Cameos, cut scenes, and butt pads: 21 facts you didn’t know about the making of Twilight

They almost recast Taylor Lautner after the first film

2 years ago

It’s nearly been 10 years since Breaking Dawn: Part 2 first came out in cinemas and we were all shocked to our cores when they pulled that trick scene on us. You know the one I’m talking about, multiple heads are taken off, everyone is about to die, it’s all very dramatic. The big twist was definitely one of the best kept production secrets the team managed to pull off.

However, over the years whilst promoting the five movies the cast and crew spilled a lot of production secrets about the making of the Twilight saga. Main cast members such as Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner have all revealed secrets such as the multiple injuries they obtained whilst filming and how they kept Bella’s wedding dress a secret from sneaky photographers. The directors of the films have given hints at scenes they cut out and how they achieved certain moments on camera.

These are the 21 juiciest production secrets from the Twilight saga:

1. Robert Pattinson was injured on the first day of filming

Maybe it was an omen of things to come, but Rob tore a muscle in his glute on his very first day of filming for the whole series after training for three months for the movie.

In an interview with MTV he said: “We were doing the fight scene at the end of the first one, and I tore my glute — well, almost tore it, basically in my second shot of the whole movie, of the whole series.

“They had to get a physiotherapist to come in and massage my butt cheek for the rest of the day.” Oh to be that physiotherapist.

And he wasn’t the only one with a first day disaster. Kristen Stewart recalled nearly fainting before her first scene because she was so nervous.

2. Rob had to learn to drive before the movie

Not only was he physically training but Rob also had to learn to drive before filming began as he didn’t have a driving licence. He learnt to drive in Oregon.

3. Kristen wore butt pads during Twilight

Speaking of Robert’s driving one, one key scene in Twilight is when Edward protects Bella from an oncoming car. During the scene she falls on her butt into ice, however whilst filming the scene she wore butt pads under her jeans to protect herself.

4. Rob and Kristen weren’t Stephanie Meyer’s first choice for Edward and Bella

Twilight author Stephanie Meyer was happy with the casting of Rob and Kristen, saying she was “very excited” about the decisions to cast them.

However, they weren’t exactly her dream casting. Before they were cast Stephanie said she thought Henry Cavill, Logan Lerman and Tom Sturridge would be good as Edward. Stephanie also thought Elliot Page, Emily Browning and Danielle Panabaker would suit the role of Bella.

5. They almost got rid of Taylor Lautner?!

Can you imagine the Twilight saga without the rippling abs of Taylor Lautner? Well we may have to have done, as the studio executives for the film wanted to recast him after the first movie and replace him with Michael Copon to be the “new Jacob”.

6. The director of New Moon wanted Kristen to put weights in her pockets to help her sink

Remember that very emo scene where Bella jumps off the cliff and drowns until Jacob pulls her out of the water? The director of New Moon, Chris Weitz, wanted Kristen to fill her pockets with weights so she would sink easily.

Naturally Kristen wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea and so Chris tried it himself and said he started to panic and thought “Holy crap, this isn’t fun at all.” They then decided not to make Kristen do it and instead adjusted the shot sideways.

7. The drowning scene wasn’t actually in the book

Speaking of that drowning scene, Chris Weitz added the element of a threat to it in the film that wasn’t actually in the book. He said the fans “saw that scene differently when they read it.”

8. Kristen didn’t actually ride a motorbike in New Moon

Throughout New Moon there are a lot of scenes of Bella and Jacob riding around on motorbikes, but it turns out Kristen wasn’t keen on actually riding them and instead was on a trailer.

Director Chris Weitz said: “When she’s on the motorcycle, she’s actually on a trailer. Even though it looks very realistic, she’s never free-riding at any moment.”

9. Taylor Lautner did all his own stunts though

Whilst Kristen veered away from danger Taylor Lautner actively ran towards it, according to the director Chris Weitz.

He said: “He does all but one because he’s just kind of crazy to jump around, and when you see him jump up the side of a building and do this parkour gag, it’s actually him doing it.

“He has a wire on him, which we edited out, but the wire was only to prevent him from dying if he fell — it actually isn’t hoisting him at all, so he was jumping up the side of a building on his own.”

Why am I not surprised?

10. Michael Sheen only did Twilight because of his daughter

Michael Sheen, who took on the role of Aro, the head of the Volturi, hadn’t actually heard of Twilight before he starred in the film.

