Twilight Coven Philippines

Team Solomon reports:

"My agent heard from Summit Entertainment today that I will not be reprising the role of Sam in "New Moon." While I will cherish the experience of being involved in the first film, I am looking forward to many new opportunities in the future and would like to thank everyone for their support."
Posted on Solomon's personal MySpace and FaceBook.

Awwwww, no!

We just hope that whoever gets the role of Sam in the sequel will do as great a job as Solomon did.

There's lots of coverage of the Japan premiere of Twilight all over the internet, but we have a whole series from the perspective of our friends from Twilight Singapore.



Part 1 with photos and details from the Press Conference are here. There are more to come from the Red Carpet and the actual Premiere. Thanks to Aishah, Maria and Nasyita of Twilight Singapore for all the updates. :)

There's more about Rob and Hugh Jackman's karaoke session at JustJared here.

MTV has picked up yesterday's buzz about Drew Barrymore being considered to direct Eclipse.

Twilight fan and film student, Maggie (ScullingOnSquam) has more about her time on the set of Twilight here.

Solomon Trimble is a guest on Olivia Wilder Times on BlogTalkRadio.com today. The show will be on in 7 minutes (as of this posting). Click here for more info. You can also use the site's chat feature to ask Solomon some questions. Thanks to Nicole for the heads-up.

Please do not repost the interview, just link to the site. Thanks.

A few weeks ago, we were contacted by a member of Solomon Trimble's PR team, and she asked if we would be interested in doing an e-mail interview with Solomon. Of course we jumped at the chance since we loved Solomon as Sam Uley in the movie, however brief his appearance was.

So here are Solomon's answers to our questions, and boy, did we also get a nice surprise revelation from him. ;)

TCP: What was your most memorable experience on the set of Twilight?

Solomon Trimble: The whole experience was memorable. I was really amazed by how much time and effort goes into making a film. I think I will remember singing a Quileute song for the camera crew the most. I had written the song with the intention of becoming more fluid with the pronunciation of the language, and then I got the chance to perform it for the camera, who knows where the footage will end up...

[Hey, we'd love to see that! Dear Catherine....]

TCP: Which of the Twilight Saga characters do you have the most in common with?

Solomon Trimble: Sam and Carlisle. Sam, because I have had to choose between two cousins I was romantically involved with and Carlisle because I too resist the urge to bite at random. Sorry, I like having fun with these questions, I get asked it most often. It's really Sam. He is true to himself and his people, and to the ones that he loves, above all wants or desires. Out of the pack, I respect him and oddly Paul the most.

TCP: What did you think of how the Quileutes were portrayed in the book?

Solomon Trimble: I like how Stephenie Meyer kept the story in Bella's perspective for the most part, and that even when she wrote from Jacob's perspective, she treated the Native American characters as just that, characters. Many authors lose sight of that when writing stories with a little Native American flavor.

TCP: Can you tell us about your favorite Quileute legend?

Solomon Trimble: I feel very privileged to have learned of the Quileute's histories. I am very careful of not referring to indigenous oral histories and beliefs as legends or myths. No matter the religion or belief system I belong to, I was given the same respect from them. Yet of all that was shared I found it most interesting that Quileute honor the bear and the wolf equally. Now the entire story is not mine to tell but this belief is shared amongst more than one tribe. One elder told me "The Bear is our brother, our sister. They walk like use, breastfeed like us, cry like humans do when in mourning, and I mean their cries sound human. And if you ever happen to come upon a bear's corpse-all the bones look human, especially the hips and ribs, all but the skull is the same. We don't eat bear because of this..." I wonder if Stephenie Meyer knew this about the Quileute. If she did, she made a good choice in picking the more marketable animal; I can't imagine how popular "Twilight" would have been, if it had been about gigantic teddy bears wondering the woods hunting vampires.

TCP: If it were up to you to decide, who is your personal choice to play the role of Emily and why?

Solomon Trimble: This is a dangerous question to ask a 24 year old. The answer would just be my celebrity crush, and not a good fit for Emily, Leah maybe. Sorry, you're not getting this one out of me.

[Aww, shucks. Well, you can't say we didn't try. :p]

TCP: We remember reading in "Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion" that you were an invaluable help to Catherine Hardwicke and the crew when it came to all things Quileute. Were you also involved in or did you influence Sam Uley's characterization in the film?

Solomon Trimble: I studied the histories of the Quileute and learned as much language as I could before the shoot. But the work with wardrobe is what the quote is referring to most. I wore a now infamous coat. The coat has an image with what appears to be a werewolf/shape shifter wearing the same coat, which I thought was very relevant. It is also made out of Pendleton wool, a highly sought after material by tribes in the northwest of North America. The coat is a token of leadership and acknowledgment, my mother made it for me when I graduated high school, and since I've graduated from college she has decorated it further. I digress. Sam is technically a werewolf when at the beach scene. I worked with wardrobe to dress the Quileute's but more to plead with them to wear the least amount of clothing as possible, because Sam is running a werewolf fever. I felt dumb when I got sick the day of the shoot. I'm glad Catherine made me wear an extra hooded sweatshirt... But to answer the question, bringing an authentic Quileute characterization to Sam was an honor. I feel blessed to be a part of such a successful film and I would be honored to be given the chance influence the characterization of the whole pack to be more authentically Quileute in the future.

