New Moon's vampire 'Marcus' reveals sequel details

Monday, July 13, 2009

New Moon's vampire 'Marcus' reveals sequel details

Over his career, Christopher Heyerdahl has played a Wraith, a demon, Bigfoot and now the centuries-old vampire Marcus, in the cast of the upcoming sequel film The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

It's perhaps one of the highest-profile roles for the versatile Canadian actor, who is known to fans of Syfy's Sanctuary, Stargate Atlantis and dozens of films and TV shows.

"Well, it's a little independent film I'm helping out with," the good-natured Heyerdahl said with a chuckle and tongue firmly in cheek. "This guy, poor old Marcus, is a 3,000-odd-years-old vampire who has spent at least the last 2,000 of it with a broken heart. Really, one of the main reasons to play that character and have anything to do with that series is my niece, who is absolutely obsessed with this series of books. To see how it has had such an effect on the teenage female community throughout the world is amazing."

Word of Heyerdahl's casting in the second of four contemplated films based on Stephenie Meyer's best-selling books caught the attention of his friends. "I have friends of friends who send me e-mails and call me from all over the world," he said. "Every one of these young women feel that this story is about them. It's absolutely remarkable to be a part of something so widespread. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Heyerdahl's character is a member of the Volturi, a venerable coven of vampires based in Volterra, Italy, whose members also include Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning.
"He's one of the oldest vampires on the planet, and who doesn't want to play a 3,000-year-old vampire?" Heyerdahl said. "The cast that I get to work with, like Michael Sheen. ... We had so much fun goofing off together. It was an absolute hoot. Director Chris Weitz's version for this piece is like a Renaissance painting. The images were absolutely beautiful, and the character is such a tragic old fellow." (Possible spoilers ahead!)

Heyerdahl adds: "Here's how I approach him. When Marcus is brought in, he's there against his will. He and his love tried to leave an awfully long time ago. Through a series of tragic circumstances, the love of his life was killed, and he's now being forced to stay and use his powers for the betterment of the Volturi. He's not exactly there, waking up and looking forward to eternity. When Edward and Bella come walking in, his ability to sense the power of their connection is something that wakes him up, brings him back from the boredom of that eternal life and sparks something in him that brings Marcus as close to excitement as he can get. That idea has to be contained and expressed as little as possible to his rather power-hungry captain-in-arms, Aro, which makes for a rather interesting conflict. You might not know it, but Marcus is pretty darn excited by this love that he witnesses. At the same time, it causes him great pain with the memory of what he had and lost. It was very complex to play, especially when you are doing it with so few lines. It will be interesting to see how it is cut together."

Heyerdahl—who has worn extensive makeup and prosthetics for some of his roles —said that the makeup required in New Moon to transform him into one of the undead was easy by comparison.

"Yeah, they do their best to suck the life out of you, but certainly nothing compared to any of those past prosthetics," Heyerdahl said. "From that perspective, it was pretty easy. The looks they are getting in this film are absolutely fantastic. Everyone looks gorgeous and deliciously lifeless."

Marcus also plays an important role in the fourth Twilight novel, although Heyerdahl hasn't peeked that far ahead yet. "I have left that book alone," he confirms. "I want to leave it until we get closer to the movie. I was talking to Stephenie about it, and she asked if I had read the final book. I said 'Nope, I don't want to read it yet. I want to leave it alone until we get there.' 'Oh, just you wait. You'll love it.' I do know generally what happens, since it is impossible not to find out. And, yes, I've been contracted for the final chapter."

Is Heyerdahl ready to become part of the pop-culture phenomenon? "Well, who knows about that?" he said with a laugh. "We joke we're the old guys on the set, and perhaps I am the oldest vampire on the set. Who knows if the fans are going to care about us? But it's been interesting. We went out for a cast dinner while we were shooting, and it was fascinating to see the masses of people trying to sneak their way into the restaurant or find where everyone would be leaving from. To be a part of something that has been compared to Beatlemania, which comes close to a good way of describing it, it's pretty incredible." New Moon is slated for release on Nov. 20.
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Enjoy The Prologue From My Upcoming Book.. "Strolok"............by R.Goldberg

"WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR RACE WAS TARGETED FOR EXTINCTION?"