He said he only took part in the film because his daughter was a big fan and asked him to do it.

11. The wolf pack had to prove they were Native American

New Moon introduced a whole new group to the film series, the Quileute tribe wolf pack from La Push. For those auditioning for the roles, the hopefuls had to bring documentation to prove they had Native American or First Nation ancestry, as the director wanted the casting to be “authentic”.

12. The production team actually met with the Quileute council

Before filming began, New Moon production designer David Brisbin went to La Push and spoke with the Quileute council. Whilst there a young girl gave the crew the first drum she made and they featured it in the movie in the entrance of Emily’s house.

When Bella first meets the wolf pack, the high pitched call Embry and Jared do is actually something Quileute kids do.

13. Jackson Rathbone got so into character he scared Kristen

Jackson Rathbone who played Jasper throughout the film series got very into character during the paper cut scene in New Moon.

In the film he is seen getting wound up by the sight of Bella’s fresh blood after she gets a paper cut. During the scene Emmett and Carlisle have to physically restrain him and apparently during filming he was so intense that Peter Facinelli and Kellan Lutz who play Carlisle and Emmett had to hold him back and Kristen thought she was going to be attacked.

14. Throughout the movies the cast wore eye contacts

In all five movies the majority of the cast wore different coloured eye contacts including Kristen Stewart so that her eyes would be brown to match the description of Bella in the book.

15. Nikki Reed’s hair started falling out after Twilight

After filming for the first film was over Nikki Reed, who played Rosalie, found her hair was starting to fall out due to the excessive bleaching it blonde from her natural brown.

In the subsequent films Nikki wore blonde wigs to get Rosalie’s signature look.

16. Kellan Lutz accidentally caused Jackson Rathbone a concussion

It appears the Twilight set was just full of accidents during filming. Whilst preparing for a fight scene in Eclipse, Kellan Lutz, who played Emmett, accidentally punched Jackson Rathbone, who played Jasper, in the temple.

Jackson was sent to hospital with a concussion as his agent was worried about him. He said: “My agent happened to be on set and was trying to talk to me apparently during the takes, and I wasn’t listening or I wasn’t really aware of what was happening.

“He was like, ‘I think Jackson’s kind of thrown for a loop. We should get him checked out.’ Apparently, I wasn’t speaking in full sentences, and I had a mild concussion. So they sent me to the hospital to get my brain checked out.”

17. Two big scenes were cut from Eclipse

Eclipse was a pretty long movie so naturally a few scenes were gong to have to get cut. However, one scene that got the chop had nothing to do with timing and was cut because the audience laughed.

The film originally featured a scene in which Bella envisioned herself as the chief’s wife from the folktale and saves her village from a vampire by sacrificing herself. However, they got rid of it after some viewers laughed at it.

They also cut a scene of Bella imagining herself and Jacob growing old together after they kiss on the mountain. The director, David Slade, said they cut the scene as there were too many issues with prosthetics.

18. Robert Pattinson crashed a boat on the set of Breaking Dawn

A big section of the first Breaking Dawn film was Edward and Bella’s honeymoon to Isle Esme which they travelled to by boat. During the filming of the scene Rob crashed the boat in front of 5,000 people on the set.

Kristen and Rob also described filming their honeymoon scenes in Brazil where the Brazilian army would be watching them whilst they were doing make out scenes.

19. They went to great lengths to hide the details of Bella’s wedding dress

A big aspect of Breaking Dawn:Part One everyone was looking forward to was Bella and Edward’s wedding. In order to hide what Bella’s dress looked like Kristen would wear a Volturi cape over her dress between the filming of the wedding scenes.

20. Renesmee was meant to be an animatronic doll

Before Renesmee was a fully grown child played by Mackenzie Foy, the younger version was created by CGI, but they initially planned for the young Renesmee to be an animatronic doll.

However, the doll looked so creepy they decided to go down the CGI route. The doll’s creator even found her creepy and said it was “one of the most grotesque animatronic babies ever to not be seen on film.”

21. Stephanie Meyer had two cameos in the films

The author of the Twilight books Stephanie Meyer appeared in both the first film and the first part of Breaking Dawn.

In Twilight Stephanie is seen typing on a laptop in a scene where Bella joins her dad for dinner at a cafe. And in Breaking Dawn:Part One Stephanie is a wedding guest who sits next to Seth Clearwater.