Chaske Spencer: A Native Actor Who Left Addiction Behind

Chaske Spencer is known for his alpha wolf portrayal in The Twilight Saga, but many people aren’t aware that he’s also an activist speaking out against the addictions that almost took his life.

“I know a higher power led me to where I am now,” he said, describing the Red Road way of life as “the way I try to center myself” after years of drinking and abusing drugs. Temptation is also a fact of life in Hollywood, where “it’s crazy.”

Spencer gave an address January 30 on the urban campus of Metropolitan State University of Denver, Community College of Denver and the University of Colorado – Denver (UCD) under the sponsorship of UCD’ s Native American Student Organization.

Spencer is a spokesman for United Global Shift, an organization focusing on the environment, employment, entrepreneurship, health and education.  Sensing a serious water shortage in the future, for example, he praised innovative programs around water recycling.

Chaske Spencer speaking in Denver on January 30. Photo by Carol Berry.

But although he often talks about the environment and empowering and creating sustainable Native communities, when addressing youth he sometimes focuses on substance abuse and the role it plays in the “horrific” violence, drugs, and alcoholism on some reservations.

Spencer, a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, went to New York City to pursue photography, but began getting acting parts and took bartending and catering gigs between acting lessons and performances.

He had a part in the movie Skins before he developed an addiction to cocaine and  heroin that finally led him to become a self-described crackhead,  an addict who would “steal from you, would rob you” for drug money.

His career today, with the Twilight Saga’s success, is a far cry from the days when he’d show up to auditions drunk and high, and lose out. “The acting god smiled on me that [Twilight audition] day,” he said, adding he believes that getting the part was a “gift because I got sober.”

After treatment, which also involved healing from Indian country’s hurtful past,  “I started to put myself into service,” he said. “I had a spirituality—when I got clean, I needed something. I got into Sun Dance; if you walk that Red Road it’s a very strict and humbling road and it’s a hard life,” requiring sacrifice to “try to be of service” and “love everybody.”

But he accepted the hardship, he said, as he recalls a medicine man telling him, “It’s all about love—it really is.”

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Actor Chaske Spencer Uses Rising Twilight Star to Promote Change, Positive Images for Native Americans

As Sam Uley, the leader of The Twilight Saga’s feral—and uniformly handsome—wolf pack, actor Chaske Spencer has spent the better part of the last decade starring in one of the most popular film franchises of all time, a high-profile role requiring equal parts physique and physical. Yet there is much more to Spencer, a thoughtful and socially conscious young artist, than Twilight’s charismatic lycanthrope suggests.

During a recent stop in Chicago to discuss the home video release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, coming to fans with all new scenes and special features, I caught up with Spencer to discuss the phenomenon his life has been since being cast in the blockbuster series, a career-making boon that took him overnight from broke, starving New York artist to teen pin-up object, a trajectory to successful, working actor that consequently helped solidify his commitment to his Native American heritage.

When not running with the wolf pack, thirty-seven-year-old Spencer—a Lewiston, Idaho  youth who accidentally discovered a love for the theater—has starred in a series of indie films and is also carefully cultivating a more-than hobby as a photographer (he’s already mounted exhibitions), his dual passion. He also recognizes the value of his celebrity and influence as a Native American actor in an industry not known for banking on leading men of color.

Now that you have come to the end of the Twilight series, what are your thoughts?

I’m okay with it. I’m not being ungrateful, but it had such a huge impact that it is healthy to take a step back. It was a great series to be a part of and it gave me a career, and I really appreciate that.  I think it launched everyone’s careers and had a huge, pop culture impact.

Is it a different feeling now than when you were first hired for the job?

When I first got it I was really excited as an actor. To do a gig like this was amazing. It had a huge fan base and the franchise gave me a stepping stone to do other films. I just don’t know how to feel about it because it has changed my life. I know it was fun and I met some amazing people and had some great experiences. The fans have been amazing and dedicated to us. All that counts is that the fans love the movies and made this what it is.

It got pegged early on as a franchise for teen girls, even though many of the issues—love, family, protecting those you care for—are universal. 

