I’ve added new filming photos of Xavier Samuel onlocation of his new movie, “The Grandmothers” on February 16, 2012.

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• (x012) The Grandmothers: Filming – February 16, 2012

I’ve added more filming photos of Xavier Samuel on the set of his new movie, “The Grandmothers” on February 8, 2012.

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• (x039) The Grandmothers: Filming – February 8, 2012

I’ve added new behind the scenes stills & official trailer of Xavier Samuel in “Bait 3D” movie to the gallery.

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• (x001) Bait: Posters
• (x004) Bait: Behind The Scenes

After gaining worldwide recognition as newborn vampire Riley in the third film in the Twilight series, actor Xavier Samuel is finally growing up.

He’s turned his hand to comedy with hilarious results in A Few Best Men, in what Xavier Samuel calls his first “adult” role in a film.

The Adelaide-born actor, 28, says he didn’t think he would be right for the part, as he has always been asked to play teenagers.

“Initially I thought I was a bit too young for it. It’s the first time I have really been cast as an adult,” he tells Insider.

Samuel plays David Locking, an Englishman who travels to Australia to wed his sweetheart. But the wedding, set in a stunning house in NSW’s Blue Mountains, doesn’t go to plan thanks to his best men Graham (Kevin Bishop), Tom (Kris Marshall) and Luke (Tim Draxl).

He says he embraced the challenge of an accent. “It was a strange kind of paradox playing an Englishman in an Australian film set in Australia,” Samuel says.

“But I guess it was great to have Kris and Kevin playing British and being British. The accent I find quite contagious – even now I slip back into it.”

Samuel adds he enjoys being able to laugh at his own country in the film.

“They get to Australia and they’re like, ‘bloody hell look at this crazy continent’, so it was kind of nice to take the piss out of myself and Australia itself,” he says. The cast ended up having as many laughs on screen as off it.

“I was giggling like a little kid a lot of the time. They (Kevin and Kris) are saboteurs – they do all their stuff and they would poke fun with me and I thought, ‘I’m never going to do this’,” Samuel says. “I think Tim was the butt of many a joke. Kevin has the ability to pinpoint and hassle someone for his own entertainment.

“The whole film was one non-stop prank.”

The team were so worried about the hijinks they thought Olivia Newton-John’s first day on set might be her last. “Kevin was in a gimp mask, Kris was naked, I had vomit all over my shirt and Tim was in his underpants and that wasn’t even in the film,” Samuel jokes.

“I could just see her going: ‘What have I got myself into?’

“We had conversations that night saying: ‘I wonder if Olivia will come back’?”

Newton-John’s mother of the bride character is far removed from herself and Samuel says the cast respected her for it. “Hats off to her, it’s a really brave thing in a film like this, putting yourself out there not in an appealing light, it’s a real change of speed for her,” he says. “I think the audience will get a newfound respect for her.”

Although single, Samuel says he picked up tips from the film about what not to do at a wedding.

“I think as long as you do pretty much the opposite of what they do in this film you’ll be OK.”

Source: Daily Telegraph

If you live in North America, you probably first saw 28-year-old Australian actor Xavier Samuel in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” as Riley Biers, the (doomed) vampire tasked with helping to create a new vampire army.

Twi-hards know that Samuel won’t be sinking his teeth into another “Twilight” film, but you can see him in the pseudo-historical drama ”Anonymous,” now available on DVD and Blu-ray. The twisty film is based on the theory that the historical William Shakespeare is a fraud and the real Bard is Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Samuel plays Henry Wriothesley, the illegitimate son of de Vere and Queen Elizabeth I.

We called Down Under, where Samuel’s new romantic comedy “A Few Best Men” just opened in theaters, and asked the affable actor to wax philosophical about the impact of Shakespeare and vampires on his life.

“Anonymous” isn’t your first experience with Shakespearean drama. How did the Bard help shape your early acting experiences in Australia?
I studied Shakespeare all through high school. Both of my parents teach English and history, so it has always been around my experience as a young man. When I started acting school, we did a production of “Hamlet” with an American director who was visiting. So, yeah, Shakespeare has been a big part of my experience so far. I think when you are working with writing like that, you’re amazed at how contemporary it is. It really does still speak to today’s audience. It hasn’t been dated at all and it’s still relevant.

“Anonymous” is controversial in its suggestion that Edward de Vere wrote most of Shakespeare’s work. Has your experience with this film made you rethink your own views on the historical Shakespeare?
I’m pretty certain the Earl of Southampton wrote his plays. There are a lot of strange coincidences that point towards de Vere as the creator of the other works. I guess for me, personally, it doesn’t really matter. Regardless of who wrote these plays and body of work, it’s still there. We certainly had some interesting conversations about it. It makes for a thrilling story, and that’s what attracted me to the screenplay in the first place. The crux of the film is the relationship between art and politics and how, during that time, you could put on a play and potentially overthrow a government or at least put a chink in its armor. It’s relevant to remind people how powerful art is and how it can make change for the better.

There are a lot of secret affairs and illegitimate children in “Anonymous,” making your character, Henry, both the son and grandson of Queen Elizabeth I. Do you think Henry ever found out the truth as depicted in “Anonymous”?
I think de Vere wanted to tell him, didn’t he? My character and de Vere have this affinity for each other that is part of a father-son relation. But I don’t really contribute too much thought into what happens after the film. I think that’s where you hand it to the audience and try to let them think about what happens afterwards because it is where my job ends.

What prompted you to mail an audition tape from Australia to play Riley Biers in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” and how surprised were you to get the part?
It was like being struck by lighting and was totally surreal! I had done a few auditions that way by sending tapes over from Australia, and you kind of get into a habit of not really thinking about it. You send them off into oblivion and you think, I wonder if anyone is going to watch this? It was a total surprise, so I flew myself to Vancouver to meet [director] David Slade and it snowballed from there. They were very secretive about the story. I don’t think I read a draft of the film until three weeks before we started shooting.

You won an MTV Award for Best Fight for playing Riley. How has being a part of “Twilight” altered the course of your career?
It’s hard to gauge, really. It’s certainly opened a lot of doors that never would have been opened and presented a lot of opportunities. You meet really interesting people that you become friends with, and that’s been the main advantage for me. Also, coming back to Australia, it kind of changed the temperature of the way people perceive me. It’s been very positive.

Source: Next Movie

I’ve added new scans of Xaver Samuel filming his upcoming movie, “The Grandmothers” on the beach on February 8, 2012.

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• (x002) The Grandmothers: February 8, 2012

I’ve added new scans of Xaver Samuel on the February/March issue of “GQ” Magazine, Style section spread to the gallery.

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• (x009) Magazine Scans: GQ – February/March 12

I’ve added new event photos of Xavier Samuel on the set of his new movie, “The Grandmothers” with Naomi Watts on February 9, 2012.

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• (x008) The Grandmothers: Filming – February 9, 2012

I’ve added new event photos of Xavier Samuel arriving at 2012 AACTA Awards in Sydney, Australia on January 31, 2012.

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• (x014) Events in 2012: 2012 AACTA Awards – Arriving