Twilight director says if there is a reboot, Jenna Ortega and Jacob Elordi would be “amazing” for it

Last Updated on November 29, 2023

The high school, vampire, love story may be over, but in an age of reboots, remakes and general continuation of franchises, if there is ever a reboot of the Twilight Saga, the original film’s director, Catherine Hardwicke, has already made her casting choices. The former stars of the Stephenie Meyer novel adaptation, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, have long been criticized for their performances in the Twilight films (even by Pattinson himself), but both have gone on to various film projects where they had gained the praise of critics for their performances.

Hardwicke recently appeared on the Watch-a-long