Yeah. It’s the oldest story in history. Boy meets girl. Then another boy meets girl. It’s the same basic formula except that one is a werewolf and one is a vampire. It’s the relationship between those characters. I like that the movies were geared toward a female audience.  The Avengers and many others are geared towards boys.  Some of the backlash was because it was a love story. Of course it was—it was geared toward that audience. They are the ones that made it a hit. If I was a girl and always at The Matrix with my boyfriend, like, “This is great. Keanu is hot. But what’s in it for me?” Then you get Twilight and it’s like, “Come with me. You’re going to watch this movie with me.”

And this one is more of action film as well. 

Yes, I love Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

The theme is good for anybody—which is that if you find someone who can help you unlock your  special abilities then the opportunities in life are limitless.

Exactly. I never understood it as a thirty-seven-year-old man! But then when I talked to the fans or my nieces or women in my life, they get it.

Let’s talk about your background. You grew up in Lewiston, Idaho, where you first set foot onstage at the Lewiston Civic Theatre. When did you know that you wanted to do this?

I wasn’t doing much in Lewiston, Idaho. I was getting in trouble. I was running out of options. I related to the character in Saturday Night Fever. I was there, but wanted out.  And it was going to be some artistic endeavor; either photography or acting. I knew if I was going to be an actor then I was going to have to study.  You have to go balls out. Go big or go home. I also wanted to be a photographer. When I got to New York, I made sure I started to study and take acting classes right away. I started reading a lot about the guys I liked and admired—the Sean Penns, the Val Kilmers—who were a little out there and had respect. I thought, “Well, they are from New York City. That is where they went. I am going to go there and do that.” I learned that acting was not just something that you show up to. I think a lot of people think that. Acting is not glamorous or cool. When you are really working on something you put yourself out there. It is not fun to expose yourself that way on film.

Especially when you are forty feet high.

Yes, forty feet high! So it turned me on relatively early and sparked an interest. I love being an actor. I have other interests and do other things. But I like the fact that it is like a ticket to not growing up.

It doesn’t feel like work?

It doesn’t feel like work. It can be. It’s a job. But it’s not work. When I approach a character  it changes all the time. I see Daniel Day-Lewis and you hear about how his work ethic is. And you hear about Brando and De Niro and all of these different people, and each film I take on his different persona. For Twilight, it was a lot of physical stuff so the training helped out. With other films I have done, I sometimes stay in character on the set. It all depends on how you are feeling at a time when you approach a character. That constant trying to figure it out turns me on. One of my acting teachers said, “You will never figure it out. That is the process.” I love that.  That is what artists and photographers do. You may never get there, but you keep trying to get better.

Let’s hear a bit about your commitment to the Native American community.  And I’d like to hear your thoughts about the images of Native Americans in movies right now. I know you were in Chris Eyre’s Skins when you were younger.  That was a great movie, and his Smoke Signals was as well. I don’t know why he’s not making those anymore.

I think for Native American films we are not really there in pop culture. This is the biggest pop culture event. IT has launched my career as a Native (American) actor. But getting Native films to a pop culture level is unheard of.  Smoke Signals was a surprise hit and Skins didn’t do as well.

It’s a darker movie.

It’s a darker move and it hits close to home with America and the history of Native Americans in the United States. It’s one of those things that people don’t like to talk about because it is a black mark on our history. And let’s be honest—it gets down to money. Hollywood is about the bottom line: “How much is this film going to make?” Including myself in this—and there are some great Native actors out there—I don’t know who could bring that type of money needed for something like a Breaking Dawn or that type of box office. There is really not anyone out there. I can see why it’s a risk, plus it has to be written really well. It has to be not so personal that you cannot relate to it.

I have turned down a lot of things where it is the stereotype of me going, “How.” I can’t do that. I have worked hard to get here. I’m not saying those are bad and there are good friends of mine who are actors who do that, and it’s not a bad thing. But we have come so far, so why take steps back?

What do you think about Johnny Depp playing Tonto in the upcoming The Lone Ranger feature? I know you love him as an actor.

