The Daily Mail has confirmed with New Moon director Chris Weitz that British actor Michael Sheen will join Twilight’s New Moon.
Sheen will play Aro, leader of the Italian Volturi vampire clan who is introduced in the saga’s second installment. Dakota Fanning has already been cast as a member of the clan .
Director Chris Weitz told Daily Mail that he “aggressively” pursued Sheen for the role and is no doubt ecstatic to have landed him. “Michael’s role is so important because he’s the head of all vampires,” Weitz said. “Aro is, on the surface, a very gracious and friendly vampire, but beneath that he is a tremendous threat.”
With Sheen, and Fanning for that matter, the Twilight saga gains heaps of acting experience missing from the first installment. Sheen in particular has already played a vampire in Underworld and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. He has also portrayed numerous political figures including Brian Clough in The Damned United and Tony Blair in The Special Relationship, currently in production.
Most recently Sheen brought a younger version of Australian talk show host David Frost to life in Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, which ironically I watched on Blu-ray Disc last night and is highly recommended.
Twilight’s New Moon has been filming in Vancouver, Canada for weeks and is due in theaters on June 20. The first film is now available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.
