The hit teen franchise Twilight produced more stars than just Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart
When the movie adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s 2005 vampire teen romance novel Twilight hit the big screen on Nov. 21, 2008, its fanfare didn’t just spawn a generation of Twihards — it brought up-and-coming and established talent along for the journey. (Even Taylor Swift auditioned for the movie!)
But Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner weren’t the only stars of The Twilight Saga.
The franchise — comprised of Twilight (2008), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 (2012) — contains plenty of appearances from actors you likely forgot starred in one or more of the movies.
Some who joined the series early in their career have gone on to lead bigger projects; others have even garnered Oscar acclaim. And many of the films’ most formidable villains were actually played by well-known performers in unrecognizable roles.
Is your memory as good as Edward Cullen’s? Read on to see how many of these actors you remember from the hit teen franchise.
Anna Kendrick as Jessica Stanley
Anna Kendrick played Jessica, one of the first students at Forks High School whom Bella (Stewart) befriends. She took on the part a year before earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for 2009’s Up in the Air — just one of the performances she’s become most known for.
Don’t feel too bad if you missed she was ever in the hit franchise — she did too! In 2018, the A Simple Favor actress admitted forgetting she was in Twilight — just a few days after the film’s 10-year anniversary. “Holy s—. I just remembered I was in Twilight,” Kendrick wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The actress appeared in four of the franchise’s five films: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — Part 1. Since the saga’s conclusion, Kendrick has developed a knack for cinching franchise roles, appearing in both the Pitch Perfect and Trolls movie series. She made her directorial debut with 2023’s Woman of the Hour, in which she also stars as Cheryl Bradshaw — the woman who appeared on The Dating Game with serial killer Rodney Alcala as a contestant.
Dakota Fanning as Jane
Dakota Fanning starred in three of the Twilight movies as Jane, one of the sinister members of the Volturi — the guard that rules over vampires.
A then-15-year-old Fanning first appeared in New Moon before reprising her role in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — Part 2. It was also one of the first times the former child actress had crossed over to the dark side for a role.
“This is a character that really takes pleasure in causing people pain,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2009. “And that’s kind of a fascinating character to get to play. So that was definitely one of the reasons that I wanted to do it. “
Fanning has remained busy since the Twilight movies, starring on The Alienist and landing roles in critically acclaimed films like Ocean’s 8 (2018) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) as well as the action-packed The Equalizer 3 (2023).
Rami Malek as Benjamin
Before becoming a household name on Mr. Robot and winning the Best Actor Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody in 2019, Rami Malek appears as the gifted vampire Benjamin in Breaking Dawn — Part 2.
In the franchise’s final installment, Malek plays an Egyptian vampire who helps Bella and Edward (Pattinson) when the Volturi comes knocking. It’s one of the few times the actor has played a character with his same ethnicity. Even so, Malek admitted he wasn’t entirely sold on the role initially.
“I remember [my agent] saying Twilight, and I said, ‘Ummm, not my cup of tea,’ ” he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, per Elite Daily. “They said, ‘You should probably take this.’ I said, ‘OK,’ and went in for the audition. When I got the job, I remember getting really excited, thinking it was cool really glad I did it.”
Malek has continued to make his mark in the industry as a serious actor, with acting credits in blockbusters like No Time to Die (2021), Amsterdam (2022) and Oppenheimer (2023).
Michael Sheen as AroMichael Sheen played the all-powerful Aro, who led the villainous Volturi clan in their control of all vampires.
The veteran Welsh actor is also memorable part of the iconic Breaking Dawn — Part 2 scene that briefly shows every favorite character’s demise before it was revealed to be a vision that hadn’t yet come to pass.
Speaking to Collider in 2012 about playing the character, Sheen said: “I enjoyed it! It was hard work because we spent a long time on that set, in the snow and the forest, but it was great. It was probably the most enjoyable one to do, and I think it’s certainly the most enjoyable one to watch.
