5 Famous Stars Who Auditioned For Edward in Twilight Before Robert Pattinson’s Casting
The Twilight Saga is one of the most popular fantasy franchises to date. Based on Stephenie Meyer’s novel series of the same name, the movie franchise became one of the highest-grossing franchises in the world. Initially developed at Paramount Pictures’ MTV Films, the rights to the first movie were later acquired by Summit Entertainment.
The five installments of The Twilight Saga were released from November 2008 to November 2012. Robert Pattinson, who had gained recognition for his portrayal of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, starred as the lead character of Edward Cullen in the franchise. However, before he was cast in the series, many other actors had auditioned for the role.
Here is a list of the stars who auditioned for the role.
Scott Eastwood
Scott Eastwood, the son of legendary actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, once blew the chance of portraying one of the most beloved fantasy characters by messing up his audition for the role of Edward Cullen. He told Variety:
“I remember thinking, ‘This is stupid! I don’t even know why I am on this audition. This is such a YA movie. I don’t think I really tried all that hard, and it was just like, I’m going to just do it and go through the motions.”
As one might already guess, Eastwood regretted his decision to give a bad audition intentionally considering Robert Pattinson made millions from the franchise.
Shiloh Fernandez
American actor Shiloh Fernandez made his television debut in 2006 and has since starred in quite a few TV shows and movies such as Drake & Josh and the remake of Evil Dead. However, he narrowly missed the ticket to stardom and a massive amount of money as he was reportedly Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke’s first choice for Edward Cullen.
A major reason for the franchise’s success is Robert Pattinson’s on-screen chemistry with Kristen Stewart. Unfortunately, Fernandez once told NextMovie (via MTV News) that his lack of chemistry with Stewart cost him the role of the lead vampire in Twilight.
Michael Welch
Michael Welch, known for his portrayal of Mike Newton in Twilight, also auditioned for several other roles in the movie even though he had never read the books. One of the roles he auditioned for was obviously Edward Cullen. He once told MTV News:
“Actually, I originally auditioned for the role of Edward. And as much as I appreciate my representatives thinking that I could pull off hauntingly beautiful — the most gorgeous creature you will ever see on the planet — it’s not quite me.”
Welch’s audition for the role of Mike worked out and he felt that he was the best fit for that role. So, he did not seem to mind losing the role that could have brought him even more fame and money.
Jamie Campbell Bower
Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower made his feature film debut in 2007 in the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He went on to portray the vampire Caius Volturi in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, but what many might not know is that he also auditioned for the role of Edward Cullen.
While the actor has not said much about his audition, he once said (according to MovieWeb) that Robert Pattinson was perfect for the role he played. Apparently, he does not have any regrets about losing the role of the Batman star.
Henry Cavill
Man of Steel star Henry Cavill has lost quite a few roles to Robert Pattinson. This has obviously not affected Cavill’s career, but, intriguingly, this has happened more than once. The Witcher star was the Edward that author Stephenie Meyer found perfect. Unfortunately, he was way too old by the time Twilight‘s casting process began.
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During an interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Henry Cavill said that he had no idea that he was even considered for the role for the longest time. He also went on to say that his getting to play the part would have been cool.
Numerous other actors auditioned for the role of Edward Cullen and must have been great at their job, but it can not be denied that Pattinson did great as the vampire and that it is hard to imagine someone else as Edward. Not to mention that his chemistry with Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan kept people hooked.