TCP: If you could exchange roles with anyone on the Twilight cast, who would it be and why?

Solomon Trimble: Sorry Kristen, but I would rock Bella! Just kidding, I need to quit drinking red-bull before interviews. Seriously though, I wouldn't change a thing.

[See? Everyone wants to be Bella. Heheh. :p We kid, we kid. ]

TCP: If you can ask only one question of Stephenie Meyer about your character or about Twilight in general, what would it be?

Solomon Trimble: "What is his hobby?"

TCP: What is your dream role?

Solomon Trimble: I feel as though being a part of "Twilight" has been a dream come true for me. As of now, I would like to work with the actors, John Malkovich, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe and Shia LaBeouf. As for directors I would like to work with, Gus Van Sant, John Carpenter, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor to name a few.

TCP: Finally, we just have to ask: Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Solomon Trimble: Edward, because as a wolf-pack member I'm sure we're all tired of hearing about Bella on the telepathic werewolf radio station broadcast by Jacob.

Solomon also said: "I've always wanted to go to the Philippines and meet the people still living in the mountains and hills in the original traditional ways, before the Spanish Influence. And of course party in Manila!" and added that he once dated a Filipina.

[If you ever visit the Philippines, Solomon, we'd love to show you around and introduce you to the ways of our indigenous peoples. And of course, we'd love to party with you too. :)]

We wish we could've asked him more questions or follow-ups to this one. We admittedly panicked a little bit when we were asked regarding the interview. *is sheepish*

We hope to see Solomon as Sam in New Moon, or at the very least, see him get involved in the movie in some way. :)

Thanks so much to Solomon for taking the time out to answer our questions, and thanks to Nicole for arranging the interview.

Links: Solomon Trimble's Official MySpace Page | IMDB page | Team Solomon Website | Team Solomon on MySpace

We apologize if there haven't been any updates here on the blog. mabelletaka and I have been extremely busy at work.

Anyway, here are the news items that have accumulated while we were busy outside of the Twilight universe:

As long as the New Moon cast list remains a mystery, there will be casting rumours flying everywhere. The latest to come out of the New Moon rumour mill is this one: Kellan Lutz's co-star in 90210, AnnaLynne McCord, is said to have auditioned for the role of Heidi (one of the Volturi). Read the full story on E! Online here. Thanks to Mary Grace for the tip.

Also speeding uncontrollably out of the rumour mill is the news that Lionsgate is going to acquire Summit Entertainment. Hollywood Insider thinks that this is unlikely (and so do I), since Summit is doing very well on its own, especially now that it has a hit franchise in Twilight.

Variety is reporting that the New Moon cast will be shooting scenes in Volterra in May of this year. In the same article, they also reported about Eagle Films' acquisition of the distribution rights for New Moon in Italy. Read the full story here.

Some of the stars of New Moon dish to Access Hollywood about some details on the script of the sequel. There's also more info about the film from scriptwriter Melissa Rosenberg here.

Media Boulevard has a very detailed interview with Solomon Trimble.

Lastly, author Stephen King was recently interviewed by USA Today, and his comments about Stephenie Meyer and Twilight sparked some rather violent reactions from Twilight fans.

[Stephen King isn't the most diplomatic person out there when it comes to commenting on certain issues and personalities, so I'm really not surprised. He is usually very candid. While I personally think his comment about Stephenie in a public forum is somewhat uncalled for, he is entitled to his opinion, and Twilight fans shouldn't really over-react to this. What I found more noteworthy is that he's got a good pulse on what makes Twilight so appealing to its target audience. And even more interesting, we actually said the same thing in a discussion in Danag Podcast Episode 11, which will be uploaded in time for Valentine's, but which we recorded last week. Watch out for that! -CdL]

ExtraTV caught up with Rachelle Lefevre and Ashley Greene at the 8th Annual Awards Season Diamond Fashion Show Preview. Both said they were very happy to learn that Taylor Lautner would be back to reprise his role as Jacob Black in New Moon. Click here to watch the interview.

MTV has an interview with Jackson Rathbone from a recent concert of 100 Monkeys (Jackson's band). The actor said he's excited to film his scenes for New Moon, specifically, that pivotal scene in the first few chapters where Jasper gets really... ah... involved. ;) Click here to read the full story.

Inspire Magazine has a very cool interview with Solomon Trimble (Sam Uley in Twilight). We learn more about Sam's experiences on the set, his Twilight Fan encounters, and about the celebrity he really enjoyed meeting [Hint: I would have LOVED to meet this celebrity too. :p] Click here to read the full interview.

Times of the Internet has a short piece about Taylor getting the Jacob role in New Moon.

Publisher's Weekly has a report about the books that flew off the US shelves in December 2008. Most of them were children's and young adult books, and of course, the Twilight books were mentioned:

Children’s books proved to be one of the most recession-resistant segments of the book business this holiday season, with the Twilight series and the latest from J.K. Rowling leading the pack. Stephenie Meyer’s vampire books had the added distinction of being the hardest to keep in stock. At BookPeople in Austin, Tex., where getting enough copies of New Moon caused the biggest headache, “Meyer sales alone were actually 5% of our kids’ sales, which is staggering,” noted children’s book buyer Meghan Dietsche Goel in a posting on the ABC listserv.