"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" panel at Comic-Con is arguably the most buzzed-about, yet difficult to attend panel this year.
If you didn't camp out overnight or have press access (like Zap2it), you probably had no way of getting into spacious Hall H for the panel.
Luckily, we're here to (try) and live blog as much of the action as possible. Enjoy!
2:02 p.m. - Oh my God. They're here!
Director Chris Weitz anyway.
Ashley Greene (Alice), Kristen Stewart (Bella), Taylor Lautner (Jacob) and yes, Edward Cullen himself, Rob Pattinson arrive. Oddly enough, the screaming is at a minimum. My ears are intact.
Ashley - It's her first time here, so it's been "incredible."
To the screams of "Take your shirt off!" Taylor answers about transforming: "He changes mentally and emotionally ... the hardest part was physically. I worked really hard to transform his body ... I hope you guys are pleased when you see the results."
Not a lot of fans are digging Kristen Stewart's Joan Jett hair. Yeah, let's move on to Rob. His hair's great.
He's smiling and charming (of course) answering something about special effects. But wait, they're saying they brought something for us here? Could it be a new scene? A trailer? A pony?
Ah, it's clip! And yes, TAYLOR LAUTNER TAKES HIS SHIRT OFF in it.
Whew. Excuse me as I cool myself off with a soda. The temperature in this room has ridden to global warming levels. Oh, and get my hearing back.
Okay, here's a rundown of the clip: It's the scene where Jacob teaches Bella to ride a motorcycle. Of course, ghostly Edward (as the voice in her head) makes some pale-faced appearances as she rides. After she crashes and gets all bloody, that's when the magic happens: Jacob plays nurse and rips --okay, not really -- takes his shirt off showing off a six-pack plus magnum abs. I couldn't hear any dialog after that.
The fan Q&A portion is sort of weird: One asks about Rob being funny. His response: "One of my legs is shorter than the other one, so I can look like an idiot,"
Annoyingly during this whole time, a cameraman is blocking my view of the panel. Grr.
Good question: Did Kristen ride on a real motorcycle? No, she only rode on a rig. And she doesn't want to ride a real one.
Will Rob ever do open mic nights again? "I'd love to do it again, but it'd be like cutting a record if I do it now" (because everyone would record it and sell it, right?)
A mention of the "New Moon" trailer fan reaction videos. Director Weitz is highly amused or "tickled" by it. "Some of them are very intense in their reactions, and I wouldn't want to get them angry."
He jokes about doing a reaction video to the fan reaction videos.
Difference between shooting in Vancouver and Portland (for "Twilight")? Ashley Greene is really kind of adorable in pink. Taylor says it's not as fun "wearing no clothes there." Okay, now he's just fishing for screams.
How was it filming half-naked in Vancouver in that weather?
Taylor: "It was quite cold ... we did this scene where it was raining. We used raintower rain from the wells. It was so cold. I was only wearing jean shorts ... 12 hours. It was hard, but I was doing it all for you guys."
Ooh, Deborah was a lucky lady who got to play an extra in Italy. That would have been awesome. She asks their favorite moments shooting there. Kristen kind of rambles. Rob says it's "eerily" like he pictured it.
What are they looking forward to in upcoming films? Taylor at first talks about the "heighth" (sic) of the love triangle, but then adds, 'The sleeping bag scene." You're not the only one!
Oh, this is hilarious. Kristen is looking forward to being pregnant, and Rob is looking forward to helping in the Cesarean. Okay, that's kind of gross. But funny. That's why we like Rob. He's offbeat.
Injuries on set? Kristen - sprained ankle. No deaths. Good to know. You know, Weitz is actually gaining fans. "Taylor did every single stunt that he was allowed to do [by insurance companies]. Rob just stood there looking good, really."
Finally, a Volturi question! Ashley says it's fun to work with the cast in general, and the "new kids" got along too. Okay, we wanted more detail than that.
A dude asks Taylor about his workout regimen: "The thing that I found was that I put on some weight, then I started losing weight ... I was over-working myself. I was burning more calories than I was taking in. Whenever I would break a sweat, my trainer would have me break and relax. Kristen would tease me about that a lot." He gives a shout out to his trainer Jordan Yong (sp?), who would wake him up with protein shakes. "Dude, I'm sleeping."
One dude asks about how it is to play Edward ...Rob answers with a convoluted analogy about walking on the street and stepping on a stone that flies away. The fans next to me are perplexed, but are okay with him just looking fine.
Taylor tried to do Native American research about kids his age, but he discovers, wow, "They're just like me" because one kid told him about checking out girls when he's at the beach. But he does actually speak a Quileute line in "New Moon."
Rob is awkward, and has his hand in his shirt collar, tucked behind his neck. He's laughing so much and is goofy, but he discusses the fight scene in the end, which was more fluid this time around.
More about the increased size and scope of "New Moon": Taylor thanks the fans again. "We were more confident because we know we have you behind us. I would be lying if I said I never got nervous because we want to please you."
Every girl here loves that line.
Angsty Kristen of course loves this film: "I played an insane person." More rambling.
Director Weitz says there's one more scene where Alice and Bella are rushing ...one moment while I watch.
In this clip, ROB PATTINSON TAKES OFF HIS SHIRT.
I kid you not. The "New Moon" folks found a way to give us both shirtless Taylor AND shirtless Rob. Can we die happy now?
Clip #2: At the end of "New Moon," Bella and Alice are riding in a sweet yellow Porsche (that's what it was, right?) in Italy, rushing to stop Edward from revealing himself in the light of day so that the Volturi will get angry and kill him (since he believes Bella is dead, he's sacrificing himself).
Kristen, looking properly Bella in the clip gets out of the car and runs through a bunch of red hooded and cloaked people to the area where a slow motion-moving Edward appears in a black buttoned-down shirt, which he's oh-so-slowly unbuttoning. Bella is running like a madwoman to get to him on time, and bit by bit, we see more of his pale white torso, revealing that he too has a nice set of abs for your laundry needs.
Just as he gets to the last button and is about to shrug out of his shirt, the clip cuts to the movie logo. Denied!!!