Words: Francesca Lever
Image: Summit Entertainment

Because we all still love the Twilight series a little too much…

It is hard to believe that it has been thirteen years since the first Twilight film was released. It was the peak of pop culture, and whether you were Team Edward or Team Jacob, you were invested. From the soundtracks to the millions of Twi-hards, it was everywhere. It sparked the vampire era back to life (no pun intended) and inspired several other films and TV shows. 

Now, the saga is on Netflix and everyone is getting obsessed again. Many are now Team Charlie. Some are seeing the behind the scenes magic once again that brought it to our screens. So, you think you know everything about Twilight? Here are ten facts you may or may not have known about the series. 

Robert Pattinson and Nikki Reed 

Before we had Robert and Kristen Stewart and before Nikki Reed found happiness with Ian Somerhalder, she dated another vampire. Robert and Nikki dated for a few months in 2009. However, Robert broke things off to be with Kristen. Things turned ugly though and often there were fights on set. It was reported they did not get along at all. In 2012, Nikki called Robert a liar and confirmed a feud with Kristen. It is said it was never peaceful between them again. 

Author’s casting vision 

Before Robert and Kristen were cast as the lovers, Stephanie Meyer, the writer, had a vision of who she wanted to play her characters. She wanted Emily Browning as Bella and Henry Cavill as Edward. She also wanted Rachel Leigh Cook to play Alice and Ashley Greene was met with criticism when she was cast due to her height. Can you really see anyone else playing Alice other than Ashley though? 

Cast friendships 

Aside from the Nikki/Robert/Kristen drama, Nikki Reed is good friends with her other Cullen siblings in real life, Jackson Rathbone and Ashley Green, and her on-screen love interest, Kellan Lutz. Also, Nikki is the godmother of Jackson’s oldest son. Twilight’s a small world, hey!

Twilight’s Executives Were A Little Intense…

Robert wanted his portrayal of Edward to be brooding to reflect the intensity of teen relationships. Producers and executives had different ideas and after arguing about how to play Edward, Robert was told he would be fired if he didn’t get on board with their ideas. 

Anna Kendrick 

Prior to Pitch Perfect, Anna Kendrick had her big break in the Twilight series. However, she doesn’t speak highly of the experience in retrospect. She compared filming to a ‘hostage situation’ and even recalled a time where she was left soaking wet whilst filming continued around her. On top of this, she was almost barred from filming her Oscar-nominated role, Up in The Air, but was thankfully able to rearrange her schedule.

Image: Twilight, But Not Quite on Tumblr (This had me giggling, I’m sorry!)

Wigs  

For the first film, Nikki Reed who played Rosalie spent 36 hours bleaching her hair blonde. Dedicated to the role, she persisted until her hair eventually started to fall out, and, as a result, was forced to wear wigs for the final three films. And she wasn’t the only actress to don a wig: Kristen Stewart had to wear a one in the third film due to cutting her hair for another role away from Twilight.

Renesmee Was CGI? 

Due to Renesmee’s half-vampire status, producers struggled with how to show this on screen. In early takes, Renesmee was filmed as an animatronic, CGI baby. There is still footage of the original takes available to find online, and it is fair to say that she looks pretty terrifying. In this case, CGI was not the answer. 

Robert Pattinson Disliked His Own Character

It is fair to say Robert hated Edward towards the end. His portrayal was due to the dislike for the character, and it’s clear that Robert hadn’t liked him from the word go. The reason he took the role was because he’d admired Kristen Stewart’s acting in Into The Wild and wanted a chance to work alongside her. Funny what people will do for their idols, hey?

Fifty Shades Of Grey Started Out As A Twilight Fan Fiction 

We bet you didn’t know that Fifty Shades of Grey started as a fanfiction for Twilight. It was published on fanfiction sites under the title of ‘Master of the Universe’ and used the characters featured in the series. After comments of the story being too graphic, the writer, E.L James took the story down and reworked it with her own original characters, those we know today as Ana and Christian.

Twilight Director Woes

Director of the first film, Catherine Hardwicke wasn’t initially a fan of the scripts, saying that they ‘sucked’. And Eclipse director, David Slade, hadn’t spoken to favourably of the series either, once writing, ‘Twilight at gunpoint? Just shoot me!’ He later had to apologise for the comments he made, before signing on to direct the third film.