Fantasy Events Big Announcement for TwiCon in Bologna!

Hey Everyone,
Kalimera from Athens...I have some great news from Italy...Grazie Patricia!

In occasion of it’s Anniversary, FantasyEvents, the Twilight Convention organizer in Italy, has decided to create a 10% discount code for all the people that will book a Pas for next year Convention Night ItaCon. You will just need to insert the code “anniversary” in the booking form to get the reduction. Reduction code will only be available till Saturday 3^rd December.

Night ItaCon will take place in Bologna at the Admiral Park Hotel  from 31^st August 2012 till 2^nd September 2012. 

Confirmed guests till now are Vampire Diaries: Taylor Kinney (uncle Mason) and David Anders (uncle Gilbert, he also did Alias, Once upon a Time and Heroes); from Charmed Dorian Gregory (detective Darryl Morris) ; from True Blood Allan Hyde (Godric) ; from Twilight Guri Weinberg (Stefan the rumenian vampire) and as Special Guests The Hillywood Show (Hannah and Hilly Hindi plus their staff . List is only partial and will keep being updated with new guests as Convention time gets nearer.

You can find further info on the fantasyevents website  or on their FB page

P.S. Are you going to come in Bologna next year? 

Exclusive Interview: Guri Weinberg is a true gentleman

Hey Everyone,
Kalispera from Athens. I know it's been a while since you have seen me but here I am. As promised I have material from Twilight ItaCon2 so here is an interview I really enjoy doing.
I had the privilege to talk to Guri Weinberg and met his wife Tammy Lauren. If you haven't seen them both live I suggest you should. They are the bomb team :) They are simple, down to earth, chatty and kind. I haven't seen "stars" interact with fans so easily and having so much fun being around us. Guri said that his wife taught him how important fans are. After interacting with Tammy, I realized how true that was.

Here are some questions that will give you more information about the Notorious Guri Weinberg. Enjoy!

Guri Weinberg, you can also see Bill Tangradi behind him

Q.Can you share with us something fascinating that happened on BD set?

G.W: There are some fascinated things but they are kind of a surprise for the dvd. And that’s hard to share because I will ruin the surprise.

Q.Did Stephenie reveal to you where did the Romanians go after they have left the Cullens?

G.W: (surprised) No, we didn’t talk about it. She didn’t actually…

Q.You praized Mackenzie Foy (on a blog entry). Can you share with us one of her traits that made her memorable or special for you?

G.W.: What is so special about Mackenzie, is that being a child actor is very very difficult. Because you have to do school, at the same time as work. And when you are coming into a big movie like this, as a child you get nervous, you get all that. She is so intelligent, so professional, so kind and respectful. I hope that when I have a kid, that I couldn’t have one like her. She is an amazing child.

Q. Reading your blog I found a specific entry explaining to us how you got the roles for Munich and Breaking Dawn. I wanted to ask do you like writing? And If yes, have you considered writing your own stories?

G.W.: I actually have written some, still working on it. I love writing and I do write.

Q. What kind of roles do intrigue you?

G.W.: I like roles where a character is flawed. Any human that has something to scrubble with, to overcome because to me that is human. That’s why I don’t like to do perfect characters, no one is perfect.

Q: Do you have a new project you would like to share with us?

G.W.:Not right now

Q: What is the most difficult thing you had to do when you are preparing for a role?

G.W. The dialect is the hardest. Finding information about the era or about a person is much easier than it is perfecting a dialect and make it real. Because if you don’t do the dialect real, the audience will see that and say “what is that?” So, the dialect is always the hardest. It is very very important to get it right.

I have a last question that I wanted to ask him BUT someone else asked it during the day. But I think you should all need to know his answer...So here it is : 

Q:Would you like to play in a movie where your wife would be as well? 

G.W. I would love to play in a movie with my wife. Being Tammy's Nemesis. (How cool is that?)

