Afternoon of day 2. . .Hillywood gang is on the stage for a pseudo baseball scene when Alice yells “STOP!” Edward apologizes to Bella for bringing her there and they introduce the only vamp to visit us this weekend – EDI GATHEGI! (sorry for the lack of pictures – unfortunately we didn’t get too many good ones, probably because we were too busy laughing at Edi’s comedic talent!)

We had our photo op with Edi before his session and it was almost awkward not knowing what to say – I think because we hadn’t seen him before this, either in his main session or in the hallway like we had Gil. . .we didn’t know him yet I guess.  Boy were we in for a great time!  Edi takes the stage in his blue baseball cap and immediately shows off his comedic skill – if he weren’t a great actor, he’d surely be a comedian.  He comes out and looks up at the screen with his picture and says “look at that handsome man!”  He followed this with “HELLO NEW JERSEY!” and the audience went wild.  Edi loves NY, he went to school there and his favorite thing to do in NY is eat. “I don’t know how all these restaurants turn a profit but there are so many here, I love it!”

Having survived the wolf pack morning session, the crowd was warmed up with great questions and ready to push the limits.  Edi too was in a snarky mood – partly because he’s just so funny and partly becuase he took a red eye in overnight.  At one point a group from Boston had their question read and some how the crowd banter turned into a Boston vs. NY exchange – at which point “Jasper” from Hillywood says, “don’t worry Edi, I’ll calm them down.” Perfect timing!

For a number of questions he answered as much as I suppose was allowed then summed it up with “final answer,” and on whether his big New Moon scene ends in a fight or a chase, he pleaded the 5th.  He elaborated, noting “its tough to act like your fighting with wolves when there aren’t any there.  They’re holding up these cardboard cutouts of like, cows, and you’re trying to work around it. So when you see the movie, ask yourself ‘is he looking at wolves or cows here? I think he’s looking at cows, I can see it in his eyes!’ and decide for yourself.”  He took this to an Eddie Murphy-esque tangent that was so funny my stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing.  He broke into comedy many times during his session and it was great to see an evil vamp go there. His advice to a 10-yr old fan asking what its like to be a bad vamp (“because I want to be one” – child, where is your mother?) was almost inspirational: “nothing scares you, nothing can hurt you, well other than a wolf, and you’ve got supreme power.  Its awesome!”

Edi’s choice of another character if given the chance was Jacob because “everyone looks good sticking their naked chest out.”  Super power of choice: the ability to step in at conventions as needed when other Twilight stars cancel (he’s got that market cornered for this one).  He admitted the contacts in Twilight were really uncomfortable – very think and obstructed vision immensely, while those in New Moon are more like regular contacts so their easier on the eyes.  Favorite movies, he picked his top five: Pulp Fiction, Last of the Mohicans, New Moon, Kung Fu Hustle (which made him laugh and cry, and has amazing kung fu) and Kung Fu Panda.  And Edi says he’s nothing like his character because “well, first he’s a vampire, he betrays his friends and he tries to kill little girls.  So yeah, I’m nothing like that.”

His fashion sense is more about how he feels and what works for him, and he doesn’t buy into trends.  Harkening back to the movie Boomerang, he said (in that character’s voice), “you’ve got to co-or-din-ate!” His brother always told him “you gotta look good,” so he strives for that.   While answering our questions, he received a tweet that he read out loud “my girls are waiting to see you today!” from a fan who’s friends were in the audience – so cool. Then Edi commented that he never planned to get on Twitter after myspace or Facebook but his family encouraged it so they could keep up with him: ”they told me ‘you’re so busy, so just get on there and post something, like which airport you’re in, so we know you’re ok.’ So I did.” Asked about growing dreadlocks because the fan said they look so good on him, he looked at his alter ego again and said “yeah they sure do, but it takes like 10 years to grow them and they really limit the roles you can play.”  Edi likes to play as many different characters as possible in his work, and talked about how he enjoyed House but losing it was a blessing because it brought him to Twilight. And, he described working with Hugh Laurie of House as “like working with Michael Jordan – you know he’s gonna kick your butt, yet you’re learning so much.  Hugh is fiercely brilliant but he’s extremely humble.”