I love him! I don’t get the backlash on him. He has always said he is Native. He has been Native since 21 Jump Street. I think he is like a quarter or something. It’s rare to get a Native up there. Who else is going to bring that box office? And the respect he had to take this on, knowing he is going to get a backlash… I hate that.  It’s in the Native community and I understand why—they are not up for the role. And I’m okay with that.  A lot of other Native actors, we get it. He is doing a great job. I love the trailer. It’s going to be a beautiful movie. It takes an actor like Johnny Depp, who from what I hear is a cool guy. I think really good actors are open minded and they bring that to the film.

Sort of like you have to get yourself out of the way.

Yes. It does take that as an actor. You can’t think about yourself so much. I think sometimes actors are so caught up in the fear of what people think and how they will be interpreted. That is why acting is not cool. You can’t go up there and try to be cool. You have to go up there and show your ass.

So what is your “Shift the Power to the People” initiative?

I really wanted to give back to the community because I felt obligated and pretty damned grateful to land all of this. Before I got Twilight, I was broke. I was living in Brooklyn and I had quit drinking and drug use…

For financial reasons, right? That stuff is expensive!

(Laughter) Yeah! Exactly! Drugs aren’t cheap anymore! So I felt like if I ever landed something and if the acting gods smiled upon me, I would do my best to give back to the community in whatever way I could. So I talked to my manager about what I could give back. So we started this thing called Be the Shift. And it’s this idea about shifting the system to where you don’t have to go back to- well, you see a lot of stuff going on like politics in Washington, or an interpretation about how a race is being represented in pop culture, to shift that mindset or system. And you can do it in your community, whether it is taking on a water project or helping some type of community charity. But what I like about it is doing it in a way where you don’t have to go back and fix it makes sustainable change. So I go around talking to reservations about a water technology to help bring fresh water to communities and also sustainable energy. I think it can create jobs; recycled water can create electricity. And it ‘s something we’re going to have to look at in this country, because we are running out of fresh water. There is a documentary about this called Flow. And it’s something I would like to see in Native communities. People think that Natives are rich because of casinos, but there’s a lot of reservations out there that are dirt poor, like third-world-countries, which I don’t think a lot of people in the United States know about. It’s one of those things that is swept under the rug. That is why I started Be the Shift. It was about what I could do to create sustainable change. You get the feeling you are doing something good and giving back, and you also don’t have to talk about your abs all the time like with Twilight. I can use Twilight’s platform to help people shift or inspire them to do something in their community.

Is that the most cliché Twilight question you get? The physical stuff?

Yes, that and if I am Team Jacob or Team Edward. (laughter)

You wanted to be a photographer as well. And you’re still active at it.

Yeah, I still shoot. I had my first show last year and sold my first photo. I shot a lot, even before Twilight. I have a lot of photos that I could still use. But I want to keep shooting. I like rock bands. I liked interesting people who have something in their face that I want to see.

So mostly human stuff?

Yes and landscapes. I just like to shoot things, especially in New York because there is so much going on there. I take my camera on all film sets. It helps between gigs, and when I am at a gig, to get my mind off what I am doing to give me a break. I love photography. I have signed up for two more films this year and maybe between or after that I would love to go to Egypt or the Middle East and take some photos.

Do you have this feeling when you are walking around like you see the world as a photograph? Like you are always looking through a camera? I feel that way—always seeing the world as if it is a film composition; whatever is inside the frame.

I do! And it has developed. It never used to be that way until five or six years ago. Now everything is a photo. It’s automatic. I think about the light. I was taking photos of the landscape and the food when I walked in here.  So it’s something that just keeps my mind off stuff. I really admire photographers. There was a documentary on HBO called Witness, where they went around and followed combat photojournalists who were witnesses. It is crazy to think that you could be in those situations and the camera is all that is protecting you. To hear their words and how they talk about being a witness to things, and capturing those moments where it is all about the right shot—I would like to do that. I don’t know if I will be able to, but at some point.

I think I take about a hundred pictures a day.

