The Twilight Saga was, well, a saga, both on-screen and off. The first film grossed
nearly $400 million at the box office, leading to a fever-pitch of Twi-hard obsession around
the world. Of course, with that level of fame often comes scandal, and the cast of Twilight
certainly wasn't immune. From jaw-dropping affairs to sudden cast changes, here are the
biggest scandals that threatened to derail the stars' careers, and the Saga altogether.
The Robsten craze
Undoubtedly the biggest celebrity news story to come out of the Twilight saga was the demise
of the relationship between stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.
Their mysterious, media-shy fling began to unravel in July 2012 after Us Weekly published
photos of Stewart getting way too close to her married Snow White and the Huntsman director
Rupert Sanders. The photo bombshell dominated the tabloids, forcing Stewart to issue a public
apology to Pattinson for cheating. The couple tried to weather the storm but wound up splitting
for good in 2013, with Sanders' marriage also a casualty of the cheating scandal.
While Stewart later called her breakup from Pattinson "incredibly painful," Pattinson
ultimately took it in stride, telling British Esquire,
"S*** happens, you know? It's just young people... it's normal! And honestly, who gives a s***?"
Fair enough. But before they were done, they still had issues aplenty, particularly when
it came to the explosive attention they received from fans.
Throughout their relationship, Stewart and Pattinson were plagued by Internet and tabloid
gossip alleging that their relationship was nothing but a Hollywood publicity stunt. Whether
far-fetched or not, there were a number of incidents along the way that certainly fanned
those flames—like when Stewart told T Magazine in 2016, "People wanted me and Rob to be together
so badly that our relationship was made into a product. It wasn't real life anymore."
"That was pretty fun."
The bulk up
When director Chris Weitz was hired to direct the second Twilight film, New Moon, rumors
swirled that he was thinking about replacing Taylor Lautner with an actor who physically
fit Jacob's buffed-up description in the book.
"Taylor left the first movie being like a little boy with a long wig"
Amid the drama, Lautner campaigned to stay in the movie by transforming his own body
into that of a chiseled beast.
"It was a lot of hard work all the way around. I mean, obviously a lot of hours in the gym.
But the most challenging part was the eating process. But basically I had to double my calorie intake per day."
Ultimately, he won the right to continue his role through to the end, with the full confidence
of the director, who said, he "was always convinced that he was going to be able to
do it." But there was another actor whose unceremonious exit from the Saga was handled
much less nicely.
The Victoria switch
Rachelle Lefevre played the villainous vampire Victoria in both Twilight and New Moon; however,
much to the horror of the Twilight fandom, director David Slade decided to give her the
boot before filming kicked off for Eclipse, which would've been her most prominent appearance
in the franchise. She was replaced by actress Bryce Dallas Howard, with the studio citing
scheduling conflicts over Lefevre's attachment to indie project Barney's Version, but Lefevre
was openly "stunned" by the decision.
Incidentally, Catherine Hardwicke, who had directed the first Twilight, came forward
to say that the studio had always wanted Howard for the role, and cast Lefevre when Howard
wasn't available, adding insult to injury. Eventually, though, the two Victorias got
together to ensure there'd be no bad blood between them.
"The circumstances around it had nothing to do with us."
"She's awesome."
The marriage bust
In March 2012, the tabloids confirmed that Peter Facinelli, who played Dr. Carlisle Cullen,
and his wife of 11 years, Jennie Garth, were divorcing. Garth later revealed in her memoir,
Deep Thoughts from a Hollywood Blonde, that while the split seemed sudden, it was many
years in the making. Facinelli's overnight success in the Twilight Saga, combined with
his bicoastal work life while filming Nurse Jackie in New York, contributed to the stress.
She wrote, "All I know is that I felt like I was waiting: for him to come home, waiting
for him to be free to join me in the day-to-day of our family life, waiting for the next job
to be lined up that would take him far away from us again."
That next job turned out to be the movie Loosies, where Facinelli met Jaimie Alexander, who
would become his fiancée. But that relationship wasn't meant to be, either; Alexander called
off their engagement in early 2016.
The airport meltdown
Bronson Pelletier, who played a member of Jacob's wolf pack, had a public relations
nightmare on his hands after exhibiting some very bad behavior at LAX in December 2012.
Pelletier was first kicked off a plane after he was deemed "too intoxicated to fly" by
officers. He was then told to wait for another flight, during which he allegedly began "urinating
in public by the gate," all of which was later broadcast by TMZ. Cops returned to the scene
and arrested him for public intoxication.
"No, that definitely did not happen."
After the incident, TMZ discovered that just one week prior, Pelletier had been arrested
for felony meth and cocaine possession at a bar. He was later sentenced to two years'
probation for the peeing incident.
The wild child
Back in early 2002, Nikki Reed and eventual Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke co-wrote
the movie Thirteen, based on Reed's tumultuous upbringing. Hardwicke told The New York Daily
News, "When she started changing from 12 to 13 years old, I saw her losing her joy. She
became so angry. It really freaked me out. I wanted her to get back to creative, rather
than destructive, things."
While the film earned strong notices and an Oscar nomination for co-star Holly Hunter,
Reed later admitted she "wasn't ready" for fame at age 15 and that Thirteen hindered
her relationship with her parents. She also admitted to Zooey magazine in 2012 that the
film wasn't as autobiographical as she thought it was, saying,
"It was from one kid's perspective and not a well rounded one. You get older and it's
like, how dare I portray my father as being a totally vacant careless schmuck?"
"Bitch!"
"What the hell?"
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