‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2’s’ First Family: Meet Renesmee Cullen

Unveiled on the cover of Entertainment Weekly today, that other “First Family” – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2’s “Edward, Bella and Renesmee Cullen” – stare resolutely into the mid-distance.

The saga’s denouement won’t hit theaters until November 16, but when a beloved, multi-billion dollar franchise is involved – there’s no time like the present.

Yesterday, images of a partially hidden, 11-year-old Mackenzie Foy, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were released on EW’s official Facebook, triggering huge excitement among fans eager for a first, proper look at the “family.”

Introduced as a baby (after a harrowing birth scene) in Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Renesmee’s half-vampire/ half human genetics endow her with supernatural growth, so this time audiences will meet a young girl looking somewhere around 6 or 7 – although in the movie she might be aged younger.

A slew of new Breaking Dawn – Part 2 stills and extensive quotes from the film’s leads and director in EW, revealed more than a few gems about what audiences can expect later this year.

“Stranger than all the other films put together,” is how Pattinson describes the final installment. Then, “Vampires are weird.”

Stewart agrees. “Let me tell you, this movie is so weird. It. Is. Bizarre.”

Referring to Stewart’s vamp transformation,Taylor Lautner said, “That’s kind of the huge thing that the fans are waiting for – to see the clumsy teenage Bella that Kristen did so well, suddenly become this super-sexy vampire who’s athletic and graceful.”

Lautner isn’t wrong.

Midnight Release parties held in February to mark the roll out of Breaking Dawn – Part 1 on DVD and Blu-Ray were sell-outs. The big draw being a heavily publicized first sneak peek of ‘vamp Bella.’

Director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, DreamGirls, Chicago) who helmed both Breaking Dawn installments told EW,

“[Stewart’s] transformation from high school girl to fierce warrior is amazing. She’s a different species now.”

And it seems Kristen was competitive about ‘vamp Bella’. “I know every single version of vampire and I took a little bit from everyone”, said the 22 year-old. “But I wanted her to be the best one.”

It sounds as if she really got into character too. Recalling a scene where Bella hunts a (foam) mountain lion, the actress reveals she, “ripped that mother to the ground!”

On how it felt acting maternally with her 11 year-old co-star:

“It’s a really cool relationship. I hope it comes across” Stewart said. Asked about resembling Foy the actress said, “Even our hands look similar. It was kind of strange. But it’s funny how it actually helps.”

Revealing the decision to choose Foy for the role of Renesmee was pretty simple in the auditions, Condon said,

“There were a lot of kids. But this was kind of obvious. It was one of those rare times when you see something – like with an apartment or house – and it feels good and you just need to take it. I felt that way, like, ‘Oh, this is good.'”

Possibly gleefully, Pattinson revisited the sore (excuse the pun) subject of the red contact lenses.

“Kristen complained about 500 times more than I have,” the actor told EW. “She condensed four years of complaining into a few months.”

There’s loads more good stuff in EW’s exclusive, especially about the swear jar Foy was given on set to curb the worst of the cast’s more colorful moments. Suffice it to say, Pattinson said Foy made around $ 850 during the shoot.

Much of the plot of Breaking Dawn – Part 2 centers on the Cullen clan’s attempts to protect Renesmee from the Volturi, (first seen in The Twilight Saga: New Moon) after a false allegation incurs their wrath.

This last installment will also see a roll call of vampire covens from around the world descend on Forks to help the Cullens defend Renesmee.

It’s going to be interesting seeing Stewart – who looks every bit the fierce mother in the new stills – work with this new dynamic. And for Lautner, too, his role as Renesmee’s’ protector will give him a chance to bring a different dimension to Jacob.

Far more action-centric than previous movies in the series, BD2 promises to be a climatic ending to Stephenie Meyer’s epic saga. If you can’t wait until then to see the Twilight cast together again, they’ll be appearing at this year’s Comic-Con (held in San Diego July 12-15).

EW reports the last scenes of the movie work as a kind of “visual valentine.” Fans will know exactly what that means. For everyone else, all will become clear on November 16.

The last word goes to Robert Pattinson.

“The end is so sweet. There’s this nice finality to it. Everyone who was watching started crying. It does a serious justice to the series.”

For more pictures from Entertainment Weekly click here.