Kristen Stewart has reflected on her role in the "Twilight" franchise, admitting she acted as a "pretentious little loser" during the filming of the blockbuster movies. Stewart, who played Bella Swan in the five-film series that grossed approximately $3.3 billion globally, discussed her experience on the "In Your Dreams" podcast.
"The first one, we were talking about this earlier because someone else asked about it, but I was such a pretentious little loser trying to make it like the very best," Stewart told host Owen Thiele. "It was so, so serious." She added that both she and co-star Robert Pattinson "were like, 'Yeah, this is like fing [everything]. Let's try and elevate this s.'"
Stewart recalled that the cast, largely comprised of teenagers, was deeply invested in the project. "It was always like, 'Oh my god, embarrassing. I just want it to be fing real and it's impossible. Everyone's like making it fing impossible for it to be like f***ing real.'"
However, looking back over a decade after the final film's release, Stewart has a different perspective. "Then you look at it and you're like, 'It was f***ing real,' and kind of campy and sick," she said. "Anything like too much is so perfect for that period of time where you're not going to do subtle stuff when you're like a teenager dying. You know what I mean?"
Stewart mentioned that she doesn't find it annoying to discuss "Twilight," despite the franchise's continuous presence in conversations since its films were released over five years. "It's really funny because it was like we did five of those movies, and it took five years, and then we've never stopped talking about it," she stated. "And during the time in which they were coming out, we were really always being asked to kind of look at it from the outside, which was not possible to do yet."
When asked about the possibility of returning to the "Twilight" universe, Stewart expressed enthusiasm. "I would do it again," she revealed, adding, "Yeah, I love it."
Stewart also shared her interest in directing a "Twilight" reboot earlier this year. "I would love - look. I love what Catherine [Hardwicke] did, I love what Chris [Weitz] did, I love what all of the directors did with the movies," she told Entertainment Tonight. "They were so themselves and weird and kind of like, squirrelly, and just so present in that time when they didn’t really know what they were yet, like before they blew up."
She further suggested that with a larger budget and support, she would "love to readapt." Pattinson, who portrayed Edward Cullen, has also indicated a willingness to revisit the franchise. During a lie detector test segment last year, he responded with "Oh yeah, for sure" when asked if he would participate in a new "Twilight" film, jokingly adding, "It'd be great. I like taking jobs of younger actors… I wanna play 17 again."
The first "Twilight" film, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, was released in November 2008, earning $412 million worldwide on a $37 million budget. Four sequels followed by 2012, solidifying the franchise's global phenomenon status.
Stewart's recent work includes a leading role in the stoner comedy "The Wrong Girls," written and directed by her wife, Dylan Meyer. The film was released on August 14 and features a cast including Alia Shawkat, LaKeith Stanfield, Tony Hale, Zack Fox, Geena Davis, Kate McKinnon, and Kumail Nanjiani. Stewart also directed the feature film "The Chronology Of Water," scheduled for 2025.