The Twilight Saga: Eclipse had a very different Victoria to the one that viewers knew from Twilight and New Moon. Here's what happened.
Summary
- The original Victoria actress in the Twilight films, Rachelle Lefevre, was replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard due to scheduling conflicts during the filming of Eclipse.
- Lefevre was disappointed by the decision and expressed her commitment to the role, turning down other opportunities to ensure her availability for the franchise.
- Fans have mixed opinions on the replacement, with some praising both actresses for their interpretations of the character, while others feel the recasting was unnecessary and jarring in terms of appearance and portrayal.
The Twilight film series wasn’t safe from mid-franchise recasting, and the first Victoria Twilight actress was one who went through that process. The process didn't go unnoticed by fans of the franchise. Twilight introduced a number of characters – vampires, humans, and werewolves. As it turned out, there are a lot of vampire covens all around the world. Bella and Edward’s main enemies were the Volturi and James’ coven, and among them was the villainous vampire Victoria. Introduced in the first book in a small role, Victoria was James’ lover and assisted him in all of his missions. Victoria wouldn't give up and spent the first two Twilight movies chasing Bella after James was killed.
In New Moon, Victoria created an army of newborn vampires to rise up against the Cullens and the werewolves to avenge the villain James' death. The Victoria who saw this plan fail in Eclipse, however, wasn't the same Victoria in the first Twilight movie. As the original Victoria in Twilight, actress Rachelle Lefevre appeared in the first two movies, Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. But just as things were beginning to heat up for her character's storyline, the first Victoria actress from Twilight was dropped from the franchise completely and replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard. Here's the answer to why producers changed the Victoria actress in the Twilight movies.
Why Twilight Replaced Rachelle Lefevre With Bryce Dallas Howard
Prior to being the original Victoria Twilight actress, Lefevre had worked in various TV shows, though she was mostly cast for minor roles. As for her work on the big screen, she appeared in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as Tuvia, among other projects. Twilight was Lefevre's first big film, and she was dedicated to the role of Victoria. However, just as Eclipse began filming, Lefevre was let go from the role of Victoria and the folks at Summit Entertainment cast Bryce Dallas in her place.
The reason for the change was revealed in late 2009, with representatives of Summit attributing Lefevre's dismissal from Eclipse to scheduling conflicts. Howard was previously up for the role of Victoria, but she turned it down at the time due to it being “too small of a part” to accept. Victoria met her fate in Eclipse, when she and her new partner, Riley, were destroyed by Edward and young wolf Seth Clearwater. Thus, Howard only played the role of Victoria in one film.
Lefevre appeared again in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, but it was through archive footage and that only made the whole situation even more awkward. In the end, Eclipse was met with mixed reviews, even if some find it to be the best in the saga, and it’s inevitable to wonder how different Victoria’s final appearance would have been had the Twilight saga kept its original Victoria actress.
The Original Victoria Actress Didn't Want To Quit Twilight
In an interview with Access Hollywood, the first Victoria Twilight actress, Rachelle Lefevre, said she was “stunned” by Summit’s decision to recast her role, explaining she was fully committed to the character of Victoria and the Twilight film series. She also admitted she turned down other opportunities to ensure that she was available for filming. Lefevre added that, in accordance with her contractual rights, she only took roles that had very short shooting schedules, among those the Paul Giamatti-led comedy-drama Barney’s Version, which only required her to be on set for ten days. Before then, Summit had reportedly picked up her contract option for Eclipse:
“I was fully committed to the ‘Twilight’ saga, and to the portrayal of Victoria. I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules. My commitment to ‘Barney’s Version’ is only ten days. Summit picked up my option for ‘Eclipse.’ Although the production schedule for ‘Eclipse’ is over three months long, Summit said they had a conflict during those ten days and would not accommodate me. Given the length of filming for ‘Eclipse,’ never did I fathom I would lose the role over a 10 day overlap. I was happy with my contract with Summit and was fully prepared to continue to honor it. Summit chose simply to recast the part.”
“I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the ‘Twilight’ audience. This is a story, a theatrical journey and a character that I truly love and about which I am very passionate. I will be forever grateful to the fan support and loyalty I’ve received since being cast for this role, and I am hurt deeply by Summit’s surprising decision to move on without me. I wish the cast and crew of ‘Eclipse’ only the very best."