I was lucky again with my question being asked and when they called my name I stood up and waved the paper in my hand (where I was taking notes).  Edi said “are you taking notes or something?” I replied “yep so I can report back on a website to my fellow fans.” He laughed and said he’d be careful answering the question – which was easy: how was the New Moon make up different from Twilight.  He said he liked it better because it made him look more “vampire-ish” and scarier – “I’d look in the mirror and think ‘I’m scaring someone today!”

A brave Twi-guy had his question read and as he stood when his name was called, Edi encouraged him to “Stand up Mike, be proud!” If he were a veggie vamp, his prey of choice would be cows (left us laughing with the reference back to his earlier cow reference), and the only thing he was disappointed in for New Moon is he didn’t get to sparkle: “I really wanted to sparkle, just for a second, but I guess it cost too much or something.  I never thought I’d say that in my life ‘I want to sparkle!”  He got a little sentimental on us when asked what he’d miss most about not being in the movies after New Moon – “the cast, really.  We called ourselves the “vamp camp” [it sounded like he said that, though I may have that wrong] and I’ve already been invited to go visit them on the set.”  He said maybe he’d just go up and walk through makeup, then go hide in a tree, demonstrating this by hiding behind a little ficus on the stage – hilarious!  But he hopes fans will continue to follow him to other projects, remembering his work in the Twilight Saga.

Last but not least was a question from the audience asking him to do an impression of this character he made up and apparently used to prank people on the Twilight set.  The character is a girl named Kelly and its a total girly voice, so he set up the story first: Peter Facinelli heard Edi do this voice and encouraged to prank someone with it so they chose Jackson.  Its midnight the day Jackson dyed his hair for Jasper, and Edi calls him as Kelly, telling him “she’s” really sorry but Catherine doesn’t like the color so he needs to come in at 3am to have it redone.  Jackson says ok and calls his manager, who proceeds to say “Thank God – that color was not working for you.” Realizing Jackson believed him, Edi calls him back: “Jackson, that was me.” “You what?” “That called you” “Called me when?” and back and forth until Edi spills it that he was Kelly.  Jackson calls his manager back and now she’s backpedaling “oh the color isn’t that bad!” Funny but not nearly as funny as the actual voice – he turns his back, pulls up his hood (see below) and does the little tiny voice which we all fall out laughing over!  Again, another time I wish I could have been recording for you!

As we waited for our autograph, we noticed this tall, pale white, bronze haired guy, I mean, cardboard cut out, standing out in the hallway staring in at us, as if inviting us to come out and play. . .

I had no idea he was a comedian and of course, like the others, so gracious.  During the autograph session I asked him about his encounter with my friend Jenny and the (infamous) vibrating Edward:

Erin: Edi, you met my friend Jenny at the LA convention – she had the vibrating pocket Edward!
Edi: yes, the Asian girl – it was offensive and I’m afraid of what she might come up with next (with a laugh)
Criste: yeah we heard you put on anti-bacterial gel
Edi: it seemed like the logical thing to do (with a laugh)

Of course a vibrating Pocket Edward would be unforgettable!  Once again, another amazing Twilight encounter with totally down to earth Edi Gathegi.  It’ll be sad to see him go after New Moon but he’s surely got a bright horizon.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Vampire Ball special report and as much as I can cram in before we head home.  Really looking forward to the celebrety breakfast and charity silent auction in the morning!

This is Cullenized signing off – sweet dreams!

Greetings from Forks NJ where it was overcast and looking like Forks today for Day 2 of the Official Twilight Convention!  As we await the start of the Vampire Ball tonight, thought I’d give you news you can use to sink your teeth into LOL

Day two found the room more crowded with day trippers showing up to see some mythical creatures – wolves and a bad vamp, to be exact.  So we were in for major screaming, requests for the guests to “take your shirt off!” among other things.  Apologies to the younger generation but most of the craziness came from the 12-18 age group I think.  We did have some treats from the young fans though – we met the cutest 9 year old girl with a shirt that said “I’m an Alice” who had guts to ask the wolves a question all by herself and a couple of friends dressed up to portray Edward and Bella.  We also had a nice chat with the proprietors of noveljourneys.com, Lisa and Melissa, about their upcoming New Moon tours to Italy - please check out their site, this trip looks amazing!