Yes! It’s weird how that develops. When I talk to people who say they want to get into photography and are serious about it, I tell them, “Wait (until) you develop and eye and start to see things everywhere.”

What is the best part about your job?

Travel. I love to travel. That is the best part. I love hotel rooms, the smell of airports, I like to see things. One time we went to Berlin doing these promotions and I had not slept in two days. I stayed up another day to hang out with my camera and I shot everything imaginable. It was from like 5-8am when no one was around. I realize it’s a cliché, but I put on U2’s Achtung Baby and I just shot and shot, some of the best stuff I have ever shot in my life. I love that. I love to travel. I don’t mind the jetlag.

You don’t post that stuff on your website though.

No, I don’t. I have maybe two photos on my website. I am supposed to have another show, and I just have to find the photos, which I already have in my head, but I have an idea for a theme I’d like to do.  I don’t like shooting in a studio. I like going out there.

In natural light?

In natural light, getting it really fast. I don’t spend all day on a photo. I like the spontaneity.

One more Twilight question—about the concept of a soul mate—do you think that’s a true concept in the world, or just a romantic construct?

I think there is someone out there for someone. However their relationship may be between them. But I think if you find that someone, that person is your rock. I have known people who have been together since the first they met and are solid. But then everyone is in their own interpretation of a relationship. I think once you find that someone it is there. But relationships are hard work. Do you and that other person want to work on that relationship to make it continue? And I think that is how a lot of people stay together.

You just have to find the person.

Yes, the one who will put up with your shit. (laughter)

Special thanks to Chaske Spencer for this interview

Apache Rick Mora

‘Shouting Secrets’ to screen at SWAIA ‘Winter’ Indian Market

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) presents the ‘Winter’ Indian Market. The Native American arts show will be held during the ‘Thanksgiving’ weekend Nov. 24-25, 2012 in the Santa Fe ‘Convention Center’ at Santa Fe, N.M. The independent film, “Shouting Secrets” will screen on both days starting at 2 p.m. Admission is ‘Free’ to the public. The film director is Korinna Sehringer & was written by Mickey Blaine, Tvli Jacob & Steven Judd. The movie was released in 2011 & won several awards from the American Indian Film Institute Festival (AIFI) in San Francisco.

The Native American cast includes, – Chaske Spencer as ‘Wesley’ – Q’orianka Kilcher as ‘Pinti’ – Tyler Christopher as ‘Tushka’ – Gil Birmingham as ‘Cal’ – Tantoo Cardinal as ‘June’ – Tonantzin Carmelo as ‘Caitlyn’ – Sheri Foster as ‘Elaine’ – ‘ Rodney A. Grant as ‘Street Chief.’

“Shouting Secrets” Movie Trailer“Shouting Secrets” Movie Trailer

According to the official website of “Shouting Secrets” it is – “the universal story about a family coming back together under the chaotic event of a parent’s sudden illness. Siblings separated by their past along with their misunderstood father are left dealing with each other both in the tight confines of the hospital where their mother June (Tantoo Cardinal) now lays in a coma and back at the old family home on a Native American reservation in the nation’s southwest.”

All events will take place at the Santa Fe ‘Convention Center’ including these listed ‘Class X’ winning films from the summer Santa Fe Indian market 2012.

Here are the other film screenings presented on both days Nov. 24 & 25 of the SWAIA ‘Winter’ Indian Market starting at 11 a.m. The short films include, – ‘Hoverboard’ by Sydney Freeland (Navajo) – ‘Neil Discovers the Moon’ by Steven Judd (Kiowa/Choctaw) – ‘For Ayaina’ by Marcella Ernest (Bad River Band of Ojibwe) – Music Video, ‘The Storm ’ by Steven Judd (Kiowa/Choctaw) – ‘A Return Home’ by Ramona Emerson (Navajo).

The feature film called, ‘Mesnak’ by Yves Sioui-Durand (Huron-Wendat) will also screen at this time.

