Not all of the original cast will be showing up for Eclipse, the third installment of the mega-hit Twilight film series. No worries though, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner will all be there for your drooling pleasure. But it turns out fiery redhead Rachelle Lefevre won’t be returning as naughty vampire Victoria in Eclipse. Instead, the part of the evil blood-sucker will be played by Bryce Dallas Howard.
Rachelle Lefevre played vampire Victoria in both Twilight and the forthcoming New Moon films, but apparently had a conflict with Eclipse’s shooting schedule. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lefevre gave up the third Twilight film to do an indie drama with Dustin Hoffman called Barney’s Version.
Yeah, somehow we just don’t think that was probably the wisest career move. Barney’s Version sounds like a straight-to-DVD title if I’ve ever heard one. And Eclipse really has the best bits for Victoria of all the films. Somehow we have to wonder if maybe Miss Lefevre was sniffing for a bit more moolah and got a smack-down? It seems especially odd since Lefevre was doing press for Eclipse just a few weeks ago. In an interview with the London Free Press, Lefevre notably said about the switch of directors for Eclipse: “The [Harry] Potter kids went through a director shift and they were OK, so we’ll be OK, too.â€
Note the usage of the phrase, “we’ll be OK†– as in just a few weeks ago, Rachelle Lefevre seemed pretty sure she’d be on set for the filming of Eclipse.
Oh well. Rachel Lefevre certainly made a tasty Victoria and it’s usually never a good move to replace a significant cast member halfway through a series. But then again, Bryce Dallas Howard is not bad eye-candy either. But Twilight fans are a rabid bunch – and we’re thinking there are going to be a lot of folks out there a bit displeased by the switch.