Tuesday, December 1, 2009
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Valley teen finds rising fame in ‘New Moon’
It’s no question what team local actor Kiowa Gordon is on: It’s Team Jacob.
The former Mesa resident portrays Embry Call, Jacob Black’s best friend and werewolf pack brother in the popular movie “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”
Gordon auditioned in an open casting call in Phoenix in January. The unnamed movie was searching for Native American actors. Gordon is a member of the Hualapai tribe.
The 19-year-old already knew he was trying out for the second movie in the “Twilight” series after he was tipped off by none other than Stephenie Meyer, the writer of the book series the movies are based on. Meyer goes to church with Gordon’s family in Cave Creek.
Gordon moved to Cave Creek with his mom after living 10 years in Mesa, where he attended several Mesa schools, including Mountain View High School, Highland Elementary School and Stapley Junior High School.
Gordon secured an acting coach an hour before the audition, and a week and a half later, he was told he got the part through an e-mail and then through a phone call from director Chris Weitz.
“It’s been crazy,” Gordon said.
Just two months later, Gordon was in Vancouver shooting the popular vampire and werewolf movie starring several teen heartthrobs, including Taylor Lautner, who portrays werewolf Jacob Black, Bella Swan’s best friend.
Halfway through “New Moon,” Gordon’s character goes through a sort of werewolf puberty and changes into a werewolf. The werewolves are there to protect the reservation and Bella from vampires.
Most of Gordon’s scenes are action scenes, and he is usually half-clothed, along with his other pack brothers.
“We bonded quite well,” Gordon said. “We’re like brothers.”
The premiere of the movie was Nov. 16 in Westwood, Calif. Gordon walked the red carpet and saw the movie for the second time. The first time was a rough cut at Meyer’s home.
Since then, Gordon has traveled the country doing press for the movie, sometimes sitting down for 100 interviews in a day.
“Our fans are really passionate,” Gordon said.
The third movie in the series, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” was filmed in October, and Gordon portrays the same character. The movie is slated to come out in June 2010.
“My wolf character in ‘Eclipse’ has more fighting scenes,” Gordon said.
After the massive success of the ‘Twilight’ movies, Gordon has already been offered several movie roles and appeared in many magazines.
In January, he’ll start filming “Murder for Dummys,” a thriller/comedy. In May or June, he’ll travel to Tennessee to star in “Into the Darkness,” a psychological thriller about a group of friends who go camping, discovering caves where people start dying.
Gordon is no stranger to the movie set. He’s been in several smaller movies and a commercial, but “New Moon” is his biggest break.
On Saturday, Gordon and two other “New Moon” actors will host the “Saturday Slashers” horror movie marathon on MTV. Last week, he starred in a skit on “The Jay Leno Show.”
His mom, Camille Nighthorse, has been bringing her eight kids to various movies she’s been a part of as extras. “Ki,” as she calls Kiowa, is the second youngest.
“I’m very excited for him because I’ve been trying this for years,” said Nighthorse, who helps manage her son’s career. “For him to get into a character with such a huge fan base, it’s just been such a blessing. Ki has always had that rare talent.”
On Wednesday, Gordon signed “Twilight” books, calendars and even arms for adoring fans at the Biltmore Borders in Phoenix.
Darcy Fowler, a junior at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, is a big fan of the movies and was excited to meet Gordon.
“He was really good in the movie,” said Darcy, 16. “He held himself up even though he may have been younger than the other actors.
“It’s just really cool that he’s here today,” she said. “I really appreciate him coming out and meeting his fans.”
source: eastvalleytribune.com
Kiowa Gordon shares ‘New Moon’ premiere experience
LOS ANGELES – “It was even crazier than I thought it would be,” said Kiowa Gordon, Hualapai, about the Hollywood premiere of the much-anticipated “New Moon,” the second installment of the “Twilight” saga.
Kiowa, 19, who plays werewolf Embry Call, spoke by phone just hours after walking the red carpet with his mom Camille and his manager Dan Spilo at Mann’s Village Theatre in Los Angeles.
“It was awesome. It was pretty exhausting though just walking the whole red carpet for an hour-and-a-half and doing lots of interviews. Fans lined up everywhere and they just steal your energy.” He claims to have given 600 interviews in the last week.
According to his mom, the female fans knew who her son was but didn’t always know how to pronounce his name. “Girls were screaming Kiowa or Kee-oh-wa. I’d say ‘it’s Ki-oh-wa!’ It was crazy with all the girls screaming. It definitely was a night to remember. There must’ve been 1,500 girls and they came from different countries,” Camille said. The night before the premiere, Kiowa and another actor surprised fans who camped out for days to witness the big premiere.
Kiowa Gordon was swarmed by fans camping out the night before the premiere.
“We went out to the street and we wanted to say ‘what up?’ We wanted to show our love for them. They got up out of their tents. They mobbed us. The security came out and had to rescue us. We went around the block and saw more fans. We were there another hour. I did three more interviews with local TV stations,” Kiowa said.
Life hasn’t been the same for him and the four other young Natives who were cast earlier this year as werewolves. The movies are based on novels by Stephenie Meyer. “Twilight” is about a teenage girl named Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart) who falls in love with a boy named Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattinson), a vampire. She befriends a Native American teenager named Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) who is a member of the Quileute Tribe and unbeknownst to Swan is part of an ancient line of werewolves, enemies to the vampires.
In “New Moon,” Black and four others, including Gordon, emerge as werewolves. The other werewolves are Alex Meraz, Purepecha-Tarasco; Chaske Spencer, Lakota; and Bronson Pelletier, Cree-Metis. Of special note is the fact that members of the Quileute Tribal Council attended the premiere as special guests.
