The romantic fantasy Twilight gave Robert Pattinson the name and fame all over the world. It became so popular that a five-chapter long saga had to be made that dominated pop culture between 2008 to 2012. But it could have been some other actors playing the Edward Cullen character, as The Batman star once revealed a surprising fact that he was also fired from the film.
Robert Pattinson Was Almost Fired From Twilight
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Twilight (2008). Image Credit: Summit Entertainment
Robert Pattinson nearly got fired from playing the iconic role that particularly made him famous globally. In an interview with GQ, he shared that it was because of the way he wanted to portray the role.
He received a warning from his management and was compelled to change his approach to performing as there was tension between him and studio Summit Entertainment over how he wanted to portray the character.
“I do think there’s something in that first movie,” he reflected. “You could see that people were taking it seriously and it has a passion to it. I was 21, and kind of wanted to make it as arty as possible. And so we had this strange tension where the studio was kind of a little bit scared to make things a little too emo and stuff and I thought that was the only way to play it.”
“It just seems so ridiculous talking about it now because I was literally—I spent so much time infuriated,” he continued.
Pattinson’s manager and agent suddenly visited him when they were shooting Bella meeting Edward’s family for the first time part. He was told that he was at bay for losing his job.
“I remember that being the day because my agent and my manager came up for a surprise visit, and I was like, ‘oh hey,’ and just thought everything was fine and then at lunch, they were like, ‘okay, so whatever you’re doing right now, after lunch, just do the opposite or you’ll be fired by the end of the day.”
And that quickly worked as the actor nodded in agreement. “And I was like, ‘okay,’ so that was the only thing that got me to smile a little bit. I also think if I tried to play it lighthearted, the way I would do it would end up looking so wrong that I’d end up looking even more like a psychopath.”
In another interview with Stern’s Sirius XM show, Pattinson echoed the same thing.
“If you’re going into a relationship with someone, the way to make it really intense is if you can barely talk to each other, you can barely touch each other, it’s incredibly serious all the time,” he told Stern. “That’s what teenage relationships are. But everyone kind of wanted it to be, like, ‘No, they should just be, like, happy and having fun. That’s what people want.’”
His agents set him straight. “I thought I was pretty safe,” Pattinson said. “They flew up and were like, ‘You have to do the opposite of what you’re doing now or you’re going to get fired today.”
The Good Time alum however thought that Twilight saga was weird. In a chat with IndieWire, the actor said that it was all about marketing that made it mainstream.
Twilight Director Revealed that Studio Thought Robert Pattinson Was Not Good-Looking Enough for the Role
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011)
Twilight was the defining moment in Pattinson’s career. However, the studio was not convinced by this casting. Director Catherine Hardwicke revealed this in an interview with the Watchalong podcast.
“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,” the director recalled.
“I thought ‘it works 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 — does it really translate [to the screen]?”
Even after that audition, it was not a certain spot for the actor. She sent the footage to Summit Entertainment, the studio which was financing the film.
“I sent it to Summit [Entertainment] and he went over to meet them,” Hardwicke added. “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 walked over there with a stained shirt… It was Rob.”
The director also added that there were four final candidates to play Edward: Pattinson, Ben Barnes, Shiloh Fernandez, and Jackson Rathbone, who ended up playing Jasper in the series. Pattinson eventually got the role and the rest is -we all know.
The Twilight Saga remains one of the most successful fantasy franchises of all time, boasting a total box office collection of $3 billion across its five installments.
Stream the Twilight Saga films on Peacock.
