Even Robert Pattinson's Mom Trolled Him After He Got Cast as Edward
Nowadays, it's impossible to imagine anyone other than Robert Pattinson playing Edward Cullen in Twilight. But back when the first movie of the franchise was just in the early stages of production, Pattinson faced a backlash from angry fans for not being beautiful enough to play Edward. The actor remembers those times with a smile.
Being just over 20 years old, Robert Pattinson was not yet an established actor when he was cast for the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight.
However, he'd already had experience starring in a popular franchise with millions of dedicated fans. The role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire showed him how obsessive fans could be.
But nothing could prepare him for what was to come once he got cast in Twilight.
The Twilight franchise is based on the extremely successful novel series of the same name, written by Stephenie Meyer. The series had a huge fanbase before the production of the movies. So when the first installment of the franchise was announced, Twilight fans wanted to participate in the decision-making process and were extremely vocal about everything related to the upcoming movie.
Of course, the main concern of fans was who would play the main characters, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. While the majority of fans agreed with Kristen Stewart being cast to play Bella, Pattinson's candidacy was not well-received.
The books describe Edward as "impossibly beautiful." Bella compares him to the Greek god Adonis. An image difficult to live up to, right? Well, Pattinson definitely thought so. The actor told Vanity Fair that he was embarrassed to go to an audition. He felt it was arrogant of him to even imagine himself playing the sparkling vampire.
Many Twilight fans agreed. When Pattinson landed the role, disappointed fans even started a petition demanding to recast Edward.
Fans wrote that they would boycott the movie if Pattinson played the role. The petition had an image attached, it was Pattinson in makeup and a horrific wig for a role in Ring of the Nibelungs (TV movie released back in 2004).
The picture was used to prove that the actor was not beautiful enough to play Edward Cullen. About 75,000 fans signed the petition.
The actor might have never learned about the petition if his mother didn't think it was hilarious and sent it to him. The actor remembers that this trolling done by his own mom became his welcome into Twilight craze.