Xavier Samuel lands a role in the Twilight movie franchise.
Xavier, 25, will star as new vampire Riley in Eclipse, the third film in the series based on Stephenie Meyer's books.
He won the part against established actors including Tom ``Draco'' Felton from the Harry Potter films and Channing Tatum (G. I. Joe)..
``I was up against some truly great actors who I'm privileged to be considered among,'' he said from Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles where he was celebrating last night.
``It's a fantastic opportunity.''
Xavier explains he'd put together his audition tape in Sydney just three weeks ago, and flew to LA last Thursday.
``It all happened in less than a month!'' said Xavier, who graduated from the Flinders University Drama Centre in 2005.
He has starred in a few low-profile Australian movies, including September and Newcastle , and two months ago filmed low-budget thriller Road Train in the Flinders Ranges.
Eclipse, his first Hollywood film, follows Bella (Kristen Stewart) as she tries to choose between two loves: the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner).
Xavier's character is a student ``seduced by the villain Victoria, who manipulates him in order to seek her revenge'', he said. ``That's as much as I know really!''
The movie of Twilight has made $478 million at the box office and sequel New Moon is due in cinemas in November. Eclipse starts filming in Vancouver, Canada, next month and will be released in June.
Xavier will be coming back to Australia before filming starts for the premiere of his new film, The Loved Ones, at the Melbourne International Film Festival on July 30.
``Hopefully, I'll get to spend some time in Adelaide with my family and friends as well,'' he said.
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