I also met the very sweet Sara Allen who helps with Bella Bejeweled and also runs the Hillywood Show’s http://hillyfans.com/ – she loves this site and PB and was so excited to meet someone that worked with PB.  (I was flattered!!).  She has this awesome scrapbook of pics from the Dallas convention and this one – and tomorrow, we get to sign her scrapbook – WOO HOO!  Be sure to check out the previous post on Bella Bejeweled from PB.

WOLF PACK DESCENDS

The Hillywood Show welcomed us back this morning and their sense of smell told them some wolves were in the house! 

A trio of them took the stage to screaming fans (see note above) with big smiles, ready to take on our questions.  Gracing our presence were Sam, Embry and Paul: Chaske (ches-kay) Spencer, Kiowa (ky-owa) Gordon and Alex Meraz – and they bantered with each other like brothers.  They really formed a family on set and you could feel the love everytime they spoke and interacted with each other.  Chaske is 34, single, and although he described himself growing up as “the kid in the back of the class, not a leader,” he clearly exudes Sam with his deep voice and presence.  He took the left chair facing the audience. Kiowa took the middle – at 19 he’s the baby of the bunch (well, other than Taylor and Boo Boo) and the was the younger brother of the pack today - didn’t answer many questions but kept us giggling with his random howling and laid back demeanor.  Alex is the married guy, 24, soft spoken and centered, self-described as the opposite of Paul.  He credits his wife for his winning this role: “she’s a huge Twilight fan and kept saying, ‘you’d be great as Paul, you should audition!’ which he did and voila! Here he is!  Many questions were directed to Alex, and he also seemed to take the lead in the disucssions.  They talked about protecting Taylor like their little brother, laughing about his line about Jacob from the “wolfy” trailer – “30 pounds heavier.”and how they all bonded right away - “Chris did an amazing job casting real people for the pack, knowing we’d be a strong family,” Alex commented.  Chaske added he knew they’d be friends for life after working together, “which is rare in this business,” he said.  Kiowa piped in with “BFFs!!”

The day before Gil had shared a secret about an embarassing moment of Alex’s where he pretended to choke Kristen.  So someone asked about it and they sort of told the funny story together. Its the scene from the movie where she gets in their faces about Jacob (“what did you do to him?!”) and Alex decided to take some creative license.  He said at that point in the story, Paul’s up like 10 days straight so he wanted to channel that in his performance by staying up about that much himself (Chaske added “and he didn’t tell any of us!”).  At the point of rehearsing the scene, Kristen gets in their faces and Alex unleashes Paul on her – yelling in her face and grabbing her throat, which of course takes everyone by complete surprise!  Chaske said “so Kristen’s like, ‘uh, this isn’t working’ and Chris is like ‘ok, Alex, good but let’s take it down a notch, while Bronson and I are trying not to laugh at the guy!”  Alex adds, “so I literally walk away with my tail between my legs because no one touches Kristen of course!”  The storytelling was hilarious!

Favorite New Moon and Eclipse scenes:  Chaske – NM: kissing Emily (“we had a LOT of takes”) & ECL: didn’t answer.  Kiowa – NM: going to Emily & Sam’s after Jacob & Paul fight & ECL: around the fire hearing the legends.  Alex – NM: cliff diving, because they really got to do it (he added “Chaske had this amazing swan dive – it was the most graceful thing you’d ever see”) & ECL: fighting Emmett.  Though he did say he didn’t like losing in the fight to Jacob.

