TWILIGHT Director Says the Studio Didn't Think Robert Pattinson Was Attractive Enough to Play Edward

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke sat down with the Happy Sad Confused spinoff podcast, Watchalong, to reflect on her 2008 teen vampire romance movie, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month. The film follows Bella (Kristen Stewart), a newcomer to the small town of Forks, Washington, who falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

The film saw huge success from fans of the book franchise, and it went on to see a complete film series that covered the entire story. But some may be surprised to learn that the studio didn’t think Pattinson was attractive enough to play the role at first. Hardwicke explained:

“When he came over to my house, he had black bangs for hair and was kind of out of shape because he was hanging out at the pub all the time. After we did the fun auditions [with Kristen] at my house for a couple hours, then I looked the next morning at all the footage I shot and recorded and I thought it worked not just in person but it works on screen. I had to be sure. Of course in person I just got carried away, but you have to be sure it translates [to the screen].”

She went on to add:

“Then I sent it to Summit and he went over to meet them. They called me back and go, ‘Do you think you can make this guy look good?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do. Did you see his cheekbones? We’re doing a makeover on the hair and everything and he’s going to start working out and he’s going to be gorgeous.’ But they didn’t believe it at first. He like walked over there with a stained shirt or something. It was Rob.”

Pattinson was not what the studio was envisioning for Edward, nor was he what fans were expecting. When the Twilight movie got announced, fan casting leaned heavily in the favor of a pre-Superman Henry Cavill. Franchise author Stephenie Meyer said publicly that Cavill was at the top of her wish list. Hardwicke thought the actor looked too old to play a high school student by the time her film adaptation got off the ground, but Cavill had no idea he was ever in consideration for the role until Pattinson was already cast. Cavill said last year it “would have been cool” to play Edward, although he has no hard feelings over not getting the job.

Hardwicke believed Pattinson was the perfect Edward based on his audition with Kristen Stewart. The two actors shot scenes from the film at Hardwicke’s home and famously kissed for the first time while rehearsing a scene in the director’s own bed.

“They did the kissing scene and he fell off and landed right there on the floor. He fell off the bed. I’m like, ‘Dude, calm down.’ And I’m in there filming with my little video camera, whatever…In the end, Kristen was like, ‘It has to be Rob.’ I could tell they had a lot of chemistry, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ I thought, Kristen was 17. I don’t want to get in some illegal things. So I remember I told Rob, ‘By the way, Kristen is 17. In our country, it’s illegal to have a sexual…’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, okay, whatever.’”

It’s ridiculous to think there could have been a better Edward. Plus the chemistry between the two main characters would have been hard to replicate. Pattinson did well in the cheesy role, and was still able to go on to do all the artsy and dark films he had planned on.