‘Twilight’: How the Success of the Movies Completely Changed the Cast Dynamic

When the cast of Twilight was first assembled, none of the actors could have predicted just how big the five movies would become. As many of them had never read the books prior to agreeing to come on board the project, they didn’t realize what a big fan base the books had. It wasn’t until they did press for the first film, that they started to get an understanding of just how much of a phenomenon the movies would become.

Though the experience of filming Twilight was less than ideal thanks to the cold and wet weather it required, the cast did enjoy the opportunity to work with a large group of people in their age range. In fact, many cast members shared that the filming experience was akin to a college or camp experience. According to the actors, it was a very fun experience where they were able to form strong bonds with one another.

The ‘Twilight’ cast was extremely close when they filmed the first movie

“We had such a big cast, and we were all fairly close in age, and we were together constantly,” Kristen Stewart shared with Vanity Fair shortly after filming Twilight. “In that situation, you might expect drama to ensue. But we were all so obsessed with this project. We were all focused on the same thing, and it was really creative and ambitious. Nikki Reed [who played Rosalie Hale] and I became really, really good friends. She’s really smart and funny. And we have a new movie that we’re working on together.”

Taylor Lautner [who played Jacob Black in the Twilight movies] echoed Stewart’s sentiments in his own interview with Vanity Fair. “The cast really had great chemistry and we all hung out,” Lautner said, reflecting on what it was like to be on set with such a large ensemble cast. “We’re all really good friends now, so that’s really cool.”

Nikki Reed revealed that the success of the movies changed the cast dynamic

But, the dynamic of the cast all being super close was relatively short-lived. As the films became more successful, the relationship between the actors began to shift. By the time the actors shot, Breaking Dawn (which was split into two films but shot all at once), the dynamic had completely changed. According to Reed, the Twilight cast had grown apart in a significant way.

“In the beginning, it was innocent and fun, and we were like one big happy family – it was like being at sleepaway camp,” Reed shared about her Twilight co-stars in an interview with Seventeen back in 2012. “And then success comes along and changes the dynamic. We’re not all best friends, and we’re not all going to hang out together after the final movie is done.”

Kristen Stewart on if she’s still in contact with her ‘Twilight’ castmates

But does the cast still keep in touch today? Back in December of 2019, while attending a press event at the International Film Festival in Zurich, Stewart revealed that while she still runs into some of her Twilight castmates from time to time, they don’t collectively keep in touch. The actor added that while she has personal relationships with a few individual people, they were a far cry from having a group chat for Twilight alums.

“In terms of the group, we’ve all disbanded now for so long,” Stewart confessed. “I have individual relationships with everyone, but it’s not like this thing you would assume that like bind us all in this way where we’re like ‘Remember that?’ It’s like, you know, we kind of all become real, whole, people, but still know each other and I’m really thankful for that,” the Twilight alum added.

It seems that success was destined to change the dynamic of the Twilight cast. But, at least everyone seemed to really have a great time together while filming the first movie.