Casting Robert in 'Twilight' - 9 Actors Who Competed With Robert Pattinson (Including 3 Costars & 1 Actor who Thought It was 'Stupid')
The role of Edward Cullen was one of the most coveted in Hollywood when it came time to cast the Twilight movies. Everyone wanted a chance to bring the iconic vampire to life.
Of course, the role went to Robert Pattinson, but he faced some stiff competition. In fact, he very nearly wasn’t selected.
At the time, Robert had already established himself as an emerging talent in Hollywood with his portrayal of Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies. However, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke revealed that there were shocking concerns that could have cost him the role.
Thankfully, the studio saw reason and agreed to cast Robert. He played the lead, sparkling vampire in the blockbuster adaptations of author Stephenie Meyer‘s novels. Of course, he was the right choice. Here’s proof: We recently learned that he is responsible for one of the first movie’s most iconic lines, and he’s still defending the movies nearly 20 years later.
He’s still so closely related to the part. However, like any other role in Hollywood, there was stiff competition with multiple stars in the running to play Edward.
Twilight was already a successful book series by the time that the first movie was being made. That means that the role was massively popular and many people wanted to land it.
We got curious and looked into who else was in the running to act alongside Kristen Stewart in the mega-popular saga.
Thousands of actors auditioned for the role, but a much smaller list of frontrunners and A-listers were actually considered. The shortlist includes a Schitt’s Creek star, three actors who booked other roles in Twilight and someone who admitted that they later regretted their audition.
It also includes Stephenie‘s first choice for Edward, who only learned that he was in the running years after the fact!
Who all was up for the star-making role? We pulled together a handy list and everything the actors have said about their auditions.
Scroll through the slideshow to see all of Robert Pattinson’s biggest competition for the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight…