Gil Birmingham | Twilight Lexicon

Twilight Examiner gives details of the Fantasy TwiLife con from Orlando

September 28, 2009

The folks over at the Examiner had the chance to catch an interview with Edi Gathegi, Justin Chon, and Gil Birmingham this last weekend when the guys were in Orlando for the Fantasy TwiLife convention. You can read the entire interview here.

Q: And what kind of motivates you guys to do the conventions as opposed to some of your other colleagues who don’t choose to?

Justin: Um, I think it’s fun, and you get to go somewhere that maybe you haven’t been before. I mean, I haven’t been to Orlando in so long, and I’ve gotten to go to Europe twice. That’s pretty awesome … and meet people who actually want to talk to you.

Edi: You’re like loved as soon as you walk in the door.

Justin: That’s a good feeling.

Gil: Oh, I just love the fans. The fans are the best part of it. Just to have interaction and hear their stories and how involved they are with the series. There’s some fabulous stories I’ve heard and I’m completely touched by it. And from that way, it makes things all really worthwhile.

Q: What kind of motivates you guys to do the conventions?

Edi: You’re like loved as soon as you walk in the door.

Justin: That’s a good feeling.

They also have a great write up about Gil Birmingham’s music as well as a few videos of him performing some of his original music and jamming with the guys from Nova Echo.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Edi Gathegi, Gil Birmingham, Justin Chon

Twilight Lexicon Interview: Gil Birmingham

September 25, 2009

Jen, Be My Escape, had the opportunity to interview Gil Birmingham about his music. Aside from being a talented actor, Gil is a musician as well. Many people who have gone to various conventions, like Eye-Con this weekend in Florida, have gotten to hear Gil perform.

Q: What are the inspirations for your lyrics and music?

My music comes from the emotional place I’m in when I write it. It’s an outpouring of the soul of those emotions through the guitar.

What genre does your music generally fit into?

My music is classic rock and blues for the most part.

What is the most challenging work as far as creating a song?

Writing the music, the lyrics, getting it produced? Writing music is not really challenging because it comes from a place of inspiration. It’s about connecting with what I’m feeling at the time. When you see me play, you understand that the music comes from my heart. Recording music is more difficult because you have to get a clean cut down without letting the technical aspects of recording get in the way of the creative process. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gil Birmingham

Gil Birmingham To Host Native American Music Awards

September 4, 2009

This press release just in:
The Native American Music Awards and Association today announced that actor Gil Birmingham will host and perform at the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMMYS) on Saturday, October 3, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. The NAMMYS is an unprecedented event, celebrating today’s best contemporary and traditional musical performances and recordings by Native American artists.

The three-hour Awards show honors national recordings that have been released in the previous calendar year. Winners are selected by a combined vote by the organization’s national membership and the general public.

“It is with great pleasure that we announce the inclusion of Gil Birmingham to the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel for the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards”, states Karen Karsten, Executive Director of Entertainment for Seneca Gaming Corporation. Gil represents the very best of what NAMA stands for – a formal recognition of outstanding contributions in the arts by Native American performers. We couldn’t be more honored to have Gil join us in Niagara Falls for this very prestigious occasion.”

“It is an honor to be hosting this great celebration of outstanding achievements in Native American music,” says Gil Birmingham. “Music has the power to transform, heal and connect people in ways that few mediums can. It touches everyone, no matter where you live or what background you come from. The range of Native American music talent out there is truly amazing, and it is important that events like the NAMMYS recognize the talent, inspiration and effect that Native American music has on today’s world.”

Awarding-winning actor Gil Birmingham (Comanche) most recently has generated public acclaim for portraying Billy Black in Twilight, the first film in the Twilight Saga based on the best-selling books by Stephenie Meyer. He has appeared in more than 40 film and television productions, including End of the Spear, Dreamkeeper, Skins, Gentle Ben, The Lone Ranger, The Doe Boy, Love’s Long Journey, Nip/Tuck, 10 Items or Less and Veronica Mars. In 1995, his powerful portrayal of Dogstar in Steven Spielberg’s Into the West captured the attention of audiences worldwide. Birmingham recently finished filming The Love Ranch, starring Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci, directed by Taylor Hackford, and he will return as Billy Black in the Twilight sequels New Moon and Eclipse. Gil recently filmed Rango, an animated film with Johnny Depp that is scheduled for release in 2011.

Birmingham also is an accomplished singer and guitarist. In addition to hosting the awards ceremony, he will perform two musical numbers during the event. Birmingham’s musical aspirations began at age 10, when he first picked up a guitar and learned to play. Since then, he has traveled across the country, singing and playing guitar with various bands. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix served as the early inspiration for Gil’s musical style, which ranges from Blues and R&B, to Rock.

