The Twilight saga almost missed out on the dazzling vampiric charm of Robert Pattinson, and it’s a tale juicier than a blood orange at a vampire brunch.
Picture this: Robert, the brooding Brit with a penchant for pub adventures, showed up at director Catherine Hardwicke’s doorstep looking like he just stumbled out of a midnight snack session at the local blood bank. Black bangs, a bit out of shape, and possibly with a lingering scent of pub air clinging to him like glitter on a Twilight fangirl.
In a recent revelation on the Watchalong podcast, Catherine spilled the tea on how Robert’s initial audition wasn’t exactly Summit Entertainment’s cup of blood. “He had black bangs for hair and was kind of out of shape because he was hanging out at the pub all the time,” she chuckled, as if casting a vampire heartthrob is as simple as deciding what to have for lunch.
But hold your stakes, because Catherine, being the fearless vampire slayer (director, in this case), saw something beyond the pub-induced haze. “I thought ‘it works not just in person, but it works on screen.’ I had to be sure,” she confessed, because apparently, turning a mortal into a vampire heartthrob is a responsibility not to be taken lightly.
So, off goes the audition tape to Summit Entertainment, and the studio responds with all the enthusiasm of a werewolf at a vampire family reunion. “Do you think you can make this guy look good?” they skeptically asked Catherine. And oh boy, did she have a comeback sharper than Edward Cullen’s jawline.
“Yeah, I do. Did you see his cheekbones?” she fired back, ready to unleash the power of a vampire makeover. “We’re doing a makeover on the hair and everything, and he’s going to start working out, and he’s going to be gorgeous.” Spoiler alert: She was right.
But the studio wasn’t buying it at first. Picture a room full of skeptical executives, probably sipping on blood-flavored lattes, doubting the transformation of a pub-hopping Brit into the savior of vampire romance. “He walked over there with a stained shirt… It was Rob,” Catherine explained, as if a stained shirt is the ultimate crime in the vampire world.
We all know how the story unfolds – Robert Pattinson became the brooding heartthrob we know and love as Edward Cullen. So, next time you doubt the power of a stained shirt and some cheekbones, just remember, even vampires had their doubts before Rob turned into the sparkling masterpiece we adore. Cheers to you, Catherine Hardwicke, for seeing the sparkle in the shadows!