A couple of weeks ago I reported on the casting of Australian actor Xavier Samuel in the forthcoming The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Then last week I was happy to pass on the news that his new film The Loved Ones would be having its International Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September. I cover that event every year and will be at the screening. Eclipse will be shooting in Vancouver at the same time but, hopefully, the filmmakers will let Xavier attend.

While many media outlets have focused interest on him by virtue of his sudden rise to fame as the newest member of the Twilight franchise, my perspective is slightly different.

I was fortunate to have actually met and interview Xavier Samuel and cover the premieres of two of his four previous feature films: Newcastle, at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2008, and 2:37, at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in January 2007. So I've been happy to be able to actually write a bit about who he is and what he's done, in addition to reporting the news that he's been Twilighted.

In this exclusive interview after the World Premiere of Newcastle in New York last year, I sat down with the cast and crew to discuss the film. Writer/director Dan Castle was present along with Xavier Samuel and castmates Lachlan Buchanan, Israel Cannan, Kirk Jenkins, and Debra Ades. The audio interview is 45 minutes long and is spoiler-free. I was the one American journalist there -- I was joined by two Australian reporters. Thanks again to Dan Castle, cast, and crew for being so gracious and kind that week.

Newcastle will be released on DVD in Region 1 (North America) on August 25.

The interview can be found at larryrichman.com. You can listen live or download the mp3.