Looking at their photos on the screen, Alex said “Jeez I look mad!” Chaske said “I look sexy,” which led into Alex’s description of the photo shoot: “we walk in and everyone’s doing push ups, trying to look buff, and here comes Chaske, doing a few poses then he turns around and gives that look you see up there.  He was an animal in there!”  Asked about the tattoo – it was designed by Quileutes and shows two wolves.  They especially like the authenticity, which was echoed in their pride in playing these Native American roles (just like Gil said) – all are so proud of their heritages and proud to portray strong, contemporary Native American characters. Their tribes (from what I caught so please don’t quote me): Chaske, among other nationalities is North Dakota Sioux; Kiowa is Hualapai from northern Arizona (“our tribe is doing well since we built that skywalk at the Grand Canyon“); and Alex is from a southwestern tribe called the Purepecha (pur-a-pecha).  They are all also dedicated to putting the reach and vast popularity of Twilight as a platform for charity and other causes – and they encourage fans to do the same.  Chaske is particularly working to raise awareness of preserving the environment and our water supply through United Global Shift.

Other questions:

What were you doing when you got the call about the role: Chaske was hanging out in his room, got the call and immediately “hit my knees and kept saying ‘thank you! thank you! while I was tearing up – I was so happy.”  Kiowa (the laid back kiddo) was in his room playing video games when his mom got the email and he started yelling and screaming (Alex added “like Culkin in Home Alone” putting his hands on his face and yelling AHHHHHH).  Alex said he prayed every day for this opportunity “when I got it I gave thanks to the Creator and asked that I do the best I could to represent the Quileutes.”

What vamp would you play? Chaske: Carlisle (such a Sam answer I think), Kiowa: Jasper, and Alex: James “for the fight scene!”.

An adorable 4-year old submitted a question through her mom, so Chaske went into the audience to find her so she could ask them herself – it was so cute, but she was pretty scared at that point (what with all the flashes going off) – so mom asked for her” what is their fave food?” Kiowa said steak “because it makes me stronger.” Alex and Chaske said they always ate this steak and salmon combo from Vancouver’s Moxie’s and then apple pie ala mode. Following that, an equally adorable 9 year old – the one with the I’m an Alice shirt – was picked to ask her question and they told her to come up to the stage and ask them.  So she did, they handed her the mic and she stood right there and asked. (it was so adorable and she was so gutsy that I completely forgot to write down the question to tell you guys!).  Then they hugged her and took a picture with her right there.  So cool!

What do you do in your spare time: Chaske – charity work (see note above), Kiowa said plays video games and sings (to which the crowd chanted “SING FOR US” and Alex and Chaske got up to do some back up singer moves – but alas, Kiowa didn’t sing for us), and Alex shared he earned a scholarship in art to San Francisco Art Institute so he loves to paint and does a lot in his spare time because its so calming and helps him do something “for himself.”  He also has been into martial arts a while now and was a state wrestling champ. 

What other projects do you have going on: Chaske – “this opportunity has opened so many doors for us” and he’s got some projects going with his own production company, Urban Dreams.  “We’re going to go on and do more roles, and we’ll play other things outside of this type of role, so we hope our fans will keep foll0wing us!” Kiowa said “there’s no stopping this, [acting] is the most fun I’ve had in my whole life,” so he plans to continue doing it.  Alex has a movie coming out with Cam Gigante called “The Roomate” in which he plays “this obnoxious fraternity guy,” and another movie I think called “Four on the Floor” which will involve dancing – to which the crowd chanted “DANCE FOR US!”  (he didn’t)

There were many more questions and great answers from this group of true brothers, but I couldn’t capture everything.  So I’ll leave you with this – asked how long it took to get used to walking around and acting half naked all the time, they all said “not long at all, we really got used to it pretty quickly, though it was freezing!” So Alex shares another embarassing moment from the set: He goes to this trailer to change and thinking he’s the only one in there, strips down to his undies.  He suddenly looks up and there’s Taylor like “uh dude, this is my trailer.” (Alex re-enacts this like when he Jacob says to Bella at the prom, motioning to her dress, “NICE.”).  Alex said “so I’m going ‘oh, sorry dude!’ and its the first time I’m meeting him!”

I wish I could have audio taped it because the whole thing was so hilarious and fun to watch.  I am just amazed that these guys are so down to earth and REAL!  I know I keep saying that but seriously, its the only word that fits!

With that – I bid you a short farewell so we can go dance with the Hillywood Show gang, Edi and the Pack at the Vampire Ball.  Stay tuned for the Edi Gathegi report coming soon!