‘Twilight’: Kristen Stewart on the Moment That ‘Blew [Her] Head Off’
When Kristen Stewart was first presented with the description for the Twilight movie, she was sincerely unimpressed. The actor, who’d already begun making a name for herself in Hollywood, felt the description was shallow and vain. However, that all changed when she finally sat down and read the script. Suddenly, the Spencer star was positively enamored with the story and her character, Bella Swan.
Over the years, Stewart has been candid about how much she enjoyed making the Twilight movies. In fact, the Panic Room alum still feels protective over her character to this day. And while Bella has received her fair share of criticism over the years, Stewart appreciated the self-assuredness that Bella had in her feelings for vampire, Edward Cullen. In an interview with The Guardian, she explained her love of the franchise.
Kristen Stewart explains why she loves her character, Bella Swan, so much
“There’s a stage of life represented in both movies that is so impassioned, and it doesn’t know why yet,” the Twilight actor explained. “Do you know what I mean? That was what I really liked about Bella. The fact that she trusted that at some point these feelings are going to make sense and that she’s not going to let everyone tell her she’s f****** crazy. Also, it was just so…it was so intense.”
The ‘Spencer’ actor was shocked by how big the ‘Twilight’ fan base was
Of course, the movies weren’t the only things that were intense. The fan base for Twilight and the mania that the movies and Stephenie Meyer’s books produced was astronomical. But Stewart had no idea that the films would yield such a large audience until she’d wrapped filming and was promoting the first movie. When she and her fellow castmates went to Comic-Con and she was confronted by over 6,500 fans, she was flabbergasted. “Oh my gosh,” Stewart recalled about the experience. “It blew my head off.”
‘Twilight’ exceeded all box office expectations and made staggering amounts of money
Prior to her Comic-Con experience, Stewart thought the idea of a Twilight sequel was far-fetched, let alone four. Still, she couldn’t deny the potential after experiencing the impassioned fans. And when Twilight premiered in theaters and shattered its overall box office goals in one weekend, Summit Entertainment knew they had a hit on their hands. The Twilight Saga would eventually become one of the most successful film franchises of all time, grossing a whopping $3.3 billion.
Stewart had to adjust to the intense fame the franchise brought her
Naturally, the mania surrounding Twilight was a huge adjustment for Stewart. Suddenly she was a household name being stalked by the paparazzi and analyzed in the media. However, with time, the actor learned how to avoid some of the hullabaloo. “I’m good at evading those little twits,” Stewart shared about the paparazzi. “Once I lose them, once no one’s trying to make a buck off you, you know, I’m fine – I know at this point that there’s a buck to be made, which is weird considering I’m just walking down the street with dirty hair.”
Fortunately, the media’s obsession with Stewart has quelled a bit in recent years. That said, she’ll likely never be able to truly escape her most famous character. But considering how much she still loves Twilight and Bella, it doesn’t seem like that’s such a bad thing.
