'Twilight: Eclipse' newest vampire: Who is Xavier Samuel?

'Twilight: Eclipse' newest vampire: Who is Xavier Samuel?



Twihards, now that you've gotten a good look at "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" trailer, you may have a few questions, like, "Who is Xavier Samuel and why haven't I seen him before he became a newborn vampire?"

The "Twilight" film series is filled with good-looking guys, and Samuel as Riley continues that trend. We did a little digging and found out more about Samuel, who's a 26-year-old actor from Adelaide, Australia. Yes, that's right. Another "Twilight" vampire who has an accent in real life.

For those who haven't read the books or quite gotten a handle on the plot of "Eclipse" yet, Riley is the right-hand vampire to Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) who has a beef with Bella (Kristen Stewart). Victoria creates an army of newborn vampires (we like to call them baby vamps) of which Riley is the leader. There's also a bit of romance between them.

According to an Elle interview, Samuel did his homework in order to sell the romance.

"Bryce and I watched YouTube clips of the best kisses in cinematic history for research," he told the magazine. Hmm, we wonder if he saw that "Twilight's" Bella and Edward landed on the Top 50 classic film kisses list?

Samuel has appeared in a number of Australian films and has received acclaim for them, especially "Newcastle" (he played a closeted Goth teenager/surfer) and the disturbing drama "The Loved Ones" in which he accidentally kills his dad in a car accident and then gets pulled into a sadistic game. For him, playing a vampire with issues was just the next logical step in his career.

"He's essentially a tragic character," Samuel said. "[Director] David Slade and I talked a lot about conveying how complex he is -- he's harboring extreme jealousy and hatred for humanity because that's exactly what he's been deprived of."