Two days ago, I saw a press release from Summit Entertainment, the company that produces the Twilight saga, stating that Bryce Dallas Howard would be replacing Rachelle LeFevre as Victoria in the upcoming movie Eclipse. I was shocked to say the least. Just a couple days ago, Rachelle was talking about how excited she was to film Eclipse, because for those that don’t know, Eclipse is when Victoria gets the most attention because she is the main bad guy. Though I loved the way Rachelle portrayed Victoria in Twilight, Eclipse was going to be the movie where she could really prove that she was Victoria.
Sadly that won’t happen because of the idiot executives at Summit.
In the first press release, Summit cited scheduling conflicts and made it sound like the split was amicable. That’s not the case. Rachelle was just as surprised as any Twilight fan when Ron Howard’s daughter was announced as the new Victoria. As for the “scheduling conflict”, it involved an overlap of ten days. Yes, you heard right, ten days. Then Summit fires back after Rachelle releases her statement basically pointing the finger of blame at Rachelle, saying that she knew about when filming would take place, and that she wasn’t truly passionate about Eclipse.
Excuse me, Rachelle not passionate about the Twilight saga? If that’s true, then NO ONE in the cast is passionate about the Twilight saga, and Summit should just replace everyone. Obviously there are two sides to this story, just like there are two sides to every story. Summit says Rachelle is at fault, Rachelle says she didn’t know that accepting a short side project would cause her to be replaced, and the fans are up in arms, many calling, emailing, and writing Summit to get Rachelle back. I’ll be honest, I don’t know the whole story, but I do know a few things.
Rachelle is not the first cast member to have a side project going on during filming. During Twilight, Cam Gigandet (aka James) had scheduling conflicts so his scenes were shot around his other schedule. In fact, they shot the big ballet scene FIRST, because he was working on something else. New Moon filming was somewhat worked around Jackson Rathbone’s schedule, with his scenes being shot toward the beginning of filming so that he could go shoot The Last Airbender. Why could Rachelle not be accommodated like the others?
I may not know much about Hollywood, but I would be willing to bet that recasting doesn’t usually take just a couple days. This means that Summit has been looking to recast for a few months.
Rachelle actually turned down several bigger offers that would have involved longer shooting schedules because of Eclipse. She picked this indie film because it had a very short shooting schedule that she thought could be worked around (just like it was worked around for Cam and Jackson). Doesn’t that say she’s committed? Can you fault her for wanting one tiny side project?
Rachelle is one of the most passionate of the entire cast. She is always out there, giving Twitter updates, interacting with fans, and promoting the saga as much as possible. You can’t say that about the entire cast. Nikki Reed has basically been missing in action the entire summer (though she did come to the special Twilight screening at comic con).
It is never a good idea to recast in the middle of a movie series or TV show. Sometimes it can’t be avoided, such as when an actor dies (like in Harry Potter). But, to be honest, it took the new Headmaster Dumbledore a couple movies to finally become the Dumbledore we all know and love. The Twilight saga doesn’t have a couple of movies for Bryce to slip into the role of Victoria; Victoria dies during Eclipse.
I honestly think that having Bryce as Victoria will ruin Eclipse. I have no clue what kind of actress she is; I’d never even heard of her until Summit announced her casting. She will ruin it because quite simply, Rachelle is Victoria. Rachelle made Victoria by taking a character that was written on a piece of paper and making her real, and for the most part, people want Rachelle to continue being Victoria.
I’m going to go see New Moon. Rachelle is still Victoria in that one. But I honestly don’t know if I will go see Eclipse if Bryce is Victoria. Eclipse is my favorite book and the movie that I was most looking forward to, but I honestly don’t know if I will want to go see it. I am quite capable of holding off and not seeing movies; I still haven’t seen the newest Underworld or Saw.
I know some people are going to agree with me. I know some people are going to disagree. Honestly, if you are just going to yell at me, or just tell me how ridiculous I’m being because it’s “just a movie” don’t even bother leaving a comment. This is how I feel and how I will continue to feel because I feel that a great injustice has occurred.
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