Why Twilight Author Stephenie Meyer Was Worried About The Movie

Having your work adapted for the big screen is probably pretty scary, all things considered ... and according to an interview with Stephenie Meyer, the author of the "Twilight Saga," she couldn't have possibly been more apprehensive about the on-screen adaptation of the series' first book, "Twilight," which hit theaters in 2008.

That same year, Meyer spoke to Karen Valby for Entertainment Weekly and said that, before she saw the first cut of director Catherine Hardwicke's adaptation of "Twilight" starring Robert Pattinson as vampire Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan (the human girl who falls in love with him), she was unbelievably anxious. "I was terrified for days in advance before I saw 'Twilight' for the first time. I was so worried that it was going to be horrible and break my heart," Meyer admitted. She continued:

"I'd seen things that were really good, but for all the time I'd spent on the set, I'd probably seen 10 minutes of the movie altogether. So, I asked if it was okay if some of my friends watch with me, because I have these great friends who are really positive and they love everything! I was really worried about it, but we got in there, and they put it on, and I had my paper and my pen because it was a rough cut, and I wanted to give feedback on things I felt needed to be changed. And I didn't write a single thing down because I was so involved. The characters were speaking the way they should and the heart was there. I could have watched it all night in a loop if I could have."

Still, there were things that Meyer took issue with later on, like Bella and Edward's first kiss ... largely because Meyer needed their relationship to move as slowly as it does in the books. (I've read them. It's a pretty glacial pace.) Still, as Meyer recalled, this issue was ultimately solved: "They reshot the first kiss scene and actually added a special effect and some really cool things that added so much. And it's the only kiss scene."

Ultimately, Meyer said that she's harder on herself than anyone else, but that "Twilight" was too important to her. "My personality is such that I have a really hard time being critical with other people," she confessed. "I can be critical of myself all day long. But I hate to step in and say, 'I really wish this was different.' But it's been good for me just in general to have to speak up because I am so invested in this." Okay, so, in case you're a little rusty ... what is "Twilight" about anyway?

For better and definitely for worse, I've both read all the "Twilight" books and seen their film adaptations, so let's start at the very beginning, as I've been repeatedly told that it's a very good place to start. When Bella Swan moves to the rainy Pacific Northwest town of Forks in Washington State to live with her dad, Charlie Swan (Billy Burke), she immediately notices the Cullen family at school ... because they're all super-pale, weirdly gorgeous, and don't talk to anyone but each other. Upon meeting the youngest boy of the family, Edward (who physically recoils in response), Bella is even more mystified yet still finds herself drawn to Edward in particular. That's where the whole "vampire" thing comes into play. Edward is indeed a vampire, as is every other member of the Cullen family, and for whatever reason, Bella's blood smells particularly delicious to vampires ... even the Cullens, who only eat wild animals instead of hunting humans.

Throughout the first "Twilight" book and movie, Bella meets Edward's adoptive parents, Carlisle and Esme (Peter Facinelli and Elizabeth Reaser), as well as his "siblings," who are technically unrelated and paired off romantically; Rosalie Hale (Nikki Reed) is with Emmett Cullen (Kellan Lutz), while Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone) is committed to Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene). In the second novel and film alike, "New Moon," Edward breaks up with Bella after she's grievously injured during her own birthday celebration, as he thinks he puts her in too much danger. Then, when Bella loses her grip on reality as a result, Edward puts himself in (im)mortal danger, forcing Bella and Alice, who experiences psychic visions, to save him.

At some point, teenage werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) enters the chat, and a good old fashioned teen love triangle is born. This presents a problem throughout the third book and film "Eclipse," which is mostly about Bella's inner conflict between Edward and Jacob, but the problem disappears in the final novel, "Breaking Dawn," which gets split into two movies. Why? Jacob, in traditional werewolf fashion, "imprints" on the half-human, half-vampire baby that almost kills Bella in childbirth, and Bella, now a vampire and married to Edward, gets to live happily ever after with Edward and their kid Renesmee. Yes, this franchise is utterly ridiculous. Just go with it, especially because it spawned two of the best actors currently working today.

Yes, the "Twilight" movies are deeply silly, even though they're still enjoyable enough. (The baseball scene in the first film is worth the price of admission alone, frankly.) Still, we have the "Twilight Saga" to thank for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and I mean this with one hundred percent sincerity ... because they're two of Hollywood's best and most daring performers. 

Pattinson and Stewart, who were in an on-again, off-again real-life relationship throughout filming the saga's five movies, are so talented, but unfortunately, that wasn't usually on display in the "Twilight" movies. (Stewart, in particular, got a ton of crap from critics who found her performance as Bella to be particularly wooden.) In the years since he stopped playing a teen vampire, Pattinson has worked with auteurs like Robert Eggers (on "The Lighthouse"), Christopher Nolan (on "Tenet"), and the Safdie brothers (on "Good Time"), lent his voice to the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's stunning film "The Boy and the Heron," and helped Matt Reeves reboot the "Batman" franchise with the appropriately titled "The Batman." As for Stewart, she's the second American actor — and first female American actor — to win the Cesar Award, which is the French equivalent of an Oscar, which she did in 2015 for Olivier Assayas' film "Clouds of Sils Maria." She also worked with Assayas on the horror film "Personal Shopper" right after that, has appeared in movies like "Happiest Season" and "Spencer" (the latter of which earned her an acting Oscar nomination), and directed her first feature film, "The Chronology of Water," in 2025.

Anyway, the point is that, according to Stephenie Meyer, the "Twilight" movies turned out just fine ... and cinephiles got two incredible actors out of the deal. The "Twilight Saga" is available to rent or buy on streaming platforms like Amazon.