Director CHRIS WEITZ spills the beans on Twilight hysteria and his Twitter addiction.
MMM: Chris, you’re the new boy to the franchise. How prepared were you for the excitement, the hysteria, that comes along with a new Twilight film?
Weitz: I was quite unprepared. When I was offered the chance to direct I had never read any of the books or seen the movie, like many people with the Y-chromosome, and I thought I’d better do some catching up. So I went to see Twilight and I thought Taylor, and Robert, and Kristen were great. So that was the first inducement, a young cast who I thought I’d be interested in working with.
Chris Weitz with Kristen Stewart on the set of Twilight: New Moon
And then I read the book and there were these wonderful dark tones to what could be done on film, as well as some challenges that I felt I could handle – the CGI required making the werewolves, being able to shoot on location in Italy, which I knew was going to be fun but very challenging.
MMM: How much interaction did you have with the Twi-Hards during filming and since you wrapped?
Weitz: Apparently I should have been scared of the Twi-Hards the whole time. And the main question I get is how much pressure did I feel given the fan-based, but actually I found they’ve been extraordinarily supportive of me. I put myself on complete media black-out while making the film because I am the person who’ll be up at 3am having a heated discussion with a 14-year-old in Norway about the film. [Laughs]
But since the movie wrapped I’ve become a horrible Twitter addict and the reaction to the footage that has come out has been extraordinarily encouraging. So it’s actually been a source of inspiration during the post-production period which has been challenging.
By film journalist Jan Gilbert
