Sure, New Moon’s vampires and werewolves may get all the attention, but it’s Bella’s gang of high school friends who keep the movie centered in reality. Anna Kendrick, Michael Welch, Justin Chon and Christian Serratos (who play Jessica, Mike, Eric and Angela, respectively) talk about providing the franchise’s comic relief and keeping it real as mortals amongst all the supernatural shenanigans.

Unlike Twilight, which was shot in Portland, you shot New Moon in Vancouver. What was that like?

Justin: The weather’s actually been better here. Portland was very, very, very cold and rainy. It’s a little bit nicer here.

Anna: One of the freaky things about shooting New Moon in a different location than Portland was the re-creation of things, like the high school parking lot. It was like déjà vu because we were in a different country but they completely recreated the parking lot from the school we shot at before.

You also got a new director. What was it like working with Chris Weisz?

Michael: Chris was really …

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[015x] Eclipse – The Movie > On The Set > August 28, 2009
[003x] Eclipse – The Movie > On The Set > Taken By David Slade

Thanks Kristin!

When the cast of “New Moon” began planning out the pivotal date scene, they got a laugh out of some of the silly, fictional action-movie names that Weitz and his crew had assembled. But in the end, “Face Punch” was the winner.

“We started out with a few other comical names, but it turned out those were actual films so we couldn’t use those titles,” Welch laughed. “I forget the first few titles, but it was like ‘Crazy Explosion’ — and it turns out, there actually was a ‘Crazy Explosion.’ ”

“Chris came up with the title,” he continued. “And apparently there is no ‘Face Punch’ that we know of.”

Read the full interview here.

BLAST: So there’s Team Edward shirts, Team Jacob thongs, even Team Tyler’s Van merchandise -– any Team Mike stuff popping up?
MW: There has been a little bit of Team Mike that I’ve seen. I’ve seen a couple t-shirts, but it was mostly my friends making fun of me [laughs]. I do get people every now and then telling me they are on Team Mike.

BLAST: If you had to pick a side, would you really be Team Mike, or choose between Edward and Jacob? Or are you contractually obligated like I’m guessing Kristen is to be ambiguous?
MW: I actually… between Edward and Team Jacob, I’m actually Team Jacob. I like Edward, but I… and I think it’s more of a gender thing more than anything else. I think Jacob represents more of a practical relationship, so I’d go Jacob -– but if there is a legitimate Team Mike that emerges, I will be happy to join it.

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More pictures here.

The scene in the diner, with Mike dancing outside the window… improv or scripted? Were you encouraged to improve or did you have to stick straight to the script?

There was a lot of improve in this film for the humans (Eric, Tyler, Angela, Jessica, and Me). Catherine didn’t really care whether dialogue or actions were improvised or scripted, or whether ideas came from her or the cast.

In the case of the diner, the process went like this… The script said something like, “Mike waves and calls out, trying to get Bella’s attention.” Catherine showed me where this will take place, suggested a couple of ideas, and ultimately left it up to me to come up with something that works. I thought of that dance (for whatever reason), showed her, and she approved. Later in post-production, she had me come into a sound studio to record some various, “Bow chicka WOW wow. WOO WOOO!” whacky noises. She picks one of three choices, and there you have it. Mike Newton in all his goofy glory, dancing for the affections of Bella.

Read the full interview here.