EXCLUSIVE: Twilight Fan Blogs From The Italian Set of New Moon!

Hi guys! It’s Twilight fan Ellie here. Little did I know when I arrived in Montepulciano, Italy to check out the filming of New Moon that I’d end up working as an extra on the set! I traveled here with my friend Jen—another huge fan of the series—while the movie was shooting in the tiny Tuscan town. We were just hoping to catch a glimpse of Rob and Kristen and check out some of the sights in the real-life version of Volterra, but we ended up getting way more than we bargained for!

On our first morning there, we got up at 4:30 A.M. to catch a bus and make it to the set, just a few miles from our hotel. When we got there, we ended up joining a huge group of people who had already auditioned and signed up to be extras—and security let us through with them! We were asked sign a contract saying that we were fans of the series and promising to do our very best because we wanted the movie to be its very best. Then they handed us red cloaks to wear as our costumes. (Sure, we weren’t getting paid, but this is one job we’d happily do for free.)

Once we were inside the piazza where the movie was filming, we watched the amount of people (well, girls) outside the gates starting to build. My friend said to me, “I’m so glad we’re on this side!”

We were immediately in awe of the scenery in the piazza. It was so beautiful and impressive. The Italy scenes will definitely be the most visually stunning ones in the film. The day we were there, they were shooting such a major moment in the book—when Bella runs across the fountain to get to Edward. And let me be the first to tell you: Rob’s abs are 100 percent real! No airbrushing for Edward—he’s been working out.

As Twi-hard fans ourselves, we have to be honest about something. We’re not so sure everyone will agree with director Chris Weitz’s take on the book. Looking around and seeing the sea of anonymous red cloaks and procession people dressed in red with crowns of thorns, I felt more like part of a cult! It’s supposed to be festive, not cult-like.  (In the book, they definitely weren’t wearing heavy, red cloaks in the sweltering mid-day Tuscan sun.)

Check back to read more about the shoot, meeting director Chris Weitz, and what Rob really looks without his shirt on!