Despite the criticism they received and the stigma that fell on Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart after playing Edward and Bella in Twilight, there is no doubt that when the films had not yet been released, they were the most coveted roles for any young actor. Well, as it turns out, Drake & Josh star Josh Peck was one such actor. And he was very close to getting the role.
During 2004 and 2007, Josh Peck was one of the most popular actors in the world of television, as he was the co-star of one of Nickelodeon’s most legendary series at the time, Drake & Josh. Unfortunately, that success did not translate to the big screen, where the actor seemed not to get a role that would finally establish him as something more than a teen star. And although Twilight may not have been the solution to escape that label, it would undoubtedly have changed his career forever, as it did for Pattinson, Stewart, and Taylor Lautner.
In the most recent episode of Peck’s podcast, Great Guys, Lautner (who played Jacob Black in the Twilight series) appeared as a guest, and the former Nickelodeon alum told him about his casting process for Edward:
“I remember it’s like 2006? [2007]? They’re like, ‘Audition for this movie, Twilight, it’s based on a book and it’s going to be great.’ So I send in my tape, for Edward. A month later, I’m with my manager and he goes, ‘It’s down to you and three guys, you’re close.’ I’m like, ‘Really?’ I hadn’t even had a tummy tuck yet. I’m like, ‘There’s no way. He’s got to be so shirtless, it’s not going to happen.’ Spoiler alert — didn’t get it… But I remember then seeing R-Patz playing this part I’m like, ‘In what fucking world were they like, okay here’s what we’re thinking: Chris Hemsworth or Stanley Tucci?’ Like what the fuck? Impossible! Impossible! So we almost worked together.”
Josh Peck Recently Played a Role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer
Before Drake & Josh, during the show, and even after, Peck continued working in both film and television, but it is true that he never got a role that put him back on top as he was during the time the sitcom aired. However, in recent years, the situation is perhaps starting to change.
In 2021, he was chosen to star in the reboot of Turner & Hooch on Disney+, and although the series did not do well and was canceled after a single season, it was a good opportunity for the actor. In 2022, he would join Hilary Duff in another reboot, How I Met Your Father, which, although it was also recently canceled, was very well received by fans and its cancelation has been heavily criticized.
That same year he joined his Drake & Josh co-star Miranda Cosgrove in the iCarly revival, and in 2023 he was part of the cast of one of the most celebrated films of the year, which continues to surprise with its success. But the real hint at a change for Peck comes courtesy of his role in director Christopher Nolan’s hugely successful Oppenheimer, in which Peck plays Kenneth Bainbridge, a famous physicist from Harvard who was part of the Manhattan Project.
