Image courtesy of Buzznet
According to Summit Entertainment, Rachelle Lefevre has scheduling conflicts that won’t allow her to appear in the 3rd installment of the Twilight Saga, Eclipse. Lefevre has played the role of Victoria, the wicked vampire stalking Bella, for Twilight and New Moon, but now will be replaced by the bigger name Bryce Dallas Howard.
Now, I’m not an agent, but it seems very unlikely to me that a small time actress, who got the biggest break of her career in this series, would suddenly come up with “scheduling conflicts.” And if you ask Lefevre, my instincts are on the money. In a statement released yeseterday, Lefevre stated:
“I was stunned. I was fully committed to the Twilight saga. I am hurt deeply by Summit’s surprising decision to move on without me…I was happy with my contract with Summit and was fully prepared to continue to honor it. Summit chose simply to recast the part. I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience.”
Lefevre does admit that she has a role in another film, Barney’s Version, but she insists that this film has a very minor overlap with the filming of Eclipse, and that it never occurred to her that there would be any conflict. “I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules. Given the length of filming for Eclipse, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a 10 day overlap.”
Summit wasn’t too thrilled with that statement, and promptly issued an official response.
Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was expected to start shooting in early August.
If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes “passionate,” about being part of THE TWILIGHT SAGA, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.
It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to BARNEY’S VERSION, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June. Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.
Furthermore Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least ten days of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’s principal photography. This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast, and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.
Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap. It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.
The fact remains that Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to the other project – which she chose to withhold from Summit until the last possible moment – makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.
You’d think that after all the uproar over replacing Taylor Lautner, Summit would have learned not to screw with fan loyalty. And fans are not happy about this. They point out that everyone knew about Lefevre’s role in Barney’s Version, because it was being reported in the trades, so how could Summit NOT know about it?
And does it strike anyone else as just a little suspicious that they could get a star the caliber of Bryce Dallas Howard at a moment’s notice? I mean, it’s the end of July and she just happens to have August, September and October free for an “unexpected” role with an immediate 3-month shoot?
Here’s what I think. I think that Summit was so pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback they got when they cast Dakota Fanning as Jane that they thought they’d see if they could pull it off again. But since everything was cast, they had to replace someone. They must have been in talks with Howard for months–she’s too big a name to just step into a role like this without months of negotiations. When Lefevre informed them of her little tiny scheduling overlap, they saw a chance to push her out without looking like bad guys–I mean, who could get upset over a scheduling conflict, right? But Lefevre didn’t go along with their plan, and now they DO look like bad guys.
Twilight fans are furious, but we all know they (ahem, we) will still go see this movie. Eclipse is the best book in the series, and far and away the fan favorite. And who doesn’t want to see Edward rip Victoria to shreds? Unfortunately, when Rob Pattinson takes her apart in this movie, the cheers will be very personal. We’ll go see it, but there’s nothing Bryce Dallas Howard can do now to make fans approve of her in this role. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see fans boycott her in the future, either. That would be only marginally useful; the one we should be boycotting is Summit Studios. However, since they produce the Twilight films, I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Image courtesy of askmen.com
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