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Twilight comes to town

Charlie Bewley, actor from popular film series, returns to his Whistler roots
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Charlie Bewley has come a long way since his days of scrubbing pots, driving cab and selling sneakers in Whistler. Today, the ski-bum-turned-actor has a recurring role in a major motion picture series, Twilight . Perhaps you've heard of it?

Bewley plays Demetri, one of the Volturi clan, in the cult classic, which stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, among many others.

"I think my character is the most physically elite vampire going, because the Volturi are essentially the masters of the underworld and I used to be the head guard, and I'm only not the head guard because Dakota Fanning's character has these psychological powers that make you believe you're in massive amounts of pain," Bewley mused.

"That's kind of cheating power - my powers are more like I track and I chase and I'm extremely strong. Therefore, I get to play this vampire that knows he's the best vampire in the world, and yes, he is a bad guy, essentially, but he's not really doing anything bad himself, he's just doing his job."

But long before his days on the big screen, this UK-born actor was shredding Whistler and Blackcomb and exploring local mountain bike trails.

Last week, he returned to Whistler to soak up the sun and relive his days as a resident, snowboarding and mountain biking. On Tuesday morning, he was still in B.C., but was getting ready to return to L.A. to get back to work on another film project.

"Honestly, all the memories came flooding back. It was really nice."

The visit was almost enough to make him want to abandon his blossoming acting career and return to Whistler.

"It's so tempting. You guys have got a life there, it really is. I'm very, very envious of everyone there."

Bewley did his first Whistler season in 2000-2001.

"That was just an unbelievable experience. I was very young at the time and I... started working at some chalet in Blueberry, and when I got my visa, I started working at Ulli's (now 21 Steps), I was like a pot wash there, and then I moved to Footlocker in the spring and summer," he recalled.

Then, he met an English girl working behind the counter of Cows, serving ice cream. They returned to England together to go to university. They came back to Whistler in 2005. Bewley found work as a cab driver, the ideal Whistler job, which allowed him to ride all day, work all night and never sleep.

"I was just fresh out of university, I was given this three-litre Chevy to do doughnuts in the snow with, and I just cranked the tunes and picked people up and talked to them! It was a very social job."

For a time, he also lived in a share house on Tyrol Crescent.

"The landlord showed us round the place and he was like, 'now this house has been renowned as the Whistler party house for about 25 years now, and I just want to tell you guys that this season, that's going to change,'" Bewley recalled, laughing. "We just looked at him like, 'why did you tell us that?'"

Of course, Bewley and his housemates felt a duty to throw parties on a regular basis, including an impromptu New Year's Eve bash that attracted almost 600 people.

But Bewley had studied acting, business and law, and eventually decided to move to Vancouver to pursue a career in film. He must have a horseshoe lodged somewhere because he landed his first major audition, snagging the role of Demetri and beating out hundreds of other actors, including an established British actor from Broadway.

"I was really lucky. It was the first audition I booked, as well," he said. "Seriously."

A few months before, he had walked into his agency with an embellished CV and a self-taken headshot.

"They looked at me like, 'who is this joker?'"

He hadn't even read the book series, written by Stephanie Meyer, when he landed the role. In fact, he admits that he downloaded the first movie the day of his audition to get a feel for the series. So, when he heard he'd gotten a callback, he turned to friends to help prepare for the next step.

"So I just put it out on Facebook. I was like, 'By chance, does anybody know about this character called Demetri from the Twilight series?' And out came all these closet Twilight fans in my Facebook list.

"Suddenly, I had this network of minions working for me around the clock!"

Before he knew it, he had been cast as Demetri.

"I was like, 'what?' It doesn't really compute. I pinched myself and was like, 'really? Jesus.'"

Of course, along with the role, Bewley has gained a pretty passionate following of fans, dubbed "Twi-Hards," who have set up fan sites in almost every country. He also has more than 60,000 followers on Twitter.

"They're like really protective of me! If anyone kind of has a go at me on Twitter, they're in there and they just rip to pieces whoever it was - they're great! Really, I've got a wonderful set of fans out there."

But he's also had a few strange "Twi-Hard" encounters, like one at a convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a young male fan followed him into the washroom.

"I just thought to myself, 'alright, I've got to piss, I'll go in the cubicle just in case someone comes and tries to take a picture,'" he laughed. "So I did, and thank god I did because I turn around, open the door and this kid is standing there, waiting for me to come out of the cubicle, with a picture of me and a pen and he's just smiling at me!"

Bewley made his Twilight debut in the second film, New Moon, and stars in the remaining films in the saga, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. But he has some pretty exciting non-Twilight related projects on the horizon: he plays the lead role in the independent film Ecstasy, which explores the effects of addiction to a mysterious party drug, and the lead villainous role in Soldiers of Fortune, which also stars Christian Slater, Sean Bean, Ving Rhames and Dominic Moynahan. As well, he recently wrapped shooting for Like Crazy, another independent project that Bewley compares to The Notebook. And he has another film coming up with Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames, again.

"I just keep working and working, and obviously my character gets a bigger role in the fourth book for Twilight, so hopefully I'll be shooting for a large part of the winter, as well."

Despite a hectic work schedule, Bewley plans to return to Whistler regularly; so closeted "Twi-Hards" should keep their eyes peeled for the local star. Just try not to follow him to the washroom.