Michelle Trachtenberg starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and most recently Gossip Girl and Weeds. Us Weekly caught up with her and found out she was first pick to star as Bella in Twilight, Kristen Stewart’s most famous role, and was even first pick to star in Thirteen, Evan Rachel Wood’s breakout role. None of those worked out because of her other projects.

“There was definitely interest here and there because there’s only so few pale girls in Hollywood,” she explained.

“I’ve known [director] Catherine Hardwicke since the movie Thirteen,” she said. “I was actually supposed to star in that, but I was on Buffy at the time.” (Hardwicke, who went on to directed the very first Twilight film in 2009, directed the saga’s star Nikki Reed in the 2003 drama and Evan Rachel Wood played the film’s primary character. Reed cowrote the gritty screenplay.)

So why did Reed, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene end up as Breaking Dawn’s leading ladies instead of Trachtenberg? “I guess schedules never worked out,” she explained.

“I already have Buffy,” she added. “I’ve already done the vampire thing.” Us Weekly

“That’s cool. I didn’t need those millions of dollars, adoring fans and new career opportunities anyway. Like P.Diddy says, ‘Mo money, mo problems.’” *Quietly sobs into hands*

Naturally, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner showed up to the Twilight premiere as well. Kristen supposedly stole the show wearing a split dress which showed off her pale legs.

For her premiere look, Stewart (with her tresses pulled up) donned a long, sequined J. Mendel gown with a sexy, thigh-high slit that accentuated her legs and towering Jimmy Choo heels. Finishing up the look was a dazzling Neil Lane ring — amethyst, diamonds and platinum — worth $38,000 Us

Hubba hubba said the fake vampire to the other fake vampire.

If you hadn’t swooned yet today then obviously you didn’t make it into Hall H for the Twilight panel featuring such stars as Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Robert Pattison’s retarded haircut.

I wasn’t there either because I’m not a lunatic. Consequently, I have no idea what questions were asked but I expect every other person wanted to know about the sex scene (it was very true to the book according to Kristen Stewart). But was there sparkly penis?! Someone answer me. Stop pretending the string cheese I’m shoving in your face isn’t a mic!

Fine. Whatever. On to more pressing matters. Namely Robert Pattinson’s hair. What. The. F**k. It looks like he had second thoughts in the middle of shaving his head. Let me guess. His new stylist is Team Jacob.

It’s for a new movie he’s doing called “My Hair Dresser Has Parkinsons”. Just kidding, it’s called “Cosmopolis.”

If you were one of the Twihards (Twitards)? who were lined up at 6 a.m. at Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center for today’s Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn panel, you would have met a few of the stars which included Julia Jones, Booboo Stewart and Ashley Greene (boinnnng-oing-oing-oing). That’s amazingly brave of them considering how many mentally unstable and hormonal teens are in line right now.

“We did panels and stuff like that [before] but this definitely started off a lot more interesting, to have interaction with the fans bright and early this morning,” said Ashley Greene, who plays Alice Cullen. “I think we feel a really large amount of respect for our fans. It’s kind of amazing they found something they’re so passionate about, and it happens to be something we put all our heart and soul into.”

New Twilight cast members Julia Jones and Booboo Stewart got their fan introduction at the height of their Comic-Con intensity. “This is my first time in San Diego and I kind of this sense that we’re in for a lot,” Jones said. “I don’t know exactly what it is, although yesterday I was walking around and saw people dressed as all kinds of things, like fruit ninjas.” [StarPulse]

Maybe it’s best I didn’t line up. It’d be kind of weird standing in line with a bunch of pre-pubescent girls not to mention a violation of my probation. Then there’s the fact that if Ashley Greene had came over to me, I would have humped her leg so hard it would have fractured in three places.

Besides, Twilight fans are incredibly weird. Not just because they’re so in love with the series that they’ll overlook how terrible each movie is but because some of the 40-year-olds fantasize about little boy bodies.

Elizabeth Reaser has experienced that too. “The weirdest encounters I have are when people are asking me about the young men’s bodies,” Reaser said. “When Taylor [Lautner] was still a boy and much older ladies would be talking to me about his body, it was just really inappropriate.”

Whatever. Lighten up Elizabeth Reaser. You act like you haven’t imagined what a shirtless Taylor Lautner looked like at 13. Pfft, I say to you.

Kristen Stewart spoke with EW about the upcoming two part Breaking Dawn series, the last in the Twilight franchise. Praise Jesus. She says “It was one of the coolest things that I’ve done,” but she also implies that she’d love to do away with the PG-13 rating so the vampire birthing scene would be more graphic.

But filming wasn’t always quite so idyllic. As the stars and director tell EW, Breaking Dawn Part 1 and 2 (in theaters November 18 and November 2012) involved a grueling, globe-trotting shoot, and scenes far darker, bloodier, and more polarizing than any in the franchise so far. If audiences haven’t matured with the Twilight books, they’re about to grow up fast. “We shot everything — whether it’s the lovemaking or the childbirth — as potent and powerful as it can be,” says director Bill Condon, who knew he was working within the constraints of a PG-13 rating. “It will be interesting to see whether there will be people who think it too disturbing for this universe.” For her part, Stewart wishes the movie could have been even truer to the graphic nature of the book — not so much the honeymoon sequence (“It feels like a real love scene, not necessarily vampire-y, which is good”), but the brutal birth of the baby, Renesmee. “It’s funny because when [the PG-13 issue] comes up, everybody thinks it’s all about the sex,” she says. “The birth is really effective, and I’ve heard it really hits you in the face. But what it could have been? It could have been shocking and grotesque, because that’s how it was written in the book.” She sighs: “I would have loved to have been puking up blood.”

