Taylor Lautner still remembers the craze around “Twilight” — and co-star Robert Pattinson.
Lautner was only 16 when he was cast in the 2008 romantic fantasy, joining a franchise that would gross over $3 billion. While he and Pattinson vied for the on-screen affection of Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan, the fans were focused on them — spurring tension.
Lautner revealed as much on Wednesday’s episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I think it was awkward at times for the two of us to be standing together on a balcony and having 10,000 girls booing Rob, but then cheering for me, but then this half booing me and cheering [for him], but us having to have some sort of friendship,” he said.
“It was difficult,” he continued.
“Twilight” was adapted from a young adult novel by Stephenie Meyer and starred Lautner as Jacob Black, an Indigenous teen and part-time werewolf, and Pattinson as Edward Cullen, whose family of vampires masqueraded as humans for centuries.
The films spawned a voracious fandom and a rabid “Team Jacob” vs. “Team Edward” rivalry.
“I think it was tough,” said Lautner on the podcast. “I don’t know for [Rob], but for me at least it definitely, especially at the age I was at, you get your feelings hurt sometimes when you shouldn’t. It’s hard not to sometimes. It was a little difficult.”
Pattinson publicly went on to mock the source material throughout the five-film run. He later said it was “frightening” when a franchise “machine” has you “lose your sense of identity.”
Lautner, who is six years his junior, said they never truly bonded while filming.
“The thing with me and Rob is we’re just very, very different people,” Lautner said Wednesday. “We never really connected on a deep level just because we’re different humans. But he was always fantastic and the sweetest person ever.”
Lautner himself has “great feelings” about the franchise, despite needing some time after it concluded to figure out “what’s truly important.” He has since gotten married — to Taylor Lautner, née Dome, with whom he hosts a podcast — but still gets mobbed by “Twilight” fans.
“The past few years…it was just the TwiMoms stopping me in the street,” he said on the podcast. “It just kinda outgrew itself. I love the TwiMoms, but only recently has it resurged. We have these young teenagers starting to watch it. It’s crazy to see it come back around.”