Summit quickly replied to Lefevre's statement, explaining that the actress failed to inform the studio of her commitment to Barney’s Version in advance of shooting Eclipse. In a statement (via Entertainment Weekly), Summit alleged that Lefevre withheld the information about her filming schedule for Barney's Version until the "last possible moment." Due to the studio having to manage several other actors' schedules, Summit's statement cites that as the reason behind Lefevre's dismissal from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
What Happened To Rachelle Lefevre After Twilight?
Since the Twilight movie series didn't do a lot of recasts besides that of the Victoria Twilight actress, Rachelle Lefevre's sudden replacement with Bryce Dallas Howard was extremely noticeable. Bryce Dallas Howard went on to have a great career after Twilight, and it could be argued her presence in the third installment helped. Rachelle Lefevre, on the other hand, hasn't been nearly as active on the big screen, but she has had a thriving career on television. Since Twilight, Rachelle Lefevre has appeared in a variety of TV shows, pilots, and made-for-tv movies.
Lefevre was one of the leads in the Stephen King adaptation Under The Dome. While not one of the most beloved adaptations of King's work, the series ran for three seasons on CBS. Likewise, she also starred in the Shonda Rhimes series Off The Map, the drama A Gifted Man, and the miniseries The Sound. Unfortunately for Lefevre's TV work, few of the pilots she's participated in have made it to series. She has found work with Hallmark in recent years, starring in Hallmark Movies & Mysteries network's The Secrets of Bella Vista.
Since being the first Victoria Twilight actress, however, Lefevre has also married and become a mom. She is also very active on Cameo, recording messages for fans with all proceeds going to Adopt Together, an organization that helps fund expensive adoption processes.
What Bryce Dallas Howard Said About Replacing Rachel Lefevre In Twilight
Of course, before the Bryce Dallas Howard Twilight casting, she had connections that Lefevre did not in Hollywood. Her father is acclaimed director Ron Howard, and that can help open doors in Hollywood while on the other hand, Lefevre is someone who had to find success in the industry with no name recognition to pick up her roles. To her credit, Howard said that she met with Lefevre to discuss the situation.
Howard said she and Lefevre met up and had lunch and talked about the situation. According to Howard, both she and Lefevre knew the Victoria Twilight actress recasting had nothing to do with them as actresses, and they never saw each other as rivals. "The way this business is, there's this notion that it is competitive, and that's actually not the case at all." She then went on to say that "nothing gets between women and that's important, and she's awesome."
Was Either Victoria Considered Better?
Though Eclipse, the movie which features the most of the character Victoria, is often considered the strongest movie of the franchise, that doesn’t mean Bryce Dallas Howard is considered the best Victoria from Twilight actress. In reality, fans seem to agree that both Lefevre and Howard are to be commended for their efforts in the role, even though they both had very different takes on the character.
A Reddit discussion about just that from several years after the movies ended sees one user citing Lefevre as the better Victoria because she “embodied Victoria’s cunning and silent deadliness better,” while another user points out that Howard, “did well portraying the childlike side” of Victoria’s character. Both women have been praised by Twilight fans for doing their best with the material that they were given. The point that is often brought up in these discussions by fans and critics, however, is that the recasting of the Victoria actress in the Twilight franchise was unnecessary.
Another Reddit discussion points out that despite Bryce Dallas Howard being a great actress, when it comes to her role as Victoria in the Twilight franchise, she appears a little too “polished” in the role. After all, it wasn’t just that Howard was brought in to replace Lefevre in Eclipse, but her costuming, makeup, and hair were also all different from Lefevre’s. The consensus is that Lefevre looked more natural in the part in the first two movies, while Howard was more obviously an actress in a wig, which took some viewers out of the moment with her character.
Some Twilight franchise fans even said that the change was so jarring that it “ruined” their enjoyment of Eclipse. They had a hard time reconciling the change since the looks and portrayals of Victoria were so different. The agreement seems to be that Summit should not have recast Victoria in the Twilight franchise to begin with since it caused confusion for casual viewers and also created two drastically different looks for the character.
