Bryce Dallas Howard joins the cast of Twilight

American actress Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of film director Ron Howard, is to join the cast of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third installment of the hugely successful vampire film franchise. Dallas Howard will replace 30-year-old Canadian actress Rachelle Lefevre who was lined up to play the role of the evil vampire Victoria for a third time.
 
Lefevre played the role of the red-headed villain in the first film, Twilight as well as the sequel New Moon which is due out in November. Her exit midway through the saga - based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight books – is due to a scheduling conflict.

Levefre is due to start filming Barney's Version, the long-awaited film of Mordecai Richler's award-winning final novel. She will play the protagonist Barney Panofsky's first wife, with English actresses Minnie Driver and Rosamund Pike playing wives number two and three. Paul Giamatti, star of Sideways, plays Barney, with Dustin Hoffman as his father.
 
Dallas Howard most recently starred in Terminator Salvation. She has also had lead roles in M Night Shyamalan's The Village and Lady in the Water as well as playing Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh's 2006 film As You like It.
 
"We are incredibly happy that Bryce has agreed to come into the franchise," said producer Erik Feig. "Rachelle brought 'Victoria' to great screen life and Bryce will bring a new dimension to the character."
 
The first Twilight film was one of the surprise hits of 2008, starring British actor Robert Pattinson as bad-boy vampire heartthrob Edward and US actress Kristen Stewart as Bella, the high school girl who falls in love with him. ·