The Sun is a powerful force in our Universe. It brings us light, warmth and a promise of a galaxy beyond the stars. Often we associate massive flashes of light with the reflection of our Sun's light bouncing off of another surface.

This is not always the case though, especially if you believe that we are truly not alone in the Universe. When we witness things that we can't readily explain we sometimes turn our heads and shrug our shoulders in a display of apathy.

A display such as this occurred on Friday January 29, 1982 at the Crater Lake National Park just outside of Chemult, Oregon. The snow had been falling steadily for a period of four days. The winds had been whisking about at 40 miles per hour.
Then there was one of those unnatural flashes of light. This created an eerie silence as a lanky boy, just nine years old, seemed to appear from out of that flash. If he had walked to this point there would have been a distinct trail in the newly fallen snow.
There was no trail and as a matter of fact the only tracks in the snow were the ones that outlined his feet where he was standing.

He began to trudge through the snow wearing what could only be described as dark brown long johns. He seemed dazed yet, at the same time, very clear about the direction that he was travelling. This boy with no identity or name seemed to be on a mission that would take him to places he had never been before.
His main goal was to reach Chemult, Oregon and he had no intention of stopping until he accomplished this. As strange as it seems the extreme cold seemed to have little or no effect on him at all.

Why Chemult? What was so special about this town located at an elevation of 4,758 feet above sea level in a frozen winter wilderness in Oregon?

The town of Chemult was first opened to the local traffic in 1926 and here in 1982, with its population of only 241, offered little in the way of comfort for a nine year old boy who was all alone. This journey, although prompted by something deep inside of him, did not provide a feeling of comfort and yet he had hoped that he would at least experience a feeling of accomplishment once he reached the town.

The wind was getting stronger and he noticed a small piece of yellow paper tattered and torn from whipping about in the snow. He only stopped long enough to
pick up this paper..........it read:

.....With the winter season here there was a lot of fun to have. Travelling miles of open trails on snow mobiles skiing or simply hiking, but there are dangers of doing so. Please remember safety first. Do not travel alone and be sure someone knows where you are and where you are going before travelling our trails, and please read the safety rules and codes of ethics before hiking the trails...

Nightfall was near and he had already walked 38 of the 40 miles needed to reach Chemult. He was just off of Route 97 when he spotted an old barn just about 200 feet NE of his present location. Making his way to the barn he went in and found it to be totally deserted, it was a perfect place to rest for the night.

Morning had arrived and once awake the boy started to look around the barn in the daylight light to see if there was anything that was lying in the barn that he could use to assist him on his trek.

Over in the far corner of the barn he found an old metal locked box that had long been forgotten. It was all rusted out and the key was nowhere to be found. After several failed attempts to open the box the young boy closed his eyes, sat back on his tired limbs and placed the palm of his right hand on top of the box. All of a sudden a dull red glow appeared from his right palm and the box lid flew open. Strangely enough once the red glow disappeared all that remained was a faint thin black outline where the outside of the red mark had appeared on his palm. Inside of the box he found several items all of which were unfamiliar to him and it was obvious that they had been there
for a very long time.

The contents included a tattered passport with the picture missing, a pocket knife, a compass, an antique pocket watch with a broken crystal, a time-worn souvenir porcelain coffee mug with the words; "Atlanta, Georgia, The Peach State, A Perfect Place to Live", on it and a frayed map of the Metro Atlanta Area It was difficult to make out the name on the passport but with a couple of light brushes with his fingers he saw the name Jason Tredmore. This is now who this boy would become.

Sci-Fi Blast

Monday, July 13, 2009