Founded in 1998, the Native American Music Awards & Association was born out of a need to provide greater opportunity and recognition for traditional and contemporary Native American music. Today, the organization has grown to become the country’s leading source for preserving and promoting the songs of American Indians.

Tickets for the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards are on-sale now through all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information about the Awards ceremony, visit www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gil Birmingham

Creation Twilight Convention Days 1-2 New Jersey

August 29, 2009

MTV has some great summaries up regarding the Q & A’s that the actors did. ( Gil and the Wolfpack) We were also fortunate enough to get our picture taken with the wolfpack. Originally we weren’t into the whole picture thing, but we got talked into it…soooooooo worth it!

One of the key moments this weekend was when Gil Birmingham at each Q & A session talked about how much he feels a responsibility to represent those who are wheelchair bound accurately. He talked about how much more respect and admiration he has for people who have challenges in life, and realizes that often they can be left behind.

“I did have a scene when we were congregating to get the search party ready to go look for Kristen. And then all of the sudden Sam comes out of the woods and everybody runs to him and Kristen and I realize I can’t go,” he explained. “Everybody takes off and I go, ‘Hey, hey!'”

Gil realized that at emotional moments like that when you just want to rush and hug someone that the opportunity isn’t there and often you’d have to rely on others. He also said he is very touched by any fanmail he gets, but particularly from people who thank him for not portraying Billy Black as a stereotype.

The Q & A for the wolfpack: Kiowa Gordon, Chaske Spencer, and Alez Meraz was so much better in New Jersey than the one we saw two weeks ago in Phoenix largely because the questions were much better. Highlights were Kiowa breaking out into random howls whenever the mood struck him, all the guys talking about how much they feel like protective older brothers to Taylor Lautner, and if they were vampires instead of wolves which would they want to be: Chascke (Carlilse), Alex (James), Kiowa (Jasper).

Alex then had to reveal an embarrassing moment because Gil Birmingham ratted him out. The two of them have this friendly rivalry. Alex tipped people off that early on in Gils career he was in the Diana Ross video “Muscles” and was as, as Alex puts it, “wearing a thong and doing cartwheels in a video”. So to get even, Gil told the audience, “Be sure to ask Alex how he almost killed Kristen Stewart by choking her to death.” This is how Alex described the scene (while he was describing it Kiowa and Chaske were cracking up the whole time being sure to add in any little detail Alex left out):

“I decided, all right, the Wolf Pack stay up all night looking for who’s killing people on the res, so we don’t sleep very much. So I thought it would be a great idea if I stayed up for 10 days straight.” What should have been a simple scene — a confrontation between Bella (Stewart) and the Wolf Pack — became, in Meraz’s mind, his “Brando moment.” Wanting to try something different, the actor played the scene overly aggressive: screaming, grabbing Stewart by the throat, hurtling his line at her.

“[Director] Chris Weitz comes off-set like, ‘Yeah, I like the energy Alex, but just take it down a little,’ ” Spencer chimed in: “Meanwhile the producers are freaking out back there.”

” ‘Cause nobody touches Kristen Stewart,” joked Meraz.

Alex then said that he went to apologize to Kristen for scaring the heck out of her and Kristen was really cool about him talking that kind of risk as an actor and going for it. She said if Chris wants it that way I’ll defintiely do another take with you. Chris however thought it was a little over the top. Chaske said when they did do other takes of that scene it was really hard to keep a straight face because they all remebered Alex’s over the top explosion and all they could think of was the producer’s reactions.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Alex Merez, Chaske Spencer, creation entertainment, Gil Birmingham, Kiowa Gordon

Fansite Friday: Chaske Spencer & Gil Birmingham

August 21, 2009

We’re back with another Fansite Friday! This week we are covering Gil Birmingham, Billy Black, and Chaske Spencer, Sam Uley. They were both on set the day that we visited back in April.

You need a little backstory for these interviews. Gil was what you could call an unexpected interview. What was funny, was that originally when we saw Gil, we asked our rep, “Will Gil be coming over and can we interview him?” Gil had only just gotten in and we were told “no” because he had to get wired up for sound to shoot his scene. So we thought, OK that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Well, what we started to notice is that we caught Gil’s attention. He’d be talking to the crew, then looking at us. He’d talk to Graham Greene, then he’d look at us. This pattern went on for awhile. However, we then ended up interviewing producer Wyck Godfrey, and we sort of lost track of Gil. Not that we don’t like Gil, but Wyck said the magic words “Breaking Dawn” and he kind of had our rapt attention.

So we finish with Wyck, we turn around and “BANG” right in front of us is Gil Birmingham with the oddest expression on his face (If you ever see Matt from Twilight Source he does a great imitation of this moment). He says, “Who are you people?” We explained, we had a good laugh and then Gil gave us a few brief thoughts before he had to go back to work. (Audio file at the bottom of this entry.) [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Chaske Spencer, Fansite Fridays!, Gil Birmingham

Happy Birthday Gil Birmingham!

