‘Twilight’: Why Kristen Stewart Didn’t Care if the Movie Was a Success or a Flop
Though Kristen Stewart had plenty of acting jobs before she was cast in the Twilight movies as Bella Swan, she became an overnight celebrity thanks to the role. Suddenly, millions of people were following not just her professional life but her personal life as well. Thanks to the Twilight movies, Stewart had her pick of projects and the financial freedom to do whatever she wanted. But, when she was first cast in the movie, she had no idea just how big the franchise would grow to be.
Though there was a bit buzz around Twilight when Stewart and her fellow castmates were filming, the actor was still unaware of just how big the built-in fan base was. While she knew that books were very popular, the actor felt more compelled to make sure she was doing to story justice rather than trying to portray Bella in a way that fans would appreciate. In an interview with Collider, the Panic Room actor revealed what her thought process was when shooting the first film.
Kristen Stewart felt personally connected to ‘Twilight’
“I felt such a responsibility to the story first and to the character,” the Twilight star revealed. “If you don’t get to play the part that really compels you then they might die right on the page and no one gets to experience them as you have and that was much stronger than my ideas about the fans. I didn’t really know about the fans when I was making the movie. I had tunnel vision and I wasn’t paying attention to that.”
But even after Stewart became more aware that Twilight could potentially turn into something huge, she didn’t let how it might be received affect her. In fact, the actor once shared that if Twilight happened to be a flop, it wasn’t going to change that much about her life or her career. However, she recognized the many ways in which being a part of a global franchise could help her achieve her dreams more easily.
Why the cast member wasn’t worried about the movie flopping
“If this movie flops or if does fantastically I’m still going to be able to [act],” Stewart shared in an early interview about Twilight. “This movie is either going to make it easier for me to keep doing the things that I’ve been doing for almost 10 years or it’s going to drop me right on my ass and I’m going to keep doing the same thing that I’ve been doing which are tiny little independent movies that no one sees. So, no. I just came off of a movie where I play a homeless kid, like a really damaged and really broken little kid and she looks nothing like Bella. In fact she’s a stripper. So I’m not worried about it and I never really was.”
Clearly, Stewart was more concerned with telling the story of Twilight than she ever was about the film’s success. Fortunately for Stewart, the franchise did take off and playing Bella Swan led to some wonderful opportunities for her. As the actor has just been cast in an upcoming film about Princess Diana, it’s clear that her career isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
