"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" is the second time around for most of the cast but the first "Twilight" experience for director Chris Weitz, who took over for Catherine Hardwicke in a dispute over the quick turnaround time the studios were demanding.

With "The Golden Compass" under his belt, Weitz was accustomed to working with youngsters, animals and big-time special effects.

"It's a really extraordinary cast they assembled to work in the first film so I was really keen to work with them," Weitz said of taking over the franchise.

"Like most people of the male gender I hadn't read [the book] ... but once I read it, I realized it dealt with all of these deep emotions that everyone feels: First love, heartbreak, the ecstasy of reunion. And having been dumped so many times in my life, I found I could identify with Bella's character."

The joking around at the panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego was a byproduct of the camaraderie developed during a long, tough shoot.

"Chris is a very peaceful, well, seemingly peaceful person. It was just very smooth sailing," Robert Pattinson, the heartthrob who plays Edward, said of Weitz.

Edward's rival for Bella's affections, Jacob, is played by 17-year-old Taylor Lautner, who bulked up and worked out to better fit the role as described in Stephenie Meyer's book.

"He's so calm and he keeps the set so relaxed," Lautner said of Weitz. "We're having a blast doing what we love to do but we're looking at the results. I know I was just sitting back and wondering how he was doing this while we were all just having a great time and not stressing at all, because he keeps the set that way."

For Kristen Stewart's Bella, "New Moon" represents a minefield of emotions. She said there were big differences between life on Hardwicke's set and Weitz's, and the latter's calm was the right influence at the right time.

"Chris is the perfect guy to have done this," said Stewart sporting a dark spiky haircut and smoky eye makeup, looking every bit like the Joan Jett character she's playing in the upcoming film, "The Runaways." "In the first one, Catherine was like, I don't know, she was like really, it was very impulsive and natural and fast. Impulsive is the perfect word to describe it. We didn't have to think about anything; we just went for it. And on this one, we had more time to think and it was a little more cerebral. And considering what I had to go through in the movie, he was like one of the most compassionate, the most considerate guys I've ever met in my life. He made it so easy."

Redhead Ashley Greene, who's a member of the vampire clan as Alice Cullen, said, "In the first [movie], Catherine, I think, was all nervous energy and there was no rhyme or reason."

The popular teen saga has put Greene on the map in Hollywood in a way she could never have imagined.

"It's my first job, really, so it's an incredible first job."

Acknowledging the fans means the joys of being embraced and the suffering for your craft, sometimes both at the same time.

The buff Lautner was asked several times about filming in the Northwest -- in Oregon and Vancouver -- often in the cold and wet, with his chest bared, the better to draw screams and signs from Jacob's female fans.

"We did this scene where there was rain, only it wasn't really raining but we needed it to rain so we used this rain-tower rain, which is from the wells. All I was wearing was jean shorts and it was a long scene, and we did it all day long, in 12 hours, so it was really cold. And so it was hard.

"But I'm doing it all for you guys," Lautner said, smiling as the audience erupted into screams.

The franchise's hardcore fans were a blessing and high on Weitz's list of challenges during the shoot. Not that he didn't appreciate their enthusiasm, but ...

"Filming in Italy was a tremendous challenge because everybody knew we were going to be in Montepulciano, and I mean everybody," he said.

"Everywhere that the camera wasn't pointed there were hundreds of fans there. And it wasn't so much that we minded them being there, it was great. They applauded after every take, which is unheard of, it was like doing theater or something. But actually the sheer logistics of getting through all the fans to get to where we had to stand by the camera ... There was one point where I really had to go to the bathroom but there wasn't a single cafe I could walk into where I wouldn't be mobbed. ... So that was quite difficult, but also it kind of intrigued me in its own way."

Pattinson's Edward is not present physically through most of "New Moon," as the relationship between Jacob and Bella deepens. That meant each actor had a very different take on the shoot and their roles.

Edward is seen mostly as Bella is seeing him in her mind, an odd acting assignment for Pattinson: "Chris and the special effects team designed a thing which basically allowed me to just stand on a green box and look and stay basically expressionless, and all these machines did the acting for me. Just the way I like it. [Laughs.] It looks good, I hope."

Lautner approached his character's transformation by undergoing a personal, physical change, which drew high-pitched screams when clips of the shirtless actor were shown to the Comic-Con crowd. The actor also had a knack for playing to the crowd.

"Jacob goes through a lot in this movie. He transforms mentally and emotionally, which is extremely important, but most obvious for me is physically, so I had a lot of hard work for me after filming 'Twilight,' " Lautner said. "So I worked really hard to try to transform Jacob's body so I could portray him correctly for all of you guys. I hope that you guys are pleased when you see the results."

More screams, of course.

The two guys' stories turn on Bella's feelings for them. Stewart was asked if it was more difficult to prepare for "New Moon" as Bella becomes the protagonist and her story arc develops in the sequel.

"It wasn't about the preparation; it was definitely harder to do this movie and going through what I had to go through," Stewart said. "I think she's less of a protagonist at the beginning of the story, which makes it more powerful when she finally snaps back because she's literally, completely not a participant in her own life. Because it's like she basically dies. So to snap back from that was not that easy."

The cast members were asked about reaching into the dark parts of themselves to play their characters, and the suggestion was made that a trait of the main characters is selfishness.

"She's intent on doing what she needs to do for herself and not being ashamed of it," was Stewart's interpretation. "And even when she changes her mind, it's OK. She's sort of everywhere, like, talk about mood swings. But she's not ashamed of it, you know? She doesn't have to explain herself; she just feels what she feels."

Pattinson seemed almost as shy at the microphone as he did during his first trip to Comic-Con. He sat back in his seat and spoke in a low voice and at times it seemed as if his mic wasn't working -- which it wasn't when he fielded his first question.

No one asked about his alleged romance with Stewart, which has been tabloid fodder for months. But his music came up -- his "Never Think" is on the "New Moon" soundtrack -- and a comedy titled "How to Be."

He found the idea that he might have a knack for comedy, well funny.

"I don't know if I'm particularly funny," he said. "I think it's just that one of my legs is shorter than the other one so it makes everything look really awkward. So I can look like an idiot but I don't know if I can be witty."

Asked for funny moments on set, the cast turned to their director. Weitz became known on set for talking softly and carrying a big stick.

"I grew attached, because we shot a lot of scenes in the forest, to having a stick on hand, like Gandolf the Wizard, under the assumption that it would give me an air of authority, which it absolutely didn't. I suppose that would be the most unintentionally funny."

Stewart suggested that his clothing choices -- "It was freezing cold and he would wear at least six different shirts" -- were a source of humor.

"In the back of my mind, I always thought on the days when Taylor and Kristen were in the rain, I'll just show a little feeling, I'll peel off, just to strip down to a T-shirt," the director said. "And then I said screw that, it's really cold, just give me some extra layers."

Stewart said "definitely finishing" the film was her biggest challenge and biggest source of relief.

"Like our last shot, I felt like I might not be able to stand up anymore. And it was such a sort of [deep intake of breath], I don't know. It was such a charged moment; the movie was finished. I didn't believe it was done. Like, no, no, no, we can't go home ... it didn't feel right, but it just felt so great, a sense of accomplishment."

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