According to the SWAIA ‘Winter’ Indian Market schedule the short films screened at 11 a.m. will also be shown at 2 p.m. on both days of Nov. 24 & 25. “Shouting Secrets” will follow. Here is the list of ‘Youth’ entry films – ‘Cupcakes: With a Vengeance’ by Kaiden Finkbonner (Lummi) – ‘Night at an Indian Museum’ by Sean Sikora (Cherokee Nation) – ‘Live Free or Cupcake’ by Roy Moon Jr.(Lummi).

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Chaske Spencer and Mariah Watchman Rocking the Vote (an Election Day Special Steven Judd Image)

We usually call this the “Steven Judd Image of the Week,” but this week’s image is so amazing that we had to switch up the headline a bit to make room for all the star power.

That’s actor Chaske Spencer, of Twilight fame, and model Mariah Watchman, who’s been an inspiration in Indian country since her run on America’s Next Top Model. This photo was taken a week ago at the Oneida Nation School in Oneida, Wisconsin. Spencer and Watchman were in town (nearby Green Bay, specifically) for what was billed as “the largest Native American Get Out The Vote Rally Ever,” an event coordinated by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin in partnership with the Stockbridge Band of Mohican Indians, the National Congress of American Indians, and the National Indian Gaming Association.

Behind the two stars you can see a banner for Rock the Vote with an image that may be familiar — it’s Steven Judd’s “VOTE,” which was the Image of the Week on October 1.

Incidentally, this isn’t the only piece of Judd art that became a rallying image for Natives in the election of 2012. A group of Obama supporters have used his modified Obama logo for their T-shirt campaign, “HOKA! Lakotas for Obama” — the photo below comes from facebook.com/HokaLakotasForObamaShirt

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Movie Set To Highlight Hominy Indians’ 1927 Gridiron Feat

HOMINY, Oklahoma –

A “Twilight” star is teaming up with the Osage Foundation and Fully Funded Films to shed light on an untold story.

They hope to make a film called “Playground of the Native Son.”

The 1925 Hominy Indians professional football team represented 14 different tribes from 1925-1936.

“This is just another minority team that was really never recognized and we think it’s about time they’re recognized,” associate producer Julia Lookout said.

In 1927, the world-champion New York Giants agreed to play Hominy in what they thought would be a joke.

“The coup de grace is the fact that they played the New York Giants and they beat them, so we decided to do a documentary and talk to a lot of the ancestors,” Lookout said.

Chaske Spencer is the special guest speaker at a fundraising event for the film.

He’s best known as the wolf pack leader in the blockbuster-hit “Twilight” series.

“I feel really good about this,” Spencer said. “It’s a story that needs to be told and I think it’s going to be a very good movie.”

Spencer was born in Tahlequah.

As an American Indian actor, he’s excited to see a movie highlighting his people and his culture.

“I think any movie about Native Americans is a positive step forward, especially a movie like this,” Spencer said.

Michael Nash is the film’s director.

“I actually think this is the ‘Rocky’ of their story,” Nash said.

After digging through the Hominy Indians’ history, Nash feels this is a story everyone needs to hear.

“I’m really excited to tell this story,” Nash said. “I’m excited to tell this story about the group of Indians that came together and beat the world champions.”

They plan to recreate the historic win for the documentary.

The director says they’re looking for lean, quick guys between the age of 15 and 30 to be on the football teams.

If you’re interested, visit the documentary’s official Facebook page by clicking here.

Filming is set to begin in about a month.

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‘Twilight’ saga teen idol brings positive message to Cherokee youth

Chaske Spencer, more widely known as werewolf Sam Uley from the “Twilight” saga series, drew on his Native American roots during an appearance in Cherokee last week, hoping to transcend his star appeal to bring home a broader message.

 

His mission was to convince an auditorium full of mostly adolescent girl “Twilight” fans, waiting impatiently for him with readied flash cameras and video recorders, that he had something deeper to say — some useful advice to convey, derived from a life of drug abuse, poverty and jail that eventually transformed to money, success and stardom.

That was a lot of pressure for the 37-year old actor, who claims to still get nervous while speaking in public.

“I could talk until I’m blue in the face, but in the end, most of the kids just want to know about “Twilight” and me taking my shirt off,” the chiseled teen idol kidded. While preparing for a “Twilight” shoot he works out daily to maintain his man-wolf physique.

