Courtesy of Summit
During a recent press event in Denver, the CU Independent got some time to talk with “The Twilight Sage: New Moon” actors Alex Meraz and Kiowa Gordon. Meraz plays the werewolf Paul and Gordon plays his packmate Embry Call in the highly anticipated sequel to last fall’s hit.
The wolf pack actors said Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, and director Chris Weitz did a good job of getting everything in the book into the movie.
“Same story line, it’s very close. And also Stephenie Meyer, she is on set, she is an adviser. There are certain scenes that she wanted to make sure [were done] the way she visualized and wrote it,” Gordon said.
Meraz said his favorite part in the movie was when his character meets up with heroine Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart.
“My favorite scene for me to film was my transformation, getting punched by Kristen. That was cool, she had a great time with that. She found a home for those punches, you know ‘I can do better,’” Meraz said.
Meraz and Gordon, who are both Natives Americans themselves, both said starring in “New Moon” was a way to break boundaries culturally and introduce new Native Americans into the Hollywood scene. The whole process started about eight months ago when they first auditioned for the roles.
Meraz, who is 24-years-old, has been a dancer and performer since he was 18 and when he took the opportunity to represent a group of people so similar to his own, he said he was excited and nervous at the same time.
“Getting this opportunity was great because it wasn’t the same old guys getting these roles. It was new people,” Meraz said. “That’s a reason why I wanted to get this job, too, and also just to break boundaries.”
Meraz likened his performance to representing natives from all over the Americas and said he did not want to exclude anyone from that group.
“After experiencing what people go through on reservations, they don’t have too many people to look up to. Stepping into it, even the audition process, I prayed everyday to be able to represent the Quileute tribe in a good way,” Meraz said.
For Gordon, who is 19-years-old, “New Moon” is his first acting gig so when asked about the pressure of such a highly anticipated film he said it all fell into place on set.
“I never acted before. It was freaky to go out there with people who have been acting for years. Once filming started, it got really easy for some reason; it all came really natural,” Gordon said.
Gordon said that through acting, he is able to represent a character on screen that is far from him normal persona.
“I like that I can go into a different world and be a different person and put that up on the screen for other people to see,” Gordon said. “I [normally] like to hang out with my friends, watch movies and play video games.”
New Moon opens Friday in theaters nationwide.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sara Handing at Sara.handing@colorado.edu.
