Things You Might Not Know About The Twilight Franchise
Published on August 18, 2015. Updated November 9, 2020Twilight seems to be one of those things that people love to talk about. Whether it was the actors, the movie script, or the plot of the books, something about Twilight got people charged up. Bella and Edward’s relationship was far from ideal, but they ended up being one of the most talked about couples on the big screen in recent years. Love it, hate it, or love to hate it, here are 12 lesser-known facts about the Twilight franchise.
12. Robert Pattinson auditioned with Kristen on the director’s bed
Robert Pattinson’s audition with Kristen happened in director Catherine Hardwicke’s beach house… on her bed . Because that doesn’t sound inappropriate at all.
Photo by Mehdi Taamallah/ABACAPRESS.COM11. Renesmee was played by a real baby and an animatronic one
Did you know that Renesmee was actually two different babies? One real and one animatronic? Of course you did. Because that animatronic baby was terrifying.
Source: Summit Entertainment10. Robert Pattinson didn’t read the books before he auditioned
Which raises the question of how he felt about the role after he read the books.
Photo by Masatoshi Okauchi / Rex Features9. Nikki Reed and Jackson Rathbone learned how to play baseball left-handed for the movie
Nikki Reed (who plays Rosalie) and Jackson Rathbone (who plays Jasper) learned how to play baseball left-handed for their baseball scene, since their characters are lefties.
8. Robert Pattinson’s music was used for the movies and the soundtrack
Many people know that Pattinson was actually playing the piano on-screen, but did you know that he also wrote the music he was playing? Apparently, Nikki Reed convinced the producers to use his music for the scenes. One of the songs even made it onto the movie soundtrack.
7. It took 36 hours to turn Nikki Reid’s hair from brunette to blond for the role
The process was very difficult, and she had to keep bleaching her roots and even her skin every two days to keep the look consistent. Reed’s hair started to fall out, which may have been why they decided to go with a wig for the following movies.
Source: Summit Entertainment6. Robert Pattinson had to wear braces before filming
Pattinson didn’t think anything was wrong with his teeth, but apparently Edward’s teeth had to be absolutely perfect.
Mary Evans Picture Library5. Before Jacob almost kissed Bella in New Moon, he whispered “stay with me forever” in the Quileute language
Making the moment even more romantic, and making it even sadder that she rejected him.
4. Stephanie Meyer had some different actors in mind for the leads
Emily Browning was Meyer’s choice for Bella and Henry Cavill was her first choice for Edward. They’ve both managed to do quite well for themselves despite not being chosen for these parts, with Emily Browning going on have roles in many movies and shows, including Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Pompeii, and Henry Cavill going on to play a wide variety of roles in film and television, with the most notable being his portrayal of Charles Brandon in The Tudors and Clark Kent/Superman in Man of Steel.
Photo by MediaPunch/REX Shutterstock3. Robert Pattinson didn’t get any voice coaching to do an American accent
The first Twilight movie was Rob’s first American role, and he didn’t even have any coaching to perfect his accent.
Peter Sorel/Summit Entertainment2. It only took 48 days to shoot the first movie
We repeat: Only 48 days to film an entire movie. This might not come as a surprise to the film’s many critics.
Mary Evans Picture Library1. Taylor Lautner almost didn’t get to play Jacob after the first movie.
No one was certain that Lautner could change his physique dramatically enough for the role. The transformation into a werewolf made him look taller, very fit, and incredibly masculine. Lautner managed to keep the role by going on a strict diet and hitting the gym and gaining almost 14 kilos between Twilight and New Moon. His transformation was pretty shocking, and the producers made sure that the audience got to see plenty of his new physique with some gratuitous shirtless scenes.
Mary Evans Picture Library