Meet Some of the New Cast of Twilight Saga: New Moon - the Volturi

The second movie based on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, New Moon, is set to be released on November 20, 2009. In New Moon, Bella Swan and the Cullens have some contact with the Volturi, the unofficial rulers of the vampires.

The Volturi live in Volterra, Italy, and set the rules for the vampires, to help keep them from being discovered by humans. Also, the Twilight Volturi punish those who do not follow the rules, or threaten to expose the existence of vampires to the humans.

There are three leaders of the Volturi, Aro, Marcus, and Caius. Carlisle Cullen spent some time with them when he was studying medicine in Italy, but left over disputes about feeding on human blood.

Aro - Aro acts as the voice of the Volturi. He is described at very curious and enthusiastic and he has a mind-reading power - when he touches someone, he can read every thought they've had.

In New Moon, Aro will be played by Michael Sheen, who plays Lucian in the Underworld movies. Michael Sheen will also be the White Rabbit in the upcoming Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland. (Michael Sheen fan site)

Marcus - Marcus sees the relationships between others; he can tell how strong the bond is between other vampires. Canadian actor Christopher Heyerdahl will play Marcus in Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Other recent roles of Christopher Heyerdahl's include the character John Druitt/Bigfoot on the SyFy series Sanctuary, the character Alastair on the WB series Supernatural, and the character Todd the Wraith in the Stargate Atlantis series and upcoming movie (expected to be released in 2010). (Christopher Heyerdahl fan site)

Caius - Caius is the third of the Volturi rulers, and he is portrayed as less enthusiastic and forgiving than Aro. UK-born Jamie Campbell Bower is playing the role of Caius in the New Moon movie. He was also in the Tim Burton musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and is scheduled to play Gellert Grindelwald in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (Jamie Campbell Bower fan site)

Jane - Young-looking and angelic-faced, Jane is one of the Volturi's weapons. She creates extremely severe, debilitating pain through her mind, at a distance. Dakota Fanning has taken the role of Jane (and will also co-star again with Twilight's Bella - Kristen Stewart - in the 2010 release The Runaways).

Dakota Fanning has practically grown up in front of the camera; at 15 she has many television and film roles to her credit including Lucy in I Am Sam, Ray in Uptown Girls, Rachel in War of the Worlds, and Cassie in Push. She also voiced the title character in the animated move Coraline and generated controversy with certain scenes of the movie Hounddog. (Dakota Fanning on Internet Movie Database)

Alec - Alec is Jane's twin and possesses a power exactly opposite hers; he cuts off all senses. Alex is played by Cameron Bright, who played Jimmy/Leech in X-Men: The Last Stand. He also had roles in Thank You for Smoking and Juno. (Cameron Bright fan site)

Demetri and Felix - Demetri and Felix are two members of the Volturi's guard. Relative new-comer Charlie Bewley plays Demetri and Daniel Cudmore (Colossus of the X-men movies) will be Felix. Daniel Cudmore is Canadian, and was a player on the Canadian National rugby team. (Charlie Bower official site) (Daniel Cudmore fan site)

The official trailer for the Twilight Saga: New Moon can be found here. Stephenie Meyer also has info about the movie on her website for the New Moon book, and there is a page for the New Moon movie on the Internet Movie Database.