14 DAY TRIAL // Summit Entertainment fired Rachelle Lefevre from “The Twilight Saga,” which means the part of villain vampire Victoria will be played in “Eclipse” by Bryce Dallas Howard, a recent addition to the cast. A gag order of sorts has been put on Lefevre, as well as the other members of the cast, but that did not stop Peter Facinelli to express his regret over the decision at the first TwiCon in Dallas, MTV says.
The biggest question at the convention, like the proverbial elephant in the room, was the firing of Rachelle, the aforementioned media outlet informs. However, it was pretty clear that no one present was willing to discuss the topic, presumably because Summit is putting pressure on all the actors to keep their mouth shut so that they don’t suffer the same fate as Lefevre – or, at least, that’s how rumor has it. Peter Facinelli, though, was bold enough to bring up the topic of Rachelle’s firing.
“I can say that I’m saddened that the dates didn’t work out.” Facinelli said of Lefevre and Summit’s claim that the fallout was over a ten-day overlap between “Eclipse” and a smaller project. However, the actor also insisted he was keeping his guard up because he was in a position that did not allow him to make too many comments on the situation: on the one hand, there was Summit, the movie studio paying his bills and making sure he stuck around for the other two movies, while on the other, there was Rachelle, a dear friend he would miss working with.
“I’m excited to work with [Bryce Dallas Howard]. But again, I’m deeply saddened that Rachelle is not going to be in ‘Eclipse.’ I love [Lefevre] like a sister; it deeply saddens me. But you know, the show must go on. We’re going to embrace Bryce Dallas Howard – and I hope that the fans do, too.” Facinelli said of the sudden and highly mediated change Summit operated at the very last minute. As fans must know, “Eclipse,” the third installment in “The Twilight Saga,” is scheduled to go into production in a few weeks’ time.
As we also reported over the weekend, the entire “Twilight” cast is said to be “devastated” by Summit’s decision, but is gagged by an indirect threat not to speak about it. Lefevre too has been temporarily silenced, having agreed not to issue any more statements until her attorney and legal representatives for the studio reach an understanding in court.