‘Twilight’: 1 Actor Says Kristen Stewart ‘Held the Entire Movie on Her Back’

Though Kristen Stewart had a successful acting career prior to stepping into the role of Bella Swan, her involvement in the Twilight movies transformed her life. Suddenly, the Happiest Season actor became a household name with millions of fans following her every move. Furthermore, acting in the films made Stewart a multimillionaire, which allowed her to be even more discerning about the types of films she signed on to.

Funnily enough, Stewart wasn’t originally interested in Twilight when her representation first pitched her the film. The actor has been candid about the fact that the synopsis of the film seemed incredibly shallow to her. However, she quickly changed her tune after she read the script. While other people viewed Bella as a lovesick girl, Stewart read her as a strong protagonist with a ton of self-assuredness.

Kristen Stewart brought her strength to her character, Bella, in the ‘Twilight’ movies

And it seems that Stewart brought a lot of her natural strength to the role of Bella. In fact, Robert Pattinson (who played Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies) once shared that he felt the secret to his on-screen chemistry with Stewart was that their natural personalities were in direct opposition to that of their characters. While Stewart is more of a self-assured and instinctive actor, Pattinson admits that he’s more insecure and self-conscious about his acting abilities.

“I think it was just doing the opposite of what the actual story is, thinking about it in the opposite way,” Pattinson shared about his Twilight co-star in an interview with Collider. “Right from the beginning in the audition we did the meadow scene which isn’t in a meadow in the film, but it’s supposed to be about, I guess, him trying to intimidate her and her looking at him with nothing but love and adoration and awe, as if this god has just come down to meet her. But I really thought and I played it as this god is broken at this normal girl’s feet. Even the position that we were in at the end I was literally kneeling at her feet. I can’t remember what happens in the movie, but that was in the audition. She was doing this mothering thing as he’s looking to this normal girl for support. I think that really works. She’s very strong. She’s not a damsel type girl. It’s weird. They just cast the opposite people. I’m a wreck and she’s really strong and it’s supposedly the other way around. I think that’s why it kind of worked.”

Lana Condor believes Stewart carried the movie franchise

And Pattinson is hardly the only actor to have acknowledged Stewart’s strength over the years. In fact, Lana Condor shared that she felt that Stewart was instrumental in the success of Twilight “Let’s not forget that Kristen Stewart held the entire movie on her back,” the To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You star shared with Interview Magazine.

While Stewart might not agree with Condor’s statement, there were times when she kept her fellow castmates from spiraling out of control while filming. In fact, Stewart was known for calming Pattinson down when he was too in his head. For example, during the infamous tent scene in Eclipse, Stewart made faces as her Twilight co-star until he chilled out enough to finish filming the scene. Stewart might not be the only reason the Twilight franchise was successful, but she definitely made contributions that led to its many achievements.