January 13, 2009

Vanessa Hudgens Auditions For 'Twilight' Sequel 'New Moon'

By Katie Byrne, with reporting by Larry Carroll (MTV.com)

With all the New Moon casting rumors that have been floating around since Twilight hit theaters, we were especially wondering who would play werewolf Leah Clearwater, Jacob Black's feisty and heartbroken frienemy.

Well, one of the rumored actresses in the running - High School Musical starlet Vanessa Hudgens - has apparently taken the next step and auditioned for the role, according to Twilight actress Ashley Greene.

We ran into Alice herself at a Golden Globes afterparty, and she told us she'd be happy to co-star with Hudgens. "I think she'd be great," Greene enthused.

Just last week, we asked Twilighters on our Movies Blog what actress should play Leah, including Hudgens and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody actress Brenda Song as two poll options. The actresses tied at 31 percent of your vote, with "neither" being the most popular choice at 38 percent.

Commenters had a lot to say about Hudgens' possible casting - both positive and negative.

"I cannot picture her being mean or aggressive as Leah," Mary_ym commented about the Disney star.

"Vanessa Hudgens would be a good choice," chill_kid_07 countered. " ... Of course she can't look like Leah - no one can. You know why? 'Cause it's just a book, and these are actors trying to portray the roles! I think she would be great."

Besides casting, Greene also had some news on the status of New Moon.

"I hear they're doing another rewrite," the actress revealed of the in-flux script. "I'm with you guys - I'm so excited to read it."