Live Blog Patrick Brennan, Bill Tangradi, and Guri Weinburg Boston Q& A

Thanks to our Elite Affiliate Twilight Lexicon for this tip!

Initial reactions to auditioning/getting cast:

Bill was bar tending in Brooklyn Heights in a gay bar in and any audition was welcome. He was super excited a week later to land the role.

Guri didn’t know what it was and then his manager’s assistant gave him Twilight 101 and she was a rabid fan and he got it was big

Patrick was literally down to being a Romano’s pizza delivery guy and was grateful to get the gig. He hadn’t gotten a gig in a year.

Jobs they would never want Guri working in a morgue Pat deliver pizza Bill can’t think of one

Fav Food Bill—sushi Pat—–chocolate Guri—-anything break fast If they can be immortal a day what would they do

Guri jokes I’d deliver pizza Bill..that sucks that I’d be back to being mortal again the next day

Special talents Pat—great dancer Bill–roll tongue and juggle and can do puppets play drums

Fears Pats’ ironically is heights Guri is snakes Bill people with blank stares…what do they really want If they could be any age: Pat—6 Guri—30, you’re young enough to do things but old enough for people to take you seriously Bill—not sure

YouTube video favs Pat—”Charlie You Bit My finger” and the fainting dog

The guys seriously are totally bouncing off each other and way off topic, they are on this whole Lady Gaga googoo thing

Pet peeve Bill–condescending people Guri—loud talkers in restaurant Pat-people who lie

Weirdest Fan Experiences: Guri—having a girl on hotel balcony opposite his in Eclipse gear staring at him Bill-during a private Q&A some guy starts telling him about his time in as a storm trooper and he wasn’t all there and the guy had to be removed Pat—-wow I am so happy I don’t have these problems!

If they could be a Cullen which one Pat—-Emmett, Kellan is the baddest dude around Guri —jokes Bella Bill—laughs and starts singing little mermaid song with different lyrics about who would I be….now he says I wouldn’t be one

Weirdest place fan has asked for photo or autograph Bill went to his Moms daycamp and they were very excited he was in ICarley. Bill’s mom is here and just got huge applause.

Guri just gave Children of the Night ( a charity he works with) a plus

What do they think or what was first impression of Twilight Fans:

Guri—they were really intense and he was intimidated Pat—just thrilled that they had such love of a project because actors get so much rejection Bill–scared before his first convention, but now thinks they are great

source Twilight Lexicon

The Munich Factor by Guri Weinberg

Our lovely Cleo got to meet and talk with both Guri and his Wife and came home with the most amazing story of meeting them. He is truely an inspiration and an amazing person. Source Via @guriweinberg.

I changed my mind 20 times regarding the subject matter of this blog. Originally, I was going to write about Italy and ItaCon. I wanted to focus on what conventions were like from one of the actor's perspective. That perspective opened Pandora's box because I am not only one of the "new" actors to the Twilight Saga, I am new to this type of public reception.

So, to explain my perspective, I need to share some details of my life, pre-Twilight and post-Twilight. This may get a little dark, definitely not in the "GFYS" vein so please bear with me.

When I was a month old, my father was murdered. Moshe Weinberg was the wrestling coach on the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. At the Olympic games that year, members of the PLO ("Black September") snuck into the Olympic village in the middle of the night, identified the housing for the Israeli team and took 11 of the athletes hostage in a public spectacle that was broadcast worldwide. To make a statement of their determination to achieve their demands, these hostage takers threw out the naked, dead body of my father for the press to photograph. My father had been killed for attempting to fight off the hostage takers - twice. 

