In a new interview, the actor poked fun at how seriously she and Robert Pattinson approached their roles in the 2008 hit franchise.
ByMark Elibert
August 15, 2026
Key Takeaways
- On the In Your Dreams With Owen Thiele podcast, 36-year-old Kristen Stewart joked that her 17-year-old Twilight-era self was a “pretentious little loser” who, along with Robert Pattinson, took the 2008 vampire romance “so so serious[ly]” and obsessed over making Bella and Edward feel “fucking real.”
- Looking back, she now sees the movies as “kind of campy and sick” but still believes the emotions were authentic, saying that intensity is “perfect for that period of time” when you’re a teenager and that the work “was fucking real.”
- Stewart says she isn’t annoyed to still be asked about Twilight, would be down to do another film, and notes that Pattinson has echoed her affection for the original, calling it a movie he’d “have done exactly the same” because everyone approached it earnestly with no tongue-in-cheek winking at the audience.
Kristen Stewart has shared some choice words for the 17-year-old version of herself — who she said took her role in Twilight extremely seriously.
During a recent appearance on the In Your Dreams With Owen Thiele podcast, the 36-year-old actor reflected on filming the first installment of the blockbuster franchise alongside Robert Pattinson and jokingly described her teenage self as “a pretentious little loser.”
“It was so so serious,” Stewart said (around the 36:23 mark in the video below) while looking back on the 2008 film. “Me and Rob were like, ‘Yeah, this is like fucking epic, like, let’s try and, like, elevate this shit.’ And it’s like, just be exactly what age you are, and like, say the words.”
Stewart was just 17 when she filmed Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance. She recalled how intensely she and Pattinson approached the material, particularly their desire to make Bella Swan and Edward Cullen’s relationship feel authentic.
“It was always like, ‘Oh my God, embarrassing. God, I just wanted to be like fucking real and it’s, like, impossible. Everyone’s like, making it fucking impossible for it to be like, fucking real,'” she said, poking fun at her younger mindset.
Looking back nearly two decades later, however, Stewart believes that sincerity actually worked. “And then you look at it, and you’re like, it was fucking real,” she added.
Despite being able to laugh at herself now, Stewart isn’t trying to distance herself from the franchise that turned her into a global star. She said she isn’t bothered that people continue asking her about Twilight and revealed she’d be willing to return for another movie.
Pattinson has expressed similar affection for the film. Speaking with Vogueearlier this year, the actor said he still loves the original Twilight and wouldn’t change how he approached Edward if given another chance.
“I really love that movie. I think I would have done it exactly the same,” Pattinson said. “Everybody was approaching it so earnestly and took it really, really, really seriously.”
He added that the cast wasn’t trying to make audiences laugh or acknowledge how unusual the premise could seem. “There was no kind of tongue-in-cheek element. No one’s winking at the audience,” he said. “It’s like it’s very real, which is strange for a movie about a vampire romance.”
Twilight ultimately grew into a five-film franchise, concluding with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 in 2012.
