Twilight gave the careers of its cast a big push, but the experience wasn’t that good for everyone. Many of them were very vocal about their feelings about the movies, the stories, and the fame that came with them – here’s what the Twilight actors thought about the saga. In 2005, Stephenie Meyer introduced readers to a different type of vampires who coexisted with humans and werewolves in Twilight, the first entry in a series of four novels. The core of the story was the often problematic romance between vampire Edward Cullen and human Bella Swan, with werewolf Jacob Black in between as well as a clan of “royal” vampires who wanted to ensure their people remained a secret.
Twilight became a cultural phenomenon and was adapted to the big screen between 2008 and 2012, with the final novel, Breaking Dawn, being split into two parts. The Twilight film saga was a box office success, but it didn’t do as well with critics, who often criticized the narrative and dynamics between the characters (mostly Edward and Bella), though most praised the movies’ visuals. Of course, the movies expanded the books’ fanbase and gave the careers of its main cast a big push, but it wasn’t an easy ride for them, and they weren’t afraid of sharing how they truly felt about the movies.
While they have all moved on to different (and in most cases, better) things, the Twilight shadow is still over them even if slightly, and although most have changed their minds now about the Twilight experience, at the time they were very honest about how hard it was to deal with fan pressure, certain on-set conditions, or even how nonsensical the plot of the story was. Here’s what Twilight actors really think about the movies.
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart wasn’t a newcomer when she was cast as Bella Swan, having appeared in films like Panic Room, The Messengers, and Into the Wild, but Twilight gave her recognition worldwide, which affected her on many levels. Although the character didn’t require any physical transformations as others did (most notably Jacob Black), Stewart had to wear brown contact lenses and hair extensions, which she had shared were “really uncomfortable”. The fame that came with playing Bella Swan was also hard to deal with, and sharing that something personal “became not the most personal thing, which is awesome because to share that is great, but at the same time I was 17 or 18 when it all kind of went down” and that was “the most uncomfortable, terrible, weird time”.
In recent years, Stewart has shared she felt frustrated by how she was misunderstood during Twilight times, as she was constantly criticized for a number of things of which many weren’t even related to the Twilight movies (such as her “lack of smiling” ), all because she “didn’t leap willingly into being at the center of attention” and that gave people the wrong idea about her. In an interview with Elle, she shared that at the height of her Twilight fame she went through a lot of stress, which manifested as panic attacks and physical illness.
It didn’t help that her relationship with Robert Pattinson was an important part of her personal life that became very public, saying they were “turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book” that made their something it wasn’t. Aside from that, Stewart also spoke about how nonsensical the plot of the Twilight movies was at times, and while all the plot holes and weird storylines boosted her career, post-Twilight life wasn’t easy. Stewart focused on independent movies for a while, which she saw as a “chance to be looked at, not as this thing in this celebrity-obsessed culture” which only recognized her as “the girl from Twilight”.
Robert Pattinson
Perhaps the one who was the most honest about his dislike over the Twilight Saga was Robert Pattinson. Ever since the first movie was released, Pattinson has talked about how tough playing Edward Cullen was in all possible levels, and has even said that it was weird to be part of “something you don’t particularly like”. The Twilight fever was such that it became quite invasive for the main cast, with Pattinson sharing that “they know you more than someone they actually know”. Pattinson even criticized the intensity of the fandom multiple times, saying he couldn’t fully understand the craze and that he sometimes asked himself “what these masses of people do the whole day”.
Of course, he also had some thoughts about the plot of the series, saying that “a lot of stuff in the Twilight world doesn’t make any sense”, and if it hadn’t been so successful, people would have thought it was a really weird story. Pattinson never really held himself back in interviews, something that both Twilight fans and those not into the saga have appreciated, and while most of his reactions and responses have been taken slightly and as something funny, there was a lot of truth in them.