Spencer’s stop in Cherokee last Thursday was part of a personal talking circuit called “Be The Shift.” It’s an offshoot of a larger social movement called United Global Shift, meant to be a source of empowerment for youth and concerned citizens hoping to better society from the ground up.

Over the last several years, Spencer, a Lakota Sioux, has made visits to reservations and college campuses across the United States, preaching his message through sharing his personal trials and tribulations and pushing young people to go after their own goals and dreams.

It was his first time visiting Cherokee, and he was impressed by the school’s top-notch facilities.

“Are we on a reservation?” Spencer joked as he first took the stage.

Although many in the crowd that night were Twilight fans with hopes of catching a more personal glimpse of the werewolf heartthrob, Spencer’s success as an actor in the popular movie series is in many ways inseparable from his mission. And it also helps draw the crowds.

Spencer believes people in any situation can take control of their lives and make positive and lasting change. And he knows it from experience.

After living on a number of reservations in his youth, Spencer moved to New York City when he was 21, with only $100, a one-way bus ticket and the dream of being a photographer. That dream later changed after he began hanging out with actors.

But before making it big, he held a number of jobs such as a video clerk, garbage man and as a waiter in countless restaurants. Over time, he was cast in a series of plays, strangely his first role was not as a werewolf but as Dracula in an off-Broadway production. He received horrible reviews, he said.

Later, he was hired to act in several film productions, landing a movie directed by Steven Spielberg and a contract with ABC. But interestingly enough, the lowest point in his career came after he achieved his first taste of success.

“I started dabbling in heroin and cocaine,” Spencer said to the crowd at Cherokee. “That’s when the downfall started happening. Next thing you know it I’m broke and I’ve burned every friend and I’ve stolen from everybody.”

His life shifted from living in a $3,000 per month apartment with a model girlfriend on the upper Westside, to sleeping on a pee-soaked mattress, talking to himself and drinking alone at local bars. He went without an acting job for several years, showing up at auditions drunk or stoned.

Then, in 2008, Spencer checked himself into a Washington state drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic geared toward treating Native Americans. Spencer said it was there that he reconnected with his Native culture and began to understand the history of drug and alcohol addiction that has plagued reservations and their residents for years.

“I began to see the whole pattern of my life — my uncles, my dad, me — drinking and drugs,” he said. “I come from a long line of drugs and alcohol.”

Through rehabilitation he learned how drugs and alcohol on reservations are closely tied to a slew of social problems like domestic abuse, violence and poverty.

After graduating out of the clinic, Spencer vowed a life of sobriety. He said he wanted to help the Native American community and contemplated becoming a drug and alcohol counselor, but instead made the decision to return to New York City and face his demons.

“The scariest day of my life was coming back to New York fresh out of rehab,” Spencer said. “I knew all the drug dealers. I knew where to go to score.”

There he took a job as a garbage collector. He was ready to give up on acting until he got a call from a casting director inviting him to an audition. He was told he would be auditioning for a werewolf in a movie called “Twilight.” At that point he had never heard of the saga, but when they called him in back for a second audition he thought he had better find out what “Twilight” was. So he asked a 12-year-old girl. According to Spencer that girl “schooled him on everything” “Twilight” related, including exactly who his character Sam Uley was.

He signed the contract to act the part on March 5, 2009, exactly a year after he became sober.

But, it wasn’t until his drug addiction story was sold to the National Enquirer by another patient at the rehabilitation clinic that he decided to confront the bad publicity. He began speaking about the problems of drugs and alcohol to crowds around the country.

Spencer said if he can get through to at least one person in each crowd, that he or she hears his message and is moved, he considers it a success.

“If you want to do something in life,” Spencer said in his closing remarks to the young crowd in Cherokee, “Be a doctor, lawyer, actor photographer, whatever you want to do — there’s nothing stopping you except what’s in your head.”

He was given a generous round of applause then began taking questions from the crowd. The microphone was handed to a senior high school student from Swain County.

“Are you single?” she asked. He is not.

