Taylor Lautner is opening up about the impact the fan rivalry between his Twilight character and Robert Pattinson’s had on him.
During Thursday’s episode of The Toast podcast, Lautner appeared on the segment with his wife, Tay Lautner. When asked if the discourse that fans caused between his character, Jacob Black, and Pattinson’s character, Edward Cullen, got to him, he said, “I feel like I’d be lying if I said, ‘No.’”
When the first film based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling novels came out in 2008, madness quickly erupted among a dedicated fandom as they chose sides with who they believed was the best fit to be the love interest of Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan.
“I was so young, like I was 16 when Twilight came out, 17 for New Moon and Eclipse. I finished the franchise by the time I was 19,” the Abduction star said. “I was so young and yeah, I do feel like it was very strange, you know, traveling the world and being in different cities and having like thousands of screaming fans either take your side or the other guy’s side.”
He continued, “We’re [Taylor and Robert] a team. Like we’re both just trying to make the best, you know, movies. But yeah, it was a little bizarre, the like competitiveness. And there wasn’t a competitiveness between me and Rob but having that constant reminder, it definitely … had an impact.”
The Twilight franchise, which produced a total of five films over half a decade, grossed over $3 billion at the box office.
The Scream Queens actor has previously been candid about the fame he experienced while starring in the movies. During a 2022 interview on the Today show, he admitted that he didn’t leave his house out of fear of being recognized, saying, “It built up something inside of me where, I didn’t know it, but I was scared to go out. I’d get super anxious to go out. So I just didn’t.”
The 15th anniversary of Twilight, the first installment in the franchise, will be this fall.