I’d love to have seen a more graphic birthing scene too. Something that mimics real life birth mixed with a baby vamp tearing through Kristen Stewart’s vagina and paralyzing her. I mean, I paid $5 for popcorn, I might as well get a show.

Bonus: Kristen Stewart in a green bikini filming scenes for Twilight.

Summit Entertainment released a hi-res version of a still from the much anticipated Edward/Bella sex scene in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1. Is it as beautiful as you imagined, Twilight fans? Don’t worry, I’ll give you 5 minutes to finish your shrieking before you have to answer the question.

Also, I never imagined vampire sex would be so calm. Bella must have been lying about being a virgin. What a whore.

To drum up interest for the final Twilight sequel Breaking Dawn, a source who’s read the script says if all goes as planned, Kristen Stewart will be naked in the movie. Sort of.

Taking a hit from their inhaler, they explain, “The script actually has Kristen practically naked in it a lot.” Ugh. Keyword “practically,” meaning, she won’t be naked at all. I feel like punching someone in the face for wasting my time.

Then there’s more depressing news. Kristen’s wedding dress in the movie will be ugly. :( “It’s hideous. And it’s not the designer’s fault. Let’s just say someone who has final say on the matter has decided upon a terribly conservative and ugly gown,” wheezes an insider.

Two things I hoped for in the new Twilight movie, nudity and a pretty wedding dress, have now been taken away from me. I don’t know if my 12-year-old fat encapsulated fan girl heart can take this.

Emma Watson talked about the highly anticipated kiss between her character Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in The Deathly Hallows and managed to throw a diss at Twilight.

Watson said the kiss between her and Rupert Grint was exciting and awkward because the Harry Potter franchise isn’t selling sex like the Twilight franchise. Oh, snap. Shit just got real.

“This kiss between Hermione and Ron is highly anticipated, it’s been building up for eight films now. And Harry Potter is not Twilight, you know; we’re not selling sex.

“So, whenever there is any hint of that, everybody gets terribly excited. In fact, it was horribly awkward; we couldn’t stop laughing.”

I wouldn’t mess with Twilight fans. They’ll cut you with their spiked leather bracelet they bought at Hot Topic. Have you ever had thousands of hormonal pre-teens descend upon you like screaming banshees? It’s scary. You can’t even distract the fat ones by throwing donuts at them.

Let me finish your sentence, 12-year-old girl. AieeeeyooooouuuuuuU!

Alright everybody. Take a deep breath because we’re all going to squeal in unison. The preview for the trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was just released. Ready? Eeeeeeeeyeeeaahhh! Man, my friend better pick up the phone this time because he’ll definitely want to hear about this.

And yes. This is actually a trailer for a trailer. God, I wish I understood the appeal in watching Kristen Stewart bite her lip agonizing over who she loves more: a vampire or a werewolf. They should just make the ending totally unsatisfying. Instead of choosing either of them, Bella should just date the school’s dorky IT guy and have sex with him in the back of his sweet Camaro on the first date.

Asked what he thought about the Twilight craze at a recent Gala, Robert DeNiro responded, “The what?” DeNiro is now my hero of the month. I’d like to think with each successive Twilight question, he became angrier until he was close to punching someone out. [Hollywood Life]

The only people I knew that were in Twilight were Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene. You can now add Christian Serratos to that list after this ad of her posing nude for PETA’s “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign.

Let this be a lesson to all you girls. If you want to make it into my book of people that I know the names of, all you have to do is pose naked. It’s not that hard. You ladies have a lot to learn from Ms. Serratos. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders. She’s going places.

On Wednesday Summit Entertainment announced that Rachelle Lefevre’s role in the third Twilight, Eclipse, had been recast with Bryce Dallas Howard taking over the role of Victoria. Summit attributed this to scheduling conflicts. Lefevre signed on for Barney’s Version, a 10 day shoot. Rachelle released a statement later on that said she was “stunned” that she’d been dropped.

“I was stunned. 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 [indie flick] Barney’s Version is only 10 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,” she continued. “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, disappointed that Rachelle decided to publicly voice her dissatisfaction, responded in kind with a statement of their own. They claim Rachelle knew as early as April that Eclipse would start shooting in early August.

We at Summit Entertainment are disappointed by Rachelle Lefevre’s recent comments which attempt to make her career choices the fault of the Studio. Her decision to discuss her version of the scheduling challenges publicly has forced the Studio to set the record straight and correct the facts.

Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was expected to start shooting in early August.

If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes “passionate,” about being part of THE TWILIGHT SAGA, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to BARNEY’S VERSION, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June. Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.

Furthermore Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least ten days of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’s principal photography. This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast, and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.

Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap. It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.

The fact remains that Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to the other project – which she chose to withhold from Summit until the last possible moment – makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

All this drama over Twilight, a horrible movie, but one which tweens revere and unconditionally love. I guess this is like if they replaced Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf for me, but not really.