‘Twilight’ Is 10-Years-Old, Let’s Celebrate By Revealing Some Long-Forgotten Set Secrets

Were you a Twihard, a die-hard Twilight fan of the book and film series created by Stephenie Meyer back in 2005? The books, which detailed the love affair between a teenaged vampire and his human girlfriend captured the imagination of an entire generation of readers and spawned a series of films just as successful, which have just celebrated their 10th anniversary.

Yes, you’re that old!

The Twilight series encompassed Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and the two-part film Breaking Dawn.

Fandango re-released the original film that spawned the series in theaters on October 21 and 23 so fans could relive the joy of seeing the duo of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan on the big screen once again.

The series made Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart household names and unlikely film superstars, but did you know that fans were initially turned off by the casting of the actor in the pivotal role of the sullen teenaged vampire?

USA Today reflected on the film’s anniversary, noting the online outrage that roared when the then-unknown British actor was cast. Twihards hated that Pattinson was chosen to play Cullen to Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan, director Catherine Hardwicke recalled.

“People were like: ‘He’s revolting. He’s disgusting,'” Hardwicke remembered.

The franchise would eventually shock Hollywood with gross box office receipts of $3.4 billion worldwide.

“Robert was like, ‘Look what they are saying about me!’ I was like, ‘Don’t read that stuff,'” Hardwicke said to USA Today of the initial backlash. “And he goes, ‘My mom sent me these emails about how revolting I am.’ I guess it’s that wry British sense of humor. I just told him, ‘You’d better avoid your mom’s emails.'”

At the time of his Twilight casting, Pattinson had only a small part as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to his name.

The couple’s electricity was such during their audition at Hardwicke’s home that Stewart insisted “it has to be Rob” in casting Edward. The couple would eventually play out their own romance behind the scenes for three years until their 2012 breakup.

Once the film’s official trailer was released, fans turned around and began to embrace Pattinson in the titular role and Twilight mania ensued.

Stewart dealt with her own issues after the film was released, with fans criticizing her lack of facial expressions and her looks. The film’s director noted to USA Today that most of the comments stemmed from jealousy directed at the actress for “being the one kissing Rob Pattinson.”

Pattinson would later reveal in a 2008 interview with Empire Magazine per Screen Rant, “the more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that’s how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself. Plus, he’s a 108-year-old virgin, so he’s obviously got some issues there.”

Taylor Lautner, who played the third side of the Edward and Bella romantic triangle as werewolf Jacob, was almost recast for the film’s subsequent sequels as producers didn’t think he would be capable of the dramatic physical transformation the role required.

Screen Rant also reported that both fans and the book’s author Stephenie Meyer were kind of over the films by the time they finished hitting theaters.

Meyer told Variety, “I get further away every day. I am so over it. For me, it’s not a happy place to be.”