Chris Weitz talks New Moon

New Moon, due Nov. 20 and based on the second volume of the Twilight saga, expands upon a supernatural love triangle. While vampire Edward (Rob Pattinson) runs away to Italy to keep his mortal teen queen Bella (Kristen Stewart) out of danger from others of his kind, she makes time with the less-complicated Jacob (Taylor Lautner) as he finally reveals his hairier, scarier side.

Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) picks up where Twilight's Catherine Hardwicke left off on the production that starts shooting March 23. One of his first tasks on the sequel was deciding to keep Lautner, whose gangly Native American high-schooler in the first film transforms into a hulking giant over the course of the book series as he fulfills his tribe's destiny.

"Taylor is a formidable guy, kind of a great tool in the toolbox," Weitz says of the nearly 17-year-old actor who has been working out daily and has packed on 29 pounds, most of it muscle. "In the first movie, we did not see or recognize how dangerous a character he could be."

As for Taylor himself, "he can kill me with his left pinky. But he is too nice to do that. There is something compelling and sexy about him. He captures the spirit of Jacob."

Grounded in 'real world'

The backdrop of the Twilight books might be a gothic fantasy, but the filmmaker sees his characters as expressions of emotional attitudes shared by young people. "One of the great things of Stephenie Meyer's novels is that she keeps them very grounded in the real world," Weitz says.

"The vampires are about distance and reserve," he says about the contrast between his male leads. "Edward represses his desire to do harm. Jacob is very warm and emotional, but also feels the heat of anger. When he transforms, it's like losing your temper - sudden, explosive and lightning-quick."

Where Bella is concerned, he adds, "Edward represents the unattainable perfection of first love. Jacob is friendship."