1. Several actors were considered for the role of Edward
Robert Pattinson wasn’t always the top contender to play Edward Cullen. Before he ultimately landed the role, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke also considered Shiloh Fernandez, Ben Barnes, and Jackson Rathbone — who would later be cast as Jasper Cullen.
“I auditioned and signed contracts and everything,” Fernandez told Interview magazine in 2010. “Did I want the role? Yes. But I don’t think I was right for it or ready for it.”
As for author Stephenie Meyer’s personal pick, she had long imagined Henry Cavill as her ideal Edward, according to a blog post she wrote in 2007.
“I think I was Meyer’s first choice. That’s the rumor I heard,” Cavill said on The Graham Norton Show in 2018. “She wanted me to play Edward, but the final decision wasn’t hers.”
2. Tyler Posey was once considered for the role of Jacob
Tyler Posey was reportedly Stephenie Meyer’s first choice for the role of Jacob Black and remained in contention until the final casting decision was made.
“I was up against Taylor Lautner — it was between me and him for Twilight’s Jacob,” Posey said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2023. “It would’ve been a huge opportunity, but I was really young at the time. I was only about 16. I wasn’t ready for the level of attention he ended up getting.”
3. New Moon director Chris Weitz wanted Kristen Stewart to put weights in her pockets for a drowning scene
While filming Bella Swan’s drowning scene in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, director Chris Weitz suggested that Kristen Stewart enter the water with weights in her pockets. He believed it would help her appear to sink more naturally toward the ocean floor.
Stewart was hesitant, so Weitz decided to test the idea himself.
“I went down there in scuba gear with the weights, and I started to panic,” he told Rolling Stone in 2009. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is not fun at all!’”
4. Robert Pattinson nearly tore a muscle on the first day of filming Twilight
Robert Pattinson almost suffered a serious injury just days into shooting Twilight.
“We were filming the fight scene at the end of the first movie, and I tore my glute — well, almost tore it. Basically, it happened on the second shot of the entire film, of the entire franchise,” Pattinson told MTV in 2012. “They had to call in a physical therapist to massage my butt for the rest of the day.”
5. Robert Pattinson crashed a boat while filming Breaking Dawn — Part 1
In a behind-the-scenes interview for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1, Robert Pattinson revealed that he crashed a boat while filming with Kristen Stewart in Brazil.
“I never actually learned how to drive it,” Pattinson admitted. “I took one lesson and wrecked the practice boat, then I went to Brazil and wrecked the Brazilian guy’s boat as well,” he said. “I’m definitely not very nautical, but it was a fun experience.”
