Taylor Lautner said on a recent episode of “The Toast” podcast that his relationship with Robert Pattinson was “definitely” impacted by the rivalry between their “Twilight” characters, the vampire Edward Cullen (Pattinson) and the werewolf Jacob Black (Lautner). The “Twilight” fandom created a massive frenzy over the rivalry, with “Team Jacob” and “Team Edward” merchandise and social media groups popping up all over the place as the franchise’s protagonist, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), grew close to both characters during the first three films.
“I feel like I’d be lying if I said no,” Lautner said when asked if the “Team Edward” vs. “Team Jacob” debate affected him during his “Twilight” years (via Insider). “I was so young. I was 16 when ‘Twilight’ came out, 17 for ‘New Moon’ and ‘Eclipse.’ I finished the franchise by the time I was 19.”
“I was so young and yeah, I do feel like it was very strange traveling the world and being in different cities and having thousands of screaming fans either taking your side or the other guy’s side,” Lautner said. “Like, we’re a team. We’re both just trying to make the best movies…it was a little bizarre, the competitiveness. There wasn’t a competitiveness between me and Rob, but having that constant reminder, it definitely had an impact.”
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“The Twilight Saga” film series spanned five feature films between 2008 and 2012. The films, which grossed a combine $3.3 billion at the worldwide box office, made international stars out of Stewart, Lautner and Pattinson. The series was so popular that even mega-stars like Taylor Swift tried to get involved. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” director Chris Weitz revealed last year that Swift’s agent tried to book her a role in the second installment.
“Taylor Swift was a huge Twi-hard, and Taylor Swift and I had the same agent at the time and he said, ‘Taylor would like to be in this movie – not because of you, but she’s a Twi-hard,” Weitz said.
According to Weitz, Swift’s agent said that she wanted any kind of role in “New Moon,” even just “someone at the cafeteria, or the diner or whatever. She just wants to be in this movie.”
“The hardest thing for me was to be like, the moment that Taylor Swift walks onto the screen, for about five minutes, nobody is going to be able to process anything,” Weitz said. “I kick myself for it too, because – I was like, wow, I could’ve been hanging out with Taylor Swift. She must have been like, ‘Who is this jerk?’ But sometimes you make decisions thinking this is for the best of the film.”
The first “Twilight” film will be celebrating its 15th anniversary this fall.
