Twilight’s Team Edward vs Team Jacob Got In The Way Of Robert Pattinson & Taylor Lautner’s Friendship

Twilight star Taylor Lautner says that the Team Edward vs. Team Jacob debate got in the way of his offscreen friendship with Robert Pattinson.

The years-long Twilight debate Team Edward vs. Team Jacob ended up getting in the way of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner’s offscreen friendship. An adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer books, the Twilight series saw its first film adaptation in 2008. In the films, protagonist Bella Swan is caught in a love triangle between vampire Edward Cullen and werewolf Jacob Black, a plot setup that sparked a vehement debate.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Lautner revealed the toll that the Edward vs. Jacob debate took on him and Pattinson. According to the Jacob actor, it was “awkward at times” to have “10,000 girls booing Rob” but cheering him, and vice versa, while still maintaining “some sort of friendship.” Check out the full quote from Lautner below:

I think it was awkward at times for the two of us to be standing together on a balcony and having 10,000 girls booing Rob but then cheering for me but then this half booing me and cheering [for Rob], but then we having to have some sort of friendship. It was difficult.

Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson’s Post-Twilight Career Trajectories Explained
When Lautner and Pattinson began their work in Twilight, their careers had already experienced different beginnings. Lautner had made a name for himself as a child actor through Robert Rodriguez’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, as well as a role in Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and several voice acting parts in series such as What’s New, Scooby Doo? And Duck Dodgers. Pattinson, on the other hand, had already made a brief foray into big franchise content when he played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Since then, the actors’ careers have taken similarly divergent paths. Lautner’s career has largely petered off following the completion of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. The last few years of his career has seen inconsistent roles in shows such as Cuckoo and Scream Queens, and B movies including Home Team and Run the Tide .

Pattinson, on the other hand, has had one of the most unexpected career turns in Hollywood. Between Team Edward vs. Team Jacob drama and offscreen gossip about his romance with Kristen Stewart, it seemed impossible that Pattinson would be able to shift his career away from Twilight. That he did, however, and Pattinson is now lauded as an indie film darling after roles in films such as Good Time, The Lighthouse, and High Life. He has also maintained mainstream allure as he became the new Bruce Wayne for The Batman. After the Jacob vs. Edward battles of the 2000s and 2010s, it seems that the Edward Cullen actor, career-wise, has come out on top.

Lautner’s most recent film role was the 2022 Netflix movie Home Team.