Chaske Spencer — who plays pack leader Sam in the Twilight films — summed up his experiences as an actor/artist in a recent interview.
In general, he says this:
Make no mistake: he’s grateful for the opportunities that Twilight’s success has given him – especially the freedom to gravitate toward those projects that allow him to emulate those he so admires. “You’ll never hear me talk bad about ‘Twilight!’”, he assures with a laugh. “Yeah, it’s given me a life.”
As for playing Sam, and the Wolfpack, he says:
Take, for example, his perspective on his Twilight character, werewolf pack leader Sam Uley. While he appreciates many things about his animalistic alter-ego, not the least of which are his CGI antics played out on the big screen – “I never thought I would see myself jump off a cliff. I mean it was amazing!” he says – what he most hopes fans will take away from the most recent installments is that which makes the character most relatable – most human.
“What I got from talking to the kids, the fans of Twilight, is that a lot of them just hated Sam. A lot of them did not like Sam,” he recalls with a laugh. “So what I want to do is make him more human, more a character that you can relate to. In the Breaking Dawn film you get this sense that, in the script, he’s out to just kill Renesmee and he hates Bella, but that’s not the case. It’s just that it’s a job that he has to do.”
Similarly, Spencer notes, it’s the human element of filmmaking that has been the most rewarding through his work on the Twilight series and beyond. His bonds with cast and crew from the Twilight films have stayed strong, he assures: his fellow wolves are “like my brothers now,” he says, “and then you have Julia [Jones] and Tinsel [Korey, both costars] who are like my sisters.” It’s like “joining the circus,” he explains. “That’s basically what a film crew is. You join the circus, you all get tight, you’re like a family for a month or two, and then – boom. Maybe you’ll stay in touch, maybe you’ll see them again, maybe you won’t, you know?”
via “Twilight’s” Chaske Spencer — The Blast Interview.