Rumors of Vanessa Hudgens Audition For ‘New Moon’ Denied

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CHICAGO – Not so fast, “New Moon” fans. It turns out that the widely circulated rumors that Vanessa Hudgens had auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater in “New Moon,” the highly anticipated sequel to “Twilight,” were completely false.

Summit Entertainment and sources within Vanessa Hudgens’ camp told Entertainment Weekly this afternoon that somebody made it up because no one is considering the “High School Musical” star for any role in the about-to-shoot “New Moon.”

Earlier this week, Ashley Greene, a cast member from “Twilight” who will also appear in “New Moon,” revealed to MTV that Vanessa Hudgens had tried out for the role of werewolf Leah Clearwater, a major character from Stephenie Meyer’s second book in her insanely popular book franchise. It’s unclear where Greene got that idea or if someone from MTV mis-reported it, but the rumor spread like wildfire and now Summit and even Hudgens’ people are denying it.

Vanessa Hudgens arrives at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 11, 2009 Photo credit: Dave Bjerke/NBC

“New Moon” is slated for release on Nov. 20, 2009 from Summit Entertainment even though it hasn’t started filming or, clearly, even casting yet. The “Twilight” sequel will be directed by Chris Weitz and star Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner.

This is the second piece of “New Moon” casting controversy in just the last week, as rumors of Lautner not reprising his role as Jacob Black caused quite a stir, especially on our slideshow for Summit’s 2009 release slate.

Director Chris Weitz revealed on Stephenie Meyer’s web site last week that Lautner would reprise the role, saying, “The characters in Stephenie’s books go through extraordinary changes of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series.

But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of ‘Twilight’ the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in ‘New Moon;’ and I’m looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film.”

“Twilight”, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, from director Catherine Hardwicke, has grossed $178 million domestically, putting the sequel, “New Moon,” into production immediately. Other books in the Stephenie Meyer series include “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn”.

Read our Robert Pattinson story on “Parts Per Billion” and “New Moon”.
See our 2009 Summit release slideshow with “New Moon”.
See our high-quality, 28-image “Twilight” slideshow.
Read our “Twilight” opening-weekend box-office story.
Read our “Twilight” sequel story prior to opening weekend.
Read our story about Taylor Lautner’s casting in “New Moon”.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com