SANTA MONICA, California — Later this year, the stars of "Twilight" will return in the highly anticipated sequel "New Moon." But first, they'll be undergoing an extreme makeover.
"I think we are just perfecting it," Nikki Reed explained when she stopped by the MTV studio recently, revealing the conversations she's had with new franchise director Chris Weitz. "I think it will be a little bit different, and we'll perfect it for the best."
It's no secret that the team on the original "Twilight" struggled mightily — and occasionally found their efforts enraging fans — as they attempted to perfect the hairstyles of the Cullen clan. Now, with a new director and bigger budget, Reed revealed that Weitz is determined to get things right.
"[My conversation with him] was revolving around the look of the Cullens; I don't know if we necessarily got it right the first time around," Reed explained. "We weren't expecting all the weather issues and all the makeup we had to put on. Every single character [had a hard time]. I know a lot of people think it was just me that changed how I looked physically, but Peter Facinelli has black hair, and he has to go back blond [for 'New Moon']. And Kellan Lutz, who is a natural blond, has to go back to dark hair."
Now, as the cast heads into "New Moon" and "Eclipse" back-to-back (and "Breaking Dawn" likely to film after those), Reed said they're hoping to streamline the process.
"We all had hours of hair and makeup in the morning, and then when we showed up on set, it was raining," she remembered of her experiences filming the first "Twilight" flick, which hits DVD March 21. "And because we are vampires, we can't shoot in the sun! So, we were always shooting when it was cloudy, and then there was hail, and the makeup was pouring off. It was an experimental process — now, I think, we are more prepared."
But what will this mean for the fans? Reed said the die-hards might notice some of the changes — like her plan to wear a wig this time rather than dye her hair again. "My hair fell out," she winced. "It took 36 hours initially to make me blond, and every other day, I was bleaching my head and my skin. This time around, we are testing out different wigs and stuff."
Before the Twilighters start judging the change, however, Reed wanted to point out one thing: The franchise stars went above-and-beyond to make their original hairdos work. "I really wanted the fans to understand that I was dedicated, and I was going to do whatever I needed to do, even at the expense of going bald," said the 20-year-old, who hopes to squeeze in the film "K-11" with Kristen Stewart between the "Twilight" sequels. "But it was such a brutal process, plus we have a break in between where I have a couple of other projects. And then I go back to Rosalie. So I don't think I'm bleaching my hair this time. I know how upset everyone is going to be, but [my devotion to Rosalie] is why I did it initially.
"The goal is for something better, just better, all around better," she said of Weitz's upcoming attempt to give the Cullens an extreme makeover. "I think we are always striving to better ourselves. And the fact that we are all vampires in the first place ... of course we are going to look unnatural. [But in the first film], all of us looked unnatural."
Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga's New Moon."
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