July 13, 2009

A very happy birthday to Gil Birmingham!

Who said sexy stops at 30?

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gil Birmingham

Gil Birmingham Launches New Website

July 11, 2009

Gil Birmingham’s team finally launched his new website, and after a few delays (you have to get those technical things ironed out) it was worth the wait. It has Gil’s extended bio, filmography, videos…you name it. One of the features is Gil’s demo reel(see below).

Check it out and don’t forget to tell Gil what you think about it on Twitter.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gil Birmingham

Interview Roll Call

July 3, 2009

We have not one, not two, but three interviews by Twilight Stars:

First Up Gil Birmingham, who has been in Australia at a convention, spoke to Twilighter’s HUB, the location for Aussie Twilight happenings.

“TH: Being an actor, what parts of yourself have you incorporate into Billy Black’s character, and what part of Billy, have you taken with you into your everyday life?

Gil: Billy Black is an awesome character to play. We are both down with the kids and we both try to keep it real. An actor always digs deep inside himself to draw out the personal experiences that bring life to the character he plays. I am not Billy, but there is a part of him in me and vice versa.

TH: Like most of the cast in Twilight, how has the Franchise changed your life?

Gil: Twilight has been an amazing ride for me. The volume of fan mail, emails and requests has increased so much that it’s becoming more and more difficult for me to personally respond to fans. I don’t get caught up in all the hype. I’m still the same Gil Birmingham I was before Twilight, only I get a lot more mail.”

Catch the rest at Twilighters HUB

Next the stunning Ashley Greene gives away a few beauty secrets to the Examiner:

“What are your favorite beauty products?BORBA (all of which I mentioned) and Dermalogica. I love Matrix sleek products for my hair – they work very well for me. Rose bud lip gloss is the best. YSL has a great illuminating concealer. Shiseido you can’t go wrong with either… their tinted moisturizer is great. I also just found this amazing line in Europe called “Becca;” their stuff is amazing… I have to stock up when I go back because it isn’t sold in the US!

Who is your beauty icon?
Audrey Hepburn is classically beautiful. ”
Get the rest on The Examiner.

Wrapping it up Is Kellan Lutz in the UK’s OK where he just did a photo shoot for Social Life:

“The entire cast of Twilight and New Moon has gone from Hollywood new faces to overnight international sensations – has that been a bonding experience for all of you?

It’s amazing what Twilight has done for the cast! It has opened up so many doors for us all. It is such a blessing to be a part of the phenomenon that is Twilight. It’s a dream come true! We are all very close and stay close on set as well as off. We play board games, go out to dinner and just hang out. It’s amazing to be able to work with such a talented group of actors.”

Get it all at OK

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Ashley Greene, Gil Birmingham, Kellan Lutz

Twitter Showdown Continues

June 13, 2009

OK, here’s the story. Peter Facinelli below has some video encouragement for all of you who haven’t followed him on Twitter yet. Peter needs 500,000 followers by June 19th or he loses his Twilight chair.

Now Gil Birmingham is rising to the challenge, Gil’s latest Tweet “Okay you twisted my arm. If you guys get me to 100,000 fans by June 19, I’ll post a photo of me in a Speedo…any takers?”

Now, if you if you don’t yet have a twitter, here’s why you want one.

1. It’s more fun than an RSS feed. You can keep up with all the new posts on your favorite sites and stars at just a glance and then decide which stories you want to click on.

2. The Lexicon frequently posts heads up to Twitter before ever writing a blog post.

3. The Lex does Tweet some exclusive content. For example this Sunday we will be tweeting our 100 Monkeys Experience and we will be Tweeting our Comic Con experience.

So go to Twitter.com and make an account and follow The Lexicon, Peter, Gil and whoever else you want!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gil Birmingham, Peter Facinelli, Twitter

Gil Birmingham Now On Twitter

June 12, 2009

Gil Birmingham is now on Twitter. You can follow Gil here. Currently he has 101 followers and he needs to be a lot more welcomed than that! Let him know we told you to drop on by. 🙂

Recap of the real Twitters
relating to the Twilight Saga

Peter Facinelli Also has an awesome IPhone app.

Billy Burke Soon to have an IPhone app.

If they aren’t here, they don’t have a Twitter that they use to contact fans.

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100 Monkeys The Band Jackson Rathbone plays with

Bobby Long Writer of Let Me Sign along with Marcus Foster, performed by Rob Pattinson on the Twilight soundtrack

Sam Bradley Writer of Never Think, performed by Rob Pattinson on the Twilight soundtrack

Marcus Foster Writer ofof Let Me Sign along with Bobby Long, performed by Rob Pattinson on the Twilight soundtrack

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gil Birmingham, Twitter

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