A case for 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' star Xavier Samuel

A case for 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' star Xavier Samuel



Over the past year and a half of doing this Twilight page, I’ve been increasingly cautious about involving it in certain mucky affairs– either because (1) it’s none of my business or (2) I don’t really care enough to voice an opinion about it.

A recent piece from E! Online, though, makes me want to speak up because I’m not sure it’s based on an accurate read of the fandom.

The gist of the question posed is: “Will Rami Malek be a big, famous superstar now that he’s attached to Breaking Dawn?” The answer being led to is a “no” (or a “maybe not”) based on the successes of Xavier Samuel (“Riley” in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) and Bryce Dallas Howard (“Victoria” in Eclipse).

Now, neither of these two has released a film since Eclipse, so there hasn’t been any real opportunity for us to check out their new movies just yet, but the suggestion is that Twilight hasn’t brought Samuel or Howard an influx of fans. “Fans just didn't embrace them with the cult following that they did for the main cast in the first few movies.”

It may be fair to say that the fact that these two didn’t portray Bella, Edward, and Jacob - the central characters of the entire Saga – means they will never receive the sort of attention Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner have. And they probably won’t.

It may also be fair to say that North American fans aren’t going to hop the pond to Australia to catch any of Xavier Samuel’s former movies, most of which are only available there.

In Robert Pattinson’s case, a few of his former indie films (How To Be, Little Ashes, The Haunted Airman, e.g.) got the attention of his new fans and made their way to home entertainment in this region thanks to that interest. With Kristen Stewart, we’ve seen movies like The Runaways, Welcome To The Rileys, and The Yellow Handkerchief receive a new following from her increasing fan base. These guys have been in all three movies, and they are the absolute face of this film series, though, so comparing Xavier Samuel’s successes with these doesn’t seem very fair.

Still, that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening on some comparable level with Xavier Samuel. Like Pattinson, his movie The Loved Ones, which gained respect and attention based on its own merit of course, has received the interest of almost every fansite community dedicated to Twilight that I’m aware of. Whether it will receive U.S. distribution or not is yet to be seen, but you can guarantee there’ll be more eyes on Xavier Samuel for the rest of his career thanks to his involvement in the Twilight series. Also, various fan communities have come along since Eclipse which celebrate his career – just the same as what happened with New Moon and the wolfpack or Twilight and the Cullens at first.

With Bryce Dallas Howard, the situation was a little different. As noted in the piece, Howard has been in the entertainment industry for years, and most of us have seen at least one of her movies before. Her start in the Twilight Saga film franchise was rocky, but over time she was accepted, praised, and even adored by a lot of fans of this series. Still, let’s leave the question of whether Bryce Dallas Howard is going to be a superstar thanks to Twilight off the table because there are many other factors to be considered with her case.

In my opinion, Xavier Samuel likens to some of the other actors who’ve portrayed villains in this series - Jamie Campbell Bower (who he's joined, by the way, in Anonymous) and Cam Gigandet, for instance. They are well-liked and their work is followed by the Twilight community. Are they the front and center namesakes of the franchise? No. But has their Starmeter risen since being a part of the series? Absolutely.

That appreciation might not be as ravenous as with Peter Facinelli, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, and others referred to in the piece as examples of the “Twilight Star-Makin’ Machine,” but those actors have had years now to nurture our interest – via charitable work, appearances, new films, and more. Xavier Samuel hasn’t quite hopped on the Twitter train or joined the convention circuit, but likely a majority of the millions of Twilight fans out there know his name.

To say that there has been a “rise-and-fall of potential heartthrob Samuel” is a bit inflamed, and I don’t think it accurately portrays the respect that Xavier Samuel has gained from being a part of this series. Whether or not Rami Malek will be a big, shiny superstar thanks to Breaking Dawn is a separate issue, and I don’t disagree with the suggestion that maybe he won’t be the next Robert Pattinson; but picking on Xavier Samuel to prove the case is unnecessary and potentially incorrect.

YOU CAN READ THE E! ONLINE STORY HERE