We often see actors talk about roles they almost had but for whatever reason, it didn’t work out. Recently, Jon Hamm talked about “Gone Girl,” for example. But there are some situations where you really can’t imagine anyone else in the role. This is the case for Kristen Stewart as Bella in the “Twilight” films. No, that isn’t to say she turns in Oscar-worthy performances in that franchise, but she clearly was the right actress for the job. But could you imagine Jennifer Lawrence in that role?
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In a recent episode of The Rewatchables podcast, Jennifer Lawrence talked about the time she auditioned for the lead in “Twilight.” Well before she broke out with her Oscar-nominated performance in 2010’s “Winter’s Bone,” Lawrence apparently auditioned for the lead role in the first “Twilight” film. However, as she explained, she didn’t make it far in the process and wasn’t asked to come back for a second audition.
“I auditioned for ‘Twilight,’” she said. “They turned me down immediately. I didn’t even get a callback, but my life would have been totally different.”
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She’s not wrong, is she? Could you imagine how Lawrence’s career would have gone if she landed “Twilight?” Her role in “Winter’s Bone” wouldn’t have happened, most likely. Also, she obviously wouldn’t have been able to land “The Hunger Games,” which was released in 2012. And she believes that the success of the “Twilight” films would have made it very difficult to have the career she wanted. Even more difficult than it was due to the ‘Hunger Games’ success.
“I have to churn out movies in between so that I’m not only known for this franchise,” Lawrence explained. “I was still in a franchise, so I was still trying to counteract the franchise-ness and I would still be doing that if I was in ‘Twilight.’”
She added that ‘Twilight’ level of fame would have prevented her from crafting the career she has now, “That was just something I never had in mind. I want to do indies and I wanted to do good films, but I didn’t want to be the most famous person on the planet. That’s a very different life than what I had pictured for myself.”
Regardless of whether or not she landed the “Twilight” role, things worked out pretty well for Lawrence. As mentioned, she would go on to star in her own hugely successful YA franchise with “The Hunger Games.” Then she would go on to earn all sorts of awards with those performances in between ‘HG’ films. And it’s clear Lawrence isn’t upset over how things turned out either.
You can see Lawrence in the R-rated comedy, “No Hard Feelings,” in theaters now.