Local fans meet cast of 'New Moon'

Teen girls and women of all ages would bow in respect and awe to Laura-Ashley Foster: She landed a hug from Edward Cullen, and Bella didn't seem to mind.

In April, Foster and a friend were staying at the same Vancouver hotel as the "New Moon" cast that was filming the wildly successful follow-up to "Twilight," based on the novels by Stephanie Meyer.

Foster, a Tuscumbia resident, recognized actress Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella, and got a picture. Then came Robert Pattinson, the scruffy British actor who sheds his facial hair and tames his mop of hair to portray sensitive vampire Edward Cullen.

"Robert walked in right behind her," Foster said. "I held up my hand and said, 'I'm sorry, we have to bother you for just a second.' "

With the flash of a camera she became the envy of less fortunate fans.

"Rob is just so adorable," she said. "That accent really gets to me."

She also ran into the cast at a restaurant in Vancouver. All meetings, she insists, were purely coincidental.

The "New Moon" fever has swept the Shoals, inducing some devoted behavior. Carmike's Regency Square 12 theater has sold out all 12 auditoriums for its midnight sneak peek today, and advance seats for Friday and Saturday are filling up, too.

"That is just unheard of," said Dale Hurst, director of marketing for Carmike.

"I haven't seen this since 'Star Wars' and 'Batman: The Dark Knight.' "

Among the fans are some especially dedicated ones who have traveled to premieres around the country to see the Cullen clan in person on the red carpet.

Brittany Hart and Courtney Kelly, both hair stylists at Salon MOD in Florence, decided to go to the premiere of "New Moon" on Monday in Los Angeles.

They woke up at an hour perhaps early even for vampires - 3 a.m. - to get in line at 5:30. Some campers had been there since last Thursday.

To touch Pattinson, it was worth it, they said.

"He was actually one of the only ones that came close enough," Hart said. "I was crying and I was like, 'I'm that girl. I'm that sobbing idiot.'

"I touched his arm and security grabbed my arm, but I still got an autograph," she said, her voice triumphant through the phone line.

At first, Hart and Kelly were reluctant to buy into what they saw as corny books for love-struck teens.

"We didn't want to jump on the bandwagon and be one of those girls that we inevitably turned into," Hart, 25, said, laughing.

Foster relates.

"I'm probably too old to be doing this, but I do," she said. "I'm a hopeless romantic like so many women are."

The movie's hold baffles Hurst.

"It amazes me how much of a phenomenon this is," he said. "I mean, vampires you fall in love with?"

"I had clients that had been telling me for months about the books, and then my best friend and sister started reading them, and I thought they were crazy," Kelly said. "I started making fun of them."

The books have turned Kelly and Hart into readers.

"I've come to love it," Kelly said. "It's a great escape I never had before."

Stephanie Meyer's young adult novel "Twilight," the first of four chronicling a vampire-human romance, debuted in 2005. Teens, then their mothers and sometimes their grandmothers, clamored to read the star-crossed romance between Bella Swann, a teen growing up in Forks, Wash., and Edward Cullen, a centuries-old vampire masquerading as a high school student in Forks. "New Moon" chronicles Bella's life without Edward and her relationship with her friend, Jacob.

Forks is a real town, as Foster will attest - she's been there and has seen Bella's ragged, orange truck sitting in front of the chamber of commerce. The book portrays the town as rainy and overcast, an ideal setting for creatures sensitive to daylight.

Actors, it seems, appreciate the sensitivity of fans. At a Hot Topic meet-and-greet, Foster chatted with Stewart and Nikki Reed, who plays Rosalie, about a film the two actresses are working on.

"I turned to walk away, and Kristen turned to Nikki and said, 'she was really nice,' " Foster said.

"That sounds very simple, but I was reading in a magazine where (Kristen) was saying people stand in these lines for hours and never say anything," Foster said.

That was not a problem for Hart and Kelly.

Though they consider their visit to L.A. a success, they wish they could have met Meyer, who dreamt up Bella and Edward's story late at night as a stay-at-home mom.

"We want to tell her thank you for enriching our lives," Kelly said.

Jennifer Crossley can be reached at 740-5743 or jennifer.crossley@TimesDaily.com.