Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke recognized from the start that casting would be difficult. While Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) was cast early on, picking the best actor to play vampire Edward Cullen proved more difficult.

Catherine reflected on Kristen’s audition with Robert Pattinson on the Jan. 19 episode of Spotify’s The Big Hit Show podcast. She sensed something unique was brewing in a short period of time.

She told broadcaster Alex Pappademas, “I wanted someone that didn’t appear like a real person.” “Who do you think it will be? This vampire has been alive for around 90 years. He’s ethereal, he’s special, he’s one-of-a-kind, he’s introspective, he’s moody, he’s iconic.”

Catherine detailed the first audition Rob and Kristen had together, which took place in her bedroom.

She remembered while conducting a tour of her Venice Beach home, “They did the kissing sequence and he slid off and landed here on this floor.” “Rob was so engrossed in it that he slipped off his bed. ‘Dude, calm down,’ I say. And I’m in there with my little video camera, filming whatever I want.”

Catherine recalls Kristen pressuring Rob to get the part towards the end of the audition. She said, “I could see they had a lot of chemistry.” “‘Oh my god, Kristen was 17, I don’t want to get into anything criminal,’ I thought. ‘By the way, Kristen is seventeen,’ I recall telling Rob. It is prohibited for them to have sexual relations in our country.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, whatever,’ he says.” Robert was 21 years old at the time.

While the two actors were not romantically linked when filming began, they began dating in the middle of 2009 and broke up in 2013.