Desktop Site21 November 2009
When a relatively unknown film called 'Twilight' came out last year no-one could have foretold the overall effect it would have, especially on the world's teenage girls.
This popularity is only just now fully being realised, with the release of first sequel 'New Moon'- selling out cinemas across the world and becoming, in the UK, the highest grossing advance sales film of the year, taking £1 million in booked seats ahead of its release.
'New Moon' - based on the second book in the series by US author Stephanie Meyer - is guaranteed to be an instant hit, aside from the screaming teenagers, it has already been nominated for six People's Choice Awards.
The second film carries the established tale of teenage schoolgirl Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, who falls in love with Edward, heartthrob Robert Pattinson, a "good" vampire.
This time around Edward's struggle against biting her and turning her into a vampire heats up to a point where he leaves her completely, disappearing for her safety - leaving her to rekindle an earlier relationship with hunky Jacob Black, whom - it transpires - is a werewolf, leading the three into a very bizarre love triangle.
As schoolgirls across the country debate whether they're Team Edward or Team Jacob, the three main actors have found themselves thrust more prominently than ever into the limelight and into a whole new vampire-obsessed world.
Teenagers and even adults have had their pulses set racing by the newcomers, but sometimes it's just a little too much for the stars themselves to cope with.
Robert said he has been amazed at the response from fans across the world, but can't quite understand the fascination.
He said: "It suddenly exploded. I don't know how, it just explodes so quickly. It takes seven months to take hold - it's like a virus."
Having secured his place as the new heartthrob in the minds of teenage girls, the 23-year-old British actor said he finds all the attention quite strange.
He explained: "Recently I've had less direct contact with people because there's way more security and stuff. But I always find it funny when older people come up to me. There was a woman the other day who must have been in her 90s!"
At one point the hunk said he nearly "lost it" because he was getting so paranoid, but knows that "whining won't change anything."
Despite his popularity, Robert said he is unable to get a date because "girls scream out for Edward, not Robert."
He added: "It's funny, about a year ago I'd talk to girls and no one would be interested. The attention I get now is just mind bending."
Robert has also constantly been linked to his 'New Moon' co-star - his love interest in the film, Kristen Stewart, 19 - but both have persistently denied this is the case.
In fact, Kristen said she loves mocking Robert about all of his female devotees.
She said: "It's weird to see people mainly my age flipping out over Rob walking into the room. He shifts in his seat and they all just go crazy. It's a little daunting. I laugh all the time, constantly. It's like, 'Rob, touch your hair again.'"
Kristen also said she thought the world had gone a bit 'vampire crazy' and believed it was the gripping nature of Stephanie's books which had hooked readers onto the new vampire phenomenon.
She said: "It's such a machine now. All of a sudden, this movie has become something bigger."
Original 'Twilight' director Catherine Hardwicke also recently controversially claimed Robert and Kristen were in a relationship, saying: "In terms of what Kristen told me directly, it didn't happen on the first movie. Nothing crossed the line while on the first film.
"I think it took a long time for Kristen to realise, 'OK, I've got to give this a go and really try to be with this person.' "
Whether they're on or off in the real world doesn't really matter - not for the die-hard fans of the film anyway - but Kristen said she understands why people want them to be together.
She said: "I get why fans want to know more about the cast as real people and they want us to be together and all of that. I just have to sort of not think about that. People have a hard time separating us from our characters."
Either way, the on-screen chemistry between the couple is undeniably intense. In 'New Moon' the heartfelt angst is pushed even further when Edward makes the decision to leave Bella in order to keep her away from danger, signalling for the entrance of Jacob, who steps in to provide a comforting shoulder. Heartbroken after the abrupt departure of her brooding vampire boyfriend she finds solace in Jacob - but he has problems of his own - the first being that his a massive crush on Bella, the second that he's only just found out he turns into a werewolf with little warning.
Playing the werewolf character didn't have too many perks either, said 17-year-old Taylor Lautner, who had to don lengthy - and itchy - tresses for the role.
He said: "I would not want that hair, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't even recognise myself."
At one point it was speculated Taylor was to be axed from his role, but after working out and bulking up the American actor managed to keep his part. He had to under-go an intense training programme to show the physical changes in Jacob throughout the movie however.
Taylor said it was tough trying to gain weight for the role and he ended up having to resort to eating every two hours to pile on the pounds, until he eventually gained 30lbs - of muscle.
He said: "I was trying to put on weight. I knew if I was in the gym too much I'd lose weight. I was motivated to get in the gym, but the eating was pretty hard. Basically, I ate every two hours. I carried a little baggie with beef patties, raw almonds and sweet potatoes."
Taylor - who also strips off in the movie - is sure to receive a few gasps from the females in the audience when they see his buff body, but the teenage sensation says he actually feels rather uncomfortable in his own skin.
He said: "It's so uncomfortable knowing that so many people are seeing pictures of me shirtless. It's weird. It's kind of embarrassing."
He also said he was horrified to find a middle-aged female fan trying to remove her underwear in front of him. He said: "They had my name imprinted on them. So that was kind of strange."
And with these kind of topless scenes from the heartthrob actors, 'New Moon' is already onto a winner.
It certainly won't disappoint its army of female fans whose hormones will already be pushed to the limit as they watch a film focusing on the highs and crushing lows of meeting your first love.
'New Moon' will draw in teenage viewers at the same time as reminding older ones what it was like to fall in love for the first time, a concept which never disappoints. And with further vampire-esque spin-offs shows such as the television drama 'True Blood' becoming ever more popular, it seems 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' has captivated a whole new audience.
This is pretty lucky because with the third film in the saga, 'Eclipse' is a mere seven months away from release, super vampire fans won't have to wait much longer for even more blood-sucking drama.
By Laura Hinton