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Kristen Stewart Confident In Taylor Lautner, Chris Weitz For 'New Moon'

'I didn't understand all the deliberation,' 'Twilight' star says of Lautner's casting.

PARK CITY, Utah -- Whether you're a Twilighter or completely uninitiated into the world of the fanpires, you likely know that 18-year-old [movieperson id="262629"]Kristen Stewart[/movieperson] is a fast-rising actress, as proud of her indie films as she is for breaking through as Bella Swan. On Monday, she blew into Sundance to premiere her [article id="1603065"]buzz-heavy movie "Adventureland"[/article] -- and dodge a few paparazzi along the way.

But you didn't think we'd let her escape without answering some [movie id="414921"]"New Moon"[/movie] questions, did you?

"I'm really excited," she beamed, happily offering some of her first public comments about the big-budget "Twilight" sequel since a number of controversies have simmered, boiled and then been resolved over the past few weeks.

Regardless of her excitement, however, the always-frank Stewart admitted that the film's fast turnaround, higher visibility and directorial change still needs to serve as a caution to the "Twilight" crew. "It's such a machine now. All of a sudden, this movie has become [something bigger]," she explained. "With all the expectations -- usually, you make a movie and think, 'If it touches people, great; if it doesn't, then you move on to the next one, and no one's personally affected by it.' [But] everyone's really sensitive with any changes right now.

"Everyone needs to be on the same page to make the same movie [as the original 'Twilight' was]," she said of the upcoming "New Moon" shoot. "Or else it will be a very disoriented project."

One of the most dangerous changes in the eyes of many fans has been the swapping of directors, from [article id="1601352"]Catherine Hardwicke to "The Golden Compass" director Chris Weitz[/article]. Stewart, however, is one of the few actors from the film who has actually met with Weitz, and she told us that her fears have been put to rest.

"Chris is -- on top of him being a really sweet guy -- he is entirely devoted," she explained. "And he's very clearly not doing the movie just because it's the next big thing. He really likes it a lot."

Another concern in Stewart's mind over the past few weeks had been which actor will play the pivotal role of Jacob Black -- and whether she and this mystery man would be able to establish the same sort of chemistry that she had with Robert Pattinson in "Twilight." Now that [article id="1602252"]Taylor Lautner has been re-cast[/article] in the role, however, she's convinced that they can make it work.

"Yeah, absolutely," Stewart said. "I'm so glad they didn't have to find somebody else; we already had him! I didn't understand all the deliberation on [whether to bring him back]. But now that it's set, we can all rest.

"He's really buff!" she exclaimed of [article id="1601555"]Lautner, who's packed on nearly 30 pounds of muscle[/article] so far to prepare for Jacob's werewolf growth spurt. "He definitely is. It took him a lot of time."

And although she may be with Jacob for much of the upcoming film, Bella could never forget her Edward. So, appropriately enough, the famous-since-she-was-12 actress was also eager to heap some praise on Robert Pattinson -- who has spent the past three months dealing with an onslaught of paparazzi, wild fans and rapidly increasing fame unlike anything Hollywood has seen in quite some time.

"I think he's OK," KStew said of RPattz. "He's back in London now, which makes it easier for him. It's funny. It only affects you when you come to something like [Sundance]. And then, other than that, he's totally the same guy he always was."

The MTV Movies team is the braving Utah temperatures, celebrity-packed screenings and swag-filled parties at this year's Sundance Film Festival to bring you news and sneak peeks of the big screen's next big things. Head over to the MTV Movies blog for reviews, interviews, clips and more.

Check out everything we've got on "Adventureland" and "New Moon."

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