MOVIEHOLE: INTERVIEW WITH XAVIER SAMUEL

Moviehole got a chance to have a quick chat with Xavier Samuel who will be playing Riley in Eclipse. Xavier talks about his character and what it’s like to join the Twilight experience.

Question: Did you know anything about that particular franchise?

Samuel: To be honest, not really. Like, I watched the film on the plane. And at that stage, I hadn’t read the books, but I have now. I knew very little about it. I knew that it was extremely popular, and people kind of go crazy for it.

Question: Crazy is an understatement.

Samuel: Yeah. Like, you know, this notion of eternal love, and danger, and - you know, the thing that you love could kill you - that sort of stuff is, like - I guess it’s intoxicating for a lot of people.

Question: And you play a vampire in Eclipse?

Samuel: Newborn vampire.

Question: A newborn vampire. Do you do any research on something like this?

Samuel: Sleep in coffins at night, and stuff like that?

Question: Or look at classic horror films that explored vampire culture.

Samuel: I think that I’ve resisted that temptation, because the vampires, in Twilight, are very different. I think there’s a crucial element to portraying something like that is retaining some sort of humanity, and if you can do that, then hopefully it can work, in less of a stereotypical, clichéd kind of way.

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