‘Twilight’: Stephenie Meyer Helped Taylor Lautner Rationalize Jacob and Renesmee’s Relationship
Any fan of the Twilight movies will recall that there was an infamous love triangle between the three main characters. While Bella Swan was unequivocally in love with vampire, Edward Cullen, she also had plenty of love in her heart for werewolf, Jacob Black. And while Twilight fans placed bets on who was endgame, nobody could’ve predicted that Jacob would ultimately end up with Edward and Bella’s half-human, half-vampire child, Renesmee Cullen.
Even though Jacob’s eventual love interest was a shock to fans, Stephenie Meyer, who authored the Twilight books, actually started preparing fans it in Eclipse. Jacob explains to Bella that one of his best friends, fellow werewolf Quil Ateara, has imprinted on two-year-old Claire Young. Naturally, Bella is taken aback by this knowledge, but Jacob manages to explain to her that he’s seen inside Quil’s head and his feelings for the toddler and not at all romantic.
Taylor Lautner struggled with how to portray imprinting in the ‘Twilight’ movies
Though Bella gets an understanding of imprinting when she finds out that Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee she struggles with the concept. And she is hardly the only one. Many fans also weren’t keen on the concept and even the actors found Meyer’s solution to the love triangle she’d created a bit challenging to navigate. Taylor Lautner, in particular, was initally thrown off by his character’s attachment to the child.
In an interview with Collider, Lautner revealed that he initially was concerned about how to portray Jacob’s relationship with Renesmee. He wanted to show that he cared about her without crossing over to the realm of creepy. “Yeah, it’s a fine line and I was worried about it,” Lautner admitted about filming the last of the Twilight movies with the knowledge that Jacob and Renesmee had this special bond. Ultimately, the actor relied heavily on Meyer to truly understand the bond.
How Stephenie Meyer helped Latuner navigate Jacob’s relationship with Renesmee
“We were very lucky to have Stephenie Meyer, the author, on set with us for these last two movies, and I definitely had quite a few conversations with her,” the Twilight star shared. “There was nobody better to ask about it than her, and she basically told me, ‘Stop over-complicating it. Think here and now. That’s all you really have to focus on. It’s simple.’ She said that it’s a lifelong bond between two people, and that’s it. At this point, it’s more of a brother-sister protective thing. That’s really all it is.”
Once Lautner was able to focus on the present, the concept of imprinting on someone so young became less challenging for him. Lautner also credits Bill Condon, who directed the last two Twilight movies, for also helping viewers navigate the strange relationship. “I couldn’t allow myself to think ahead and go beyond that, so that’s the zone I had to stay in,” Lautner added. “Bill, our director, did a tremendous job with it because it is delicate.”
Lautner is certainly right that the relationship between Jacob and Renesmee is delicate. While fans of the Twilight movies may not have been thrilled with the way things shook out for Jacob, at least Lautner did everything in his power to not make the unorthodox situation creepier than it inherently was.
