In the first installment of the Twilight franchise, an iconic phrase is uttered by Edward Cullen (played by Robert Pattison), where he says “Hold on tight, spider-monkey” — right before using vampire super speed to usher him and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) up a mountain. The moment has been meme-ified a thousand times over by devoted fans (also haters), and its origins have surfaced.
IndieWire revealed that Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, at Comic Con 2023, that Robert Pattinson himself selected the line out of a batch. While the movie definitely deals with the supernatural, it’s romance at its core, so a lot of the interactions rely on body language and chemistry between actors. On the fly, Hardwicke decided Stewart and Pattinson needed some more verbal exchanges during scenes.
Hardwicke stated, “I was kind of worried…We were shooting for a few days and there were so many scenes where they just look into each other’s eyes. ‘Look, look, look.’ And I’m like, man, I better come up with some dialogue.” She then went on to come up with several lines, where the pet name “spider-monkey” stood out to Pattinson. “I handed them to Rob, and I said, ‘See if you like any of these. If you do, you can say them,’” Hardwicke recalled. “And he said, ‘I like spider-monkey.’” And thus, movie history was made.
“Spider-Monkey” Wasn’t the Only Change Made in Twilight
This wasn’t the only deviation made during the book-to-film adaptation of Twilight. Hardwicke additionally recalls changing certain scenes because of the budget. “That made me quite nervous, the sparkling…and sparkles cost a lot of money, OK. CGI is expensive.” In lieu of staying true to the book and keeping Edward’s diamond skin reveal as a 10-minute scene, Hardwicke opted for a much stronger dramatic interpretation, displaying Edward’s lament for his life as a vampire. Hardwicke also has commented on why she only directed the first movie: “It was just fresh, it was original. I never read anything like that. Always I’d read about vampires in dark alleys in London and Paris, and this one, they’re in the trees, around in the daytime. They’re in high school. I’m like, ‘That’s insane.’”
Of course, “spider-monkey” isn’t the only zany line in the movie. From “You’re my personal brand of heroin” to “Does he even own a shirt?” to “You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?” Twilight is brimming with unforgettable pop culture gems.
Like many other franchises, Twilight will be getting a reboot, but it will be adapted into a television series this time. The series will also be animated, with Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight books, being involved, along with film franchise producers, Wyck Godfrey and Erik Feag. One question remains clear though — will the dialogue be just as unique, sometimes hilarious and cult-classic?
