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Twilight Mania Hits Scottsdale

Twilight: New Moon’s Powerful Volturi

By Randy Montgomery from AZ Weekly Magazine

There was considerable buzz around the opening of Twilight last year, but no one could have imagined the enormous success and fan support the film would receive. The movie, based on the vampire romance series of novels by Valley resident Stephenie Meyer grossed nearly $193 million during its theatrical run; a huge amount of money for a somewhat indie film from Summit Entertainment, a relatively new film studio. To promote the release, the film’s cast circled the country doing meet and greet stops at malls to invigorate fans. An appearance by three of the film’s stars at Scottsdale Fashion Square drew thousands, all hoping to catch a glimpse at who would be playing their favorite characters.

The same tour came to Scottsdale once again two weeks ago to promote The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the second story in the series and fans flocked once again. This time fans would meet two “Vampire Royalty”… or, in Twilight lingo… “The Volturi.”

Demetri (Charlie Bewley) and Felix (Daniel Cudmore) are two of The Volturi. The Volturi are “an organized coven of vampires that enforce the laws of the vampire world. They seek out and invite those vampires with special powers to join their family. They are the largest group of and most powerful vampires.”

Bewley and Cudmore sat down with members of the local media to discuss fan reaction to their appearances and the popularity of the series. Their press day in Scottsdale came prior to the record-breaking box office opening weekend in which The Twilight Saga: New Moon raked in over $140 million at the U.S. Box Office alone. That unbelievable total places The Twilight Saga: New Moon in the Top 5 all-time biggest opening weekends ever, behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3 and slightly ahead of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Shrek the Third.

Question: What is your reaction to the fan pandemonium surrounding the film?

Cudmore: You see all these people passionate about these great books and our characters. (At the Scottsdale Fashion Square appearance) this little girl was crying when she met us. I had never experienced that from someone for a role that I played. It’s hugely flattering that someone is that emotionally charged about something you have done. It’s flattering, but at the same time you hope you did a great job with it.

Bewley: From a first real project, it’s great to be involved in because there is so much extra curricular activities involved with it. This is such a phenomenal success and everyone wants to be a vampire right now. It’s such a wonderful thing to be involved in. I’m a bad ass vampire!

Question: Give us a brief background on who your characters are and how they are involved in the story.

Bewley: (Edward Cullen) goes out and very selfishly, tries to expose himself. He goes to The Volturi and says he wants to be killed. He thinks that Bella has committed suicide. They are the only people that can kill him. When they say no because they want his powers, he goes out and says, “OK then, I am going to screw the whole vampire kingdom.” What Edward Cullen does by exposing himself puts everyone in jeopardy. We (The Volturi) make and enforce the laws and if anyone breaks them, we take them in for questioning.

Question: What are your specific powers and roles?

Bewley: (Demetri) is a tracker… which makes me a formidable threat. Demetri gets the standard skill set of being mentally strong, fast, aesthetically pleasing and highly dangerous. He also has a sense of charm which draws people into a false sense of security.

Cudmore: In the Twilight world, each vampire is given an extra power, whether it be tracking ability, mind power or the ability to read thoughts. My character (Felix) isn’t really given a specific power except for the fact that he is brutally vicious and strong. He doesn’t really have a vampire that is at his level and he knows this. He has fun tearing apart other vampires. He knows what he can do and enjoys that ability and heightened strength.

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