To warn the Israeli hostages against similar moves, they threw the dead body of weightlifter Yousef Romano on the floor in the room the hostages were held in. He was another Israeli team member that attempted to fight back shortly after my father, despite having clear passage to escape without harm. The press, the news outlets, the visitors, the athletes, in fact EVERYONE was acutely aware of the situation unfolding right before their eyes - nine athletes held hostage in the Olympic village and 2 members of the team already dead as the Olympic games continued. The situation ended as badly as anyone might imagine…the remaining nine Israeli athletes were all killed/murdered in a shoot out between Black September and the German police at the airport in Munich in a badly bungled rescue attempt. The Olympic hallmark of peace and civility between all nations on earth in the spirit of excellence in sport and competition was forever shattered.

So, I grew up in the center of a larger debate over the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, at least it felt that way to me. The families of the Munich 11 (as they came to be called) did press often as I grew up, always seeking to gain a moment of silence at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies from the Olympic committee on behalf of the 11 men murdered. Because of the heated debate and divide over the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, these 11 men that had earned a place at the Olympics would not be memorialized at the Olympic Games. That somber remembrance was important to the 11 families as we wanted them remembered for being Olympians and all the persistence, sacrifice and excellence that infers - not casualties of a political debate. However, it was impossible to discuss that desire in the press, no matter how many years passed, without the conversation spiraling into political rhetoric and debate. Additionally, public opinion regarding Israelis can be searingly denigrating and callous, depending on your political afiliation. Over the years, it wore us all down - we were families mourning our losses, not political pundits, so most of us stopped discussing it altogether. Life became relatively quiet for me, save the odd death threat…or three.

Read more.

Guri Weinberg Shares BTS Moments

Source Via @guriweinberg.

When you're shooting on location for 5 months, you come up with some pretty juvenile inside jokes, catchphrases and pranks. For example, what started as three extremely tired actors getting exceptionally silly while grocery shopping at Whole Foods turned into an elaborate game between myself, Lee Pace and Christian Camargo wherein one of us would, at any time or place, kick one of the others in the shin as hard as we could and then run away.

But that's another blog.

My Twitter Followers know that there is currently a GFYS game playing out in real time - started by Charlie Bewley, who was quickly joined by Daniel Cudmore, Patrick Brennan and Toni Trucks in the GFYS Guri Weinberg campaign. Bewley and Brennan dropped out, Cudmore took the lead andTrucks keeps the pressure on. Thus, the name of this blog. Hey Cudmore and Trucks…if you're reading this…this blog will have your names and GFYS combined on a Google search soon! It's GFYS 2.0.

But WHAT is GFYS?

GFYS started one day as Noel and I were walking back into our trailer after a long day's work. We each had one half of the same trailer as dressing rooms and our doors were on opposite ends. As we were opening the doors to our dressing rooms, I called out to him,

"Hey, Noel…"

He earnestly looked at me. "Yeah?"

UBER casually I say, "Go f*** yourself."

On his look of shock, I went into my room and shut the door. I admit, I was laughing pretty hard. The look on his face was priceless.

The next thing I know, an A.D. comes knocking on my door. When it's an A.D. at the door, that means we are needed on set. I have wardrobe to reassemble and it's a cold Baton Rouge winter day, so there's a minute or two of clothes prep/bundling involved with walking back on set. Finally, I'm good and I open the door. The A.D. looks up at me, smiles and says sweetly,

"Um, Guri? Don't need you on set, actually. Noel just needed you to go f*** yourself." and I can hear Noel laughing next door so hard, I think he might choke to death.

From there, as you might imagine, the cast and crew all heard about the GFYS game and immediately embraced the concept. The GFYS game was played in many variations on a daily basis - there were many combinations of cast mates, crew, hotel staff and occasionally, innocent bystanders in various scenarios. They're ALL funny. However…I can only elaborate on one GFYS story to give you the whole FLAVOR of this ridiculous game. The GFYS tale would not be complete without what I like to call my personal GFYS journey with Noel Fisher.