Other questions ranged from what types of traditional Native dances he could do to advice he could give to aspiring actors or young people leaving the reservation for the first time.

After the talk, Spencer signed autographs for a snaking line of fans in the lobby.

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Check out the rest of Hollywood.com’s interview with Spencer in the video below:

http://bcove.me/2yiwjldo

Chaske Spencer Recalls the Last Day of Shooting ‘Breaking Dawn’

It’s time to call it a wrap. The final Twilight movie, The Twilight Saga — Breaking Dawn – Part 2 drops in theaters Nov. 16, and that’s it. After this, there will be no more Bella and Edward drama. No more werewolf-vampire battles. Not more bed-breaking vampire sex scenes. And for the actors, no more bonding on set. Hollywood.com catches up with Chaske Spencer, who plays werewolf Sam Uley, and he shares with us what it’s like to see the franchise’s days coming to a close.

Spencer is going to miss hanging out with his werewolf brothers on set. “It was always good to hang out with them,” he says. “We’ve been together since New Moon, so it was a little sad that it’s gone.” But Spencer will stay friends with his cast mates. “I’ll always keep in contact with them,” he says.

And Spencer will always have memories from being on set to keep close to his heart, especially the last day of shooting. “We’d been up all night,” Spencer recalls. “It was the wedding scene, [and] we shot all night.” This was the first time Spencer ever attempted a night shoot. “At the end, I was really tired,” he shares. “I remember they had us put off somewhere in the Cullens’ house, and we were all trying to get some sleep between takes, but it’s a long process.”

While the last day of shooting was tough on Spencer, there were also easier times that he remembers. And there’s one specific scene that Spencer feels will draw fans in one last time. “I really enjoy the scene [where] Jacob and Sam unite and want to do battle with the vampires,” he teases.

It’s these vampires, the Volturi, that pose the biggest threat to Spencer and his wolf pack. “I would say the element of their strength [is the Volturis’ biggest threat],” he says. “I don’t think Sam’s every really encountered those type of vampires. That’s something that the character is going to have to keep on his paws [for].”

But at least Spencer was in shape and physically prepared for battle. “I was in a hotel with a gym,” he says. “There was also a gym in Squamish that we went to.  We were in the gym a lot. [And] I’d do heavy lifting for like an hour.”

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Twilight Star Chaske Spencer Reveals How He Kept His Body In Peak Werewolf Shape

Chaske Spencer played Sam Uley, the lead werewolf of the pack, in all of the Twilight film sequels.

And now that the hit franchise is coming to end, the 37-year-old actor opens up to okmagazine.com about what he’ll miss most, staying in shape for the role and life after Twilight…

How do you feel now that Twilight franchise is coming to an end?

Like any other day. It was fun.

How has being in this popular movie series changed your life?

I see myself on the packages of chewing gum.

What will you miss most about working on the films?

Vancouver

Do you think fans will be happy with the ending of the film?

Yeah. I think they will.

Who did you bond with the most on the film and why?

Gil. Because he is Gil.

Who will you be keeping in contact from the film?

The Soundtracks.

What do you think of the media storm around Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s relationship?

Not much. I keep to myself.

What movie projects do you have coming up?

Winter In The Blood, Shouting Secrets, and Desert Cathedral.

You’re very passionate about your non-profit United Global Shift – tell us about it.

It’s a non for profit that helps people around the world. It’s making sustainable change in the world. Here is the website. UnitedGlobalShift.Com. Be the shift.

What’s your workout regime to get in peak condition for the role?

A combination of boxing, cardio, weights and watching my diet- steamed vegetables and fish are my new best friends.

Which role did you originally audition for?

Sam.

Who do you relate more to –  vampires or werewolves?

Team werewolf all the way.

Would you prefer Bella end up with Jacob or Edward?

I think it’s clear that Bella is meant for Edward, it’s a fairy tale romance.

Would you rather fight Emmett or babysit Renesmee?

I think I would give it a go with Emmett.

Would you prefer to drink human blood or animal blood?

Neither, I think I’ll stick to my protein shakes.

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