Michael Welch in "Twilight"

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MTV: "Had you read Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" books?

Welch: I had not read the books; I was completely unaware of the franchise before auditioning, which is a good thing. If I had known exactly how big this project was, it would have put a lot of pressure on me. ... When I was told I got the job, I started looking into it, and the moment that it was mentioned that they were making the "Twilight" film, there were 50,000 posts on IMDb.com within 48 hours! That was my first taste of how big this could potentially be.

MTV: So you went out and bought the books then?

Welch: I've read the first book, but I haven't read the other books yet. There's a possibility that there's gonna be more movies, depending on if people show up and see this one, so I didn't want to get ahead of myself.

MTV: You've encountered some enthusiastic fanbases before, having worked on "Stargate SG-1," "Joan of Arcadia," "The X-Files" and "Star Trek: Insurrection." How do the Twilighters compare?

Welch: I actually think the Twilighters are very similar to "Stargate" fans, just a very fun group of people. They're very serious about these characters and about this story but still understand that it's a story, and you're supposed to have fun with it. [The Twilighters] are a great group of people. I've been having so much fun with them. I've been keeping in touch with the online community, doing various blogs and things. They're fun to play with. MTV: IMDb has a thing called "Starmeter" that ranks the career heat of every actor in Hollywood, from Johnny Depp to Tom Hanks. You're currently the 13th most popular actor in Hollywood?

Welch: Yeah, and I hit #6 at one point, which is ridiculous.

MTV: How do you feel when you walk into an audition and the casting director is thinking, "This guy's hotter than Will Smith!"

Welch: I will say that, at the time, eight of the top 10 were people from "Twilight." [Laughs.] So it's not me, it's this crazy thing that I'm a part of. I'm sure people within the industry, when they look at that, they notice that kind of thing.

MTV: Yeah, Taylor Lautner had a few days where he was #1.

Welch: That's my point. [Laughs.] God, this business is just so crazy. ... If I'm a part of something that makes me in-ish right now, that's great, man".

Source: www.mtv.com
Watch "Twilight" footage in www.moviesonline.ca