Robert Pattinson’s sexy looks shot him into the hearts of millions of teenage girls after he starred as Edward Cullen in the Twilight series.
But in 2007, it was his appearance that was the most serious obstacle to his path to the vampire saga.
It seems that the British actor took care of his appearance through fingers, and the Summit Entertainment studio openly shared their concerns that they did not find Pattinson attractive enough to play the devastatingly handsome Edward.
This detail of the casting process was shared by the director of the first film in the “Twilight” series – Catherine Hardwicke.
In front of the Watchalong podcast, Hardwick does not hide that she, too, did not understand how a man favored by nature like Robert Pattinson could let himself down to the point that those around him doubted his sex appeal.
“When he came to my house he had black bangs instead of hair and he was out of shape because he was hanging around the pub all the time. But there was something about him that worked [за филма] and I wanted to see if it would work on screen,” Hardwick says.
After several auditions – Pattinson alone and joint with his colleague Kristen Stewart – the director sent the recordings to Summit Entertainment.
A few days later, the studio invited her to a meeting with the two leading actors in the film.
“When they came out [Робърт Патинсън и Кристен Стюарт, те [Summit Entertainment] they turned to me and said: Do you think you can make this boy look good? I replied: Yes, did you not see his cheekbones? We gave him a complete makeover – hair and everything. He started working out and he became wonderful,” Hardwick recalls.
“But from the beginning, no one believed him. So he came to the meeting with a dirty shirt,” the director also shares.
She also revealed to the podcast that the studio was considering three more people to play Edward Cullen in case Robert Pattinson’s full makeover fell through.
The names discussed are Ben Barnes, Shiloh Fernandez and Jackson Rathbone.
Although Rathbone auditioned for the role of Edward, the team of the first “Twilight” decided that he would be more suitable for the role of Jasper – the newest member of the Cullen family.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Pattinson did not disappoint Hardwick and proved that he can turn from the ugly duckling into the beautiful swan that millions of women crave.
