'New Moon' actors say they are real life wolf pack

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DENVER - Just days before the new Twilight movie "New Moon" hits theaters, two actors from the film stopped by 9NEWS to talk about life behind the scenes.

Alex Meraz who plays the werewolf, Paul, and Kiowa Gordon who plays his pack brother, Embry Call, say the real life actors are much like the tribal brothers in the movie.

"We definitely have bonded and we really are a pack. That's the good thing about these films is that it's really rare that you get to work with people you enjoy. We even text each other to make sure we're doing well. We're like real brothers," Meraz said.

The four actors make their debut in "New Moon" as the Quileute wolf pack at odds with vampires.

In this second installment of the Twilight films based on the novels by Stephenie Meyers, vampire Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson, breaks up with Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart.

Swan comes face to face with a dangerous vampire and almost meets her end before she is saved by her childhood friend, Jacob Black, played by Taylor Lautner.

Black reveals to Swan that he is a werewolf and she discovers the secret of the pack as the love triangle unfolds and vampire-werewolf drama ensues.

The actors who play the wolf pack spend much of the movie shirtless and Meraz says a lot of the work for the movie was in the gym.

"The workouts, we called them the three 'Ps.' It was protein, push-ups and pushing each other. It's kind of what we did to get each other through the workouts to get us in shape to do all these shirtless scenes," he said.

In addition to the workouts, Gordon says a lot of stunts went into the making of the movie, including one scene that required them to jump 50 feet and land on an air bag.

"We try to get comfortable before our scene, jumping off things and landing on an air bag. We started with 25 feet and then they bumped it up. You just have to get all that antsy-ness out and just go for it. It's pretty fun," Gordon said.

This is the first major role for the two actors and both say the fame has come on fast.

"It's weird. On my MySpace I have people from Brazil, from France, from Italy, lots of places it's crazy," Gordon said.

But Gordon and Meraz say they can understand the popularity of the movie which has many universal themes.

"I think that's what fans across the world have enjoyed about it is that it's a love story done in this fantasy realm and why people connect to it is because there's so much that they can relate to. Everyone knows what it feels like to be dumped or to try to befriend somebody or defend somebody or to get revenge and these books, the films, they have it all," Meraz said.

"New Moon" hits theaters Friday, Nov. 20. It is expected to surpass the $384 million that Twilight sank its teeth into in theatres worldwide last year.

For more information on the movie, head to http://www.twilightthemovie.com/