So, back to the same cold, rainy day on set where it all started. Noel had sent an A.D. to tell me GFYS, laughed like a serial killer on a sugar high and I think…this is the end. But Noel had enjoyed this all TOO much. So, he KEEPS sending A.D.'s to knock on my door all day. Every 5 minutes, SOMEONE is telling me GFYS. It was a LONG day. I get back to the hotel, getting ready for bed and a note comes under the door from the hotel. Usually, it's a bill so I go get it. Instead of a bill, it just read, "Mr. Weinberg…please GFYS. Thank You." As I am deliberating over that, I get a call in my room. I warily answer the phone and it's Toni Trucks in a thinly disguised voice posing as the hotel front desk staff. I'm waiting for it.

"Yes…Mr. Weinberg…we just wanted to make sure you got your bill and GFYS."

Then later, I got a text from an A.D. The text read, "Guri…your call time has been changed to go f*** yourself."

Oh, no Noel DIDN'T...

I get on set the next day and amble up to Bill Bannerman, our co-producer.

"Hey Bill…I need a favor. I need you to tell Noel 'go f***yourself' for me."

"Guri, what IS this 'go f*** yourself' thing all about? I hear everyone doing that?"

So I tell him. He's TOTALLY into it and thinks it's pretty funny (I mentioned we were ALL really punchy at this stage in filming, right?) and he calls one of the P.A.s over.

"Go get Noel Fisher. I need to talk to him". She runs off to get Noel, a little perplexed and nervous. I'm in heaven. I start walking to the stage door, far enough away for him not to suspect anything, close enough to see his face. Noel comes rushing onto set, pulling his wardrobe together as he walks. He looks nervous. He sees me.

"Hey, man. I just got called to set to talk to Bill. Know what it's about?"

"Noel. Dude. How would I know? He didn't say anything to me."

He nods, looks over at Bill and walks over. I linger by the door so I can see his face as he walks up to Bill. 

"Hey, Bill. You wanted to see me?"

"Oh, yeah. Look, Noel…go f*** yourself."

Noel's face was nothing less then GFYS poetry.

So, I'm on set getting some water out of the cooler. We're on a short break and most of the cast and crew is there. The stage has a microphone for the director or A.D. to talk to people from behind the video monitors. As I'm getting my water, I hear in a low, raspy voice…

"Hey…Guri…"

Now, it KINDA sounds like Wyck Godfrey, our producer - if Wyck was a lounge singer. I turn around to find the source of the voice, as does the rest of the cast and the crew.

"Yeah…Guri…over here…go f*** yourself."

Nicely played, Noel, I'm thinking. Let's kick it up a notch.

So, what could I do? I had a talk with Kristen, then Rob to arrange a spontaneous GFYS from each to accent the rest of Noel's day. They were SO into it. However, before I know it, Rob is wrapped for the day and I'm thinking he forgot. Oh, me of little faith in Rob's silliness. As he walks off set back to his trailer, "Noel. Go f*** yourself." Rob said it so casually, Noel looked at him for a second, not believing he'd heard what he just heard. Noel looks at me.

"I can't believe you did that. Nice.", he says.

"Thanks, man." I respond. But he hasn't heard from Kristen yet. AND now we're called back to set...

The minute I walk on set, Kristen is READY to do this thing with Noel. She keeps looking at me when he's not looking, mouthing, "Now?" I'm mouthing back, "Not yet." She keeps shooting me looks every few seconds, "Now?" and I keep going "Not yet. Rob just did it." I am thinking to myself, MAN, she REALLY wants to tell Noel to go f***himself. Did he piss her off or what?!? There's a break coming up and we all come back on set. Except Kristen. I look for an A.D.

"Where's Kristen?"

"Oh, she wrapped."

NO WONDER she wanted to do it so quickly. Dammit.

Now, a sane person would have let it go. I, on the other hand, saved the rest for Canada. In Canada, I go to Peter Facinelli. This is TOTALLY up Peter's alley and quite frankly, something he was BORN to do.

