, not. Not in the way that you'd expect because even though the cast on the film is quite young, they'd all been in quite a lot of stuff before, especially Kristen. Whereas with American Pie, most of them were first-timers. So I didn't feel as though I had to do any hand-holding with our young actors."
"But there was the fun I'd had on American Pie of casting some unknowns in the parts of the young guys who play the Quileutes. And that's lovely. It's really great to work on a movie where you've got Michael Sheen in a scene, an extraordinary professional, then you've got a guy who was walking around and he saw a line of people waiting for an audition and was like, 'What's this?' And they said it's for some movie, and then he decided to stand at the end of the line. And then a few days later I saw the video and said, 'That guy's really funny. Let's put him in.' That's terribly enjoyable as well."
Melissa, how do you adapt from a book rather than your own personal experiences?
Melissa Rosenberg: "Very carefully because it is a very beloved book. But the objective is you have to take the audience on the same emotional journey they had in the book. That's the primary objective and, in order to take them on that journey, there's certain plot points you have to hit. You have to have, obviously, Edward breaking up with Bella. You have to Bella discover the wolves. You have to have Edward attempting to kill himself – all the things that are crucial in the book. So you start with those scenes and then you condense and expand on some things."
