Kristen Stewart is looking back on her Twilight days with a sense of humor, admitting she took the role far more seriously than she probably needed to.
During a recent appearance on the In Your Dreams With Owen Thiele podcast, the 36-year-old actress reflected on making the first Twilight film with Robert Pattinson and jokingly called her 17-year-old self “a pretentious little loser.”
Recalling the 2008 blockbuster, Stewart said, “It was so so serious.” She added that she and Pattinson were determined to make the film feel bigger than it was at the time. “Me and Rob were like, ‘Yeah, this is like fucking epic, like, let’s try and, like, elevate this shit.’ And it’s like, just be exactly what age you are, and like, say the words.”
Kristen Stewart was only 17 years old when she starred in Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling vampire romance. Reflecting on that time, she remembered how seriously she and Robert Pattinson approached the project, especially when it came to making Bella Swan and Edward Cullen’s relationship feel believable.
Recalling her younger perspective, Stewart joked that she was obsessed with making everything feel genuine. “It was always like, ‘Oh my God, embarrassing. God, I just wanted to be like fucking real and it’s, like, impossible. Everyone’s like, making it fucking impossible for it to be like, fucking real,'” she said.
Nearly 20 years later, though, Stewart believes that commitment paid off. Looking back, she added, “And then you look at it, and you’re like, it was fucking real.”
Although she can now laugh about her teenage mindset, Stewart made it clear she has no interest in distancing herself from the franchise that launched her to international fame. She said she doesn’t mind still being asked about Twilight and even revealed she’d happily return for another installment.
Pattinson has shared similar feelings about the film. In an interview with Vogue earlier this year, he said he still has a great appreciation for the original Twilight and wouldn’t change the way he portrayed Edward Cullen if given the opportunity.
“I really love that movie. I think I would have done it exactly the same,” Pattinson said. “Everybody was approaching it so earnestly and took it really, really, really seriously.”
He also explained that the cast never intended to play into the film’s more unusual premise for laughs. “There was no kind of tongue-in-cheek element. No one’s winking at the audience,” he said. “It’s like it’s very real, which is strange for a movie about a vampire romance.”
The Twilight saga eventually expanded into five films before wrapping up with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 in 2012.