Peter waits until right before 'action' to look at Noel and say,

"Hey Noel. Go f*** yourself." Then Bill called 'action'. Noel's reaction? Just another slice of GFYS genius. So, next I went to Bill Condon. You guessed it…he was TOTALLY into it.

Bill waits until we're shooting a scene where we are perched in a rather uncomfortable position. He comes over, looks up at us and asks,

"Guri, you alright?"

I answer, "Doing OK, Bill. Thanks."

He looks at Noel. "Noel…are you cold? You seem cold." XXX Noel looks at him and says, "Actually Bill, it IS a little…"

Bill cuts him off. "Yeah? Go f*** yourself." Noel. Is. Speechless. OH! The joy…but I'm not done. He THINKS I'm done but I am not done.

I mean, I WOULD have been done if I were not a complete CHILD but I am, so…I went to Stephenie. I am full of confidence as I approach Stephenie. We were simpatico since day one and I just KNOW she'll be the feather in my GFYS Noel Fisher hat.

"Stephenie, I need you to do me a favor. Please tell Noel to go f*** himself." Silence. She is staring at me and it occurs to me that I may have crossed a line here. Now, I am now wondering how long it will be until Stefan is cut from the film.

"I can't use the "f" word.", she says. OMG is all I am thinking…THAT is her only issue with it?!? Relief pours over me…along with renewed dedication to the GFYS Noel Fisher campaign I have launched.

"Stephenie…substitute ANY word for the "f" word. Trust me…HE'LL KNOW."

"I would be comfortable with that…you know what would be REALLY funny? If we…" and she went on to describe several GFYS games to play on several unsuspecting folks involved with BD. Her creativity knew no boundaries and suffice it to say that Stephenie is the COOLEST woman EVER and a GENIUS!!! 

Naturally, Stephenie handled my request brilliantly and Noel was suitably shocked by the lengths I went in order to achieve this GFYS victory.

Most likely, we will all NEVER end this game. Now, I know some Twifans will use this opportunity to tell the cast GFYS at every opportunity. Just as a warning, it MAY sound different coming from a relative stranger than it would a co-worker, so be prepared for some shocked reactions if you go this route. And, it may not ENDEAR you to the cast as they may not understand you're joking. In fact, you could get a visit from security. So, as much as the visual of the Twilight/BD cast being told "Go f*** yourself!" from fans worldwide makes me laugh till I cry, it may not be the best idea in practice.

Now that my disclaimer is in place, I would like to say with love, respect and admiration to Twitter followers who have gotten involved in our exceptionally juvenile game…GFYS. :)

When Guri met Mackenzie....

Source Via @guriweinberg.

When I first met Mackenzie, I knew she was special. What I didn't understand was how badly she could kick my a$$. Let me explain.

I met Mackenzie in October, 2010 when some of the new cast flew into Baton Rouge for some make-up/wardrobe screen tests and to discuss our roles with director, Bill Condon. While we were there, we got an invitation from the producers for a dinner party. Imagine our surprise when we show up and see Rob, Kristen, Stephanie, Ashley, Kellan, Nikki and Jackson.

And Mackenzie.

Mackenzie and I bonded immediately. She has a lot in common with my wife - child actor (not anymore, obviously, but my wife was a child actor), a Scorpio, a martial artist and an ace student. And the ability to make me feel…very juvenile. I'll explain.

It started with the hand slapping. You know that game where one person lays their hands on the other persons hands and the person whose hands are on the bottom tries to slap and the person whose hands are on the top tries to avoid getting slapped? Well of course I lost. Whether I was the slapper or the slappee. And I lost…a lot. It drove me insane. How can I lose this game to a 10 year old girl? Where is my age advantage?

So, I keep challenging her. Over and over. To the point that she would sigh every time she saw me coming for more. People are thinking I have lost my mind. We're in between takes and I am running over to Mackenzie for a rematch. And losing. So, Mackenzie started feeling bad for me and introduced a new game - the staring game.

Read more.