March 09, 2009

Quileute werewolves will be real Indians

'Twilight' Actor Kellan Lutz Talks 'New Moon' Casting Rumors

He downplays talk of AnnaLynne McCord joining the cast and says werewolf parts will go to genuine American-Indian actors.[W]e had to ask Kellan about the rumor that Jacob's American-Indian friends (including fan favorite Solomon Trimble) are being replaced for the sequels, and he revealed that some unnamed friends are in the running to populate the Quileute tribe.

"I know [casting director] Joseph Middleton has been reading some of my friends for the werewolves' parts," Lutz told us, saying that new director Chris Weitz is determined to keep the American-Indian actors genuine this time. "[They're] really sticking to them and making sure of their ancestry, that they are real Native Americans. They asked a buddy of mine to bring in his family tree to show that he was part Navajo! It's interesting; I really think it is important to have somewhat-real Native Americans to play these roles to some degree, but it's really interesting to see the way things are handled."
Comment:  I love how Twilight's people will say only implicitly what I've said explicitly. Namely, that they reversed their position on hiring Native actors because their initial decision was stupid and arrogant.

If "new director Chris Weitz is determined to keep the American-Indian actors genuine this time," does that mean old director Catherine Hardwicke wasn't? Is she the one who decided it was okay to hire non-Natives for the biggest Native roles in years? I want to know whom to blame for this racist decision.

For more on the subject, see Quileute Werewolves in Twilight.

3 comments:

modest-goddess said...

I like how shocked he is that people might expect an actual Native to play a Native in a movie.

dmarks said...

A lot of the book "New Moon" takes place on the Quileute reservation, ao there is a possibility of a lot of Native extras appearing, even in scenes where someone drives slowly by. Even then, I wonder why they just don't film such parts at La Push with actual Quileutes. If I were proposing such a scene, I'd try to do that first.

Rob said...

I agree with you in theory, DMarks. But the logistics of film shoots may make filming in small towns and reservations difficult if not impossible.

That was the case in Frozen River, which had to move filming 80 miles from the Mohawk reservation in upstate New York. The crew needed enough support for 100 or whatever people: hotels, catering services, standby emergency services for insurance purposes, etc.