Interview with Chaske Spencer (Sam)

Vanity Fair interviewed Chaske Spencer, who plays Sam Uley, in honor of their "Wolf Week" (check out their interviews with Alex Meraz and Kiowa Gordon).

How much time did you have between finding out you got the role and actually starting shooting?
Not much—about three weeks. They got us a trainer and really started throwing us into the work, into working out, which was with a gentleman who helped out on 300. I was pretty psyched about that; it was really tough. I was [already] in shape, but when he got his hands on me, it was a whole different beast altogether. I put on 25 pounds in those two months. It just happened—one day, I stepped out of the shower, took a look at myself, and I didn’t recognize my own body.

You all went through this together as a pack, too.
Yeah, that was the one thing that was really cool; it did bond us. We’re unknowns, and we couldn’t tell anyone for a month that we were cast. So we just talked to each other, made sure we kept each other in check, got competitive with one another. It was like [we were] brothers. I gained so many family members through this, which I’m really grateful for.

So you were this unknown actor living in New York who suddenly found himself on the set of this huge studio blockbuster. What was that like?
It’s so surreal, I mean, I’m feeling it right now! On the film sets of New Moon and Eclipse, I feel safe. It’s like you’re in the center of the hurricane, but outside is where it starts to get chaotic. I would say that, in the last few days, I started noticing that I’m in this huge franchise. I’m going to be in one of the biggest movies of the year, and it’s a little surreal, frightening, and exciting all together. It’s like one big roller-coaster ride.

Read more here.

Seems to me like he's a perfect fit for Sam. He looks like I had imagined him when I read New Moon.