Each actor was allowed to bring four guests to the premiere and after party. Gordon lucked out with five tickets. He brought four of his seven siblings, his mom and his manager, but only two walked the red carpet with him. His 17-year-old sister, Lakota, and the rest of the family had a front row view of the stars arriving.
“It was cool, we took pictures. I met Taylor Lautner. He was nice and (I met) Cameron Bright. He plays one of the volturi vampires (characters who enforce the laws of the vampire world). Fans swarmed the main actors. They were rushed out,” said Lakota, who bumped into and said “Hi” to Jennifer Love Hewitt at the after party.
As for the movie, everyone including Kiowa who has a few speaking roles gave it a thumbs up. “I loved it. It was surprising. It turned out so awesome. The whole wolf pack was awesome.” Lakota agreed: “I thought it was so good. I wanted to see more of the wolves. The volturi vampires took away from it.”
This movie is a big break for young Native actors like Kiowa who until now were unknowns. “I was so proud of him and I thought he did a great job. This has opened up other doors for him. I’m really glad. He (recently) auditioned for a Disney movie and it’ll be that way for other wolf pack members. It’s exciting to see so many Natives get an opportunity to be a part of this series,” Camille said.
Kiowa, now suffering from lack of sleep, agreed. The movie has changed his life. He’s now involved in three movie projects and just finished filming the next “Twilight” installment, called “Eclipse,” due out next June. “I feel really blessed.”
Kiowa even revealed a little tidbit about “Eclipse.” “It’s the same stuff, different place, but you’ll see more of the CGI (computer generated image) wolves than you will the real people.”
source: indiancountrytoday.com
Alex Meraz and Kiowa Gordon talk 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon'
Kiowa Gordon and Alex Meraz portray two of the ab-ripped wolfpack members in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and over the past few months, they've been champions for the Twilight series and its appeal to guys.
A writer at ComingSoon.net had a lengthy discussion with the two where they revealed a great number of interesting things about themselves and their work in the film.
Notably, both actors fessed up to loving the stunt-work involved in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and they also had unique stories to tell about how they became a part of the saga - and why they enjoy it.
In addition to preparing their spiritual selves to play native characters, they immersed themselves in the book that inspired the movie. Alex freely stated that when he read "New Moon," he was obsessed with it! Both actors enjoyed director Chris Weitz's interpretation of the book and felt that he balanced the storyline well, promising that his input in the movie created an action-packed, but romance-driven story. While the action is very prominent throughout the film, Kiowa said that the movie stayed true to the book. "It's pretty close to the book, actually, but they just spice it up a little bit… yeah, Twi-Hards definitely will be happy!" Kiowa followed that up saying that it has more action, pointing to the fight between Felix and Edward, but other than that "it's pretty close to the book, they didn't take too much out… the movie is just as amazing!"
source: Examiner.com
A writer at ComingSoon.net had a lengthy discussion with the two where they revealed a great number of interesting things about themselves and their work in the film.
Notably, both actors fessed up to loving the stunt-work involved in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and they also had unique stories to tell about how they became a part of the saga - and why they enjoy it.
In addition to preparing their spiritual selves to play native characters, they immersed themselves in the book that inspired the movie. Alex freely stated that when he read "New Moon," he was obsessed with it! Both actors enjoyed director Chris Weitz's interpretation of the book and felt that he balanced the storyline well, promising that his input in the movie created an action-packed, but romance-driven story. While the action is very prominent throughout the film, Kiowa said that the movie stayed true to the book. "It's pretty close to the book, actually, but they just spice it up a little bit… yeah, Twi-Hards definitely will be happy!" Kiowa followed that up saying that it has more action, pointing to the fight between Felix and Edward, but other than that "it's pretty close to the book, they didn't take too much out… the movie is just as amazing!"
source: Examiner.com
'New Moon' star Kiowa Gordon to star in 'Murder for Dummys'
Having made a rather large name for himself as Embry Call in The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Kiowa Gordon has a pretty full roster for 2010.
You've already heard a great deal about Gordon's forthcoming work Into The Darkness (which shoots in April or May), but now, it has been revealed that Gordon will also be filming Murder For Dummys.
Murder is written by Emerson Bixby and will be directed by David Capurso. According to Shock Till You Drop, the film's synopsis is as follows:
The story takes place on Halloween night and involves a couple and their friend accidentally killing a costumed trick or treater in a hit and run, then trying to cover up the murder. Once the friend starts to develop a taste for murder, comic and grisly twists and turns ensue.
The picture is set for filming in January, 2010. The kick of it? He'll be joining many of his Darkness co-stars in the film. At least three, in fact, including Russ Russo, Wolfgang J. Weber, and Dalal Bruchmann
source: Examiner.com
You've already heard a great deal about Gordon's forthcoming work Into The Darkness (which shoots in April or May), but now, it has been revealed that Gordon will also be filming Murder For Dummys.
Murder is written by Emerson Bixby and will be directed by David Capurso. According to Shock Till You Drop, the film's synopsis is as follows:
The story takes place on Halloween night and involves a couple and their friend accidentally killing a costumed trick or treater in a hit and run, then trying to cover up the murder. Once the friend starts to develop a taste for murder, comic and grisly twists and turns ensue.
The picture is set for filming in January, 2010. The kick of it? He'll be joining many of his Darkness co-stars in the film. At least three, in fact, including Russ Russo, Wolfgang J. Weber, and Dalal Bruchmann
source: Examiner.com
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