Robert Pattinson apparently made quite the impression with his Twilight audition.
While none of the films in the Twilight Saga is what one might consider cinema–with the exception of the baseball scene in Twilight and the disturbing fake-out battle scene in Breaking Dawn: Part 2—the films hold a special place in our hearts. Even at their most cringe moments, series stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart had enough chemistry and charisma individually to make the films work.
And according to Twilight director Catherine Hardwick, the chemistry between R.Patz and K.Stew started at their auditions. In a recent interview with Spotify's The Big Hit Show podcast, Hardwicke revealed that Pattinson and Stewart had a make-out sesh so intense during an audition at her home in 2007 that Pattinson fell off the bed.
“[Rob] walked in and he had his hair dyed black for some play, with these wacky bangs,” Hardwicke said. “He was a bit out of shape. His shirt was just all messy, and I'm like, 'Oh, okay. Okay, let's see how this goes.’”
The audition ended up proving that Pattinson was the perfect actor for the part of Edward Cullen.
“Rob and Kristen did the audition right here on the bed,” Hardwicke said. “They did the kissing scene and he fell off and landed right there on this floor. Rob and Kristen auditioned on my bed—the kissing scene. Rob was so into it he fell off the bed. I’m like, ‘Dude, calm down.’ And I’m in there filming with my little video camera.”
Hardwicke then recalled warning Pattinson, who was 21 at the time, not to date Stewart, who was a minor then.
“At the end, Kristen was like, ‘It has to be Rob,’” Hardwicke said. “I could tell they had a lot of chemistry, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ I thought, Kristen was 17. I don’t want to get in some illegal things. So I remember I told Rob, ‘By the way, Kristen is 17. In our country, it’s illegal to have a sexual…’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, okay, whatever.’”
Although the costars–who starred in all five Twilight films together–did not date immediately, they began dating in 2009, when Stewart was age-appropriate. They dated for four years. Back in November 2021, Stewart recalled the audition kiss at Catherine Hardwicke's house in an interview with The New Yorker. “It was so clear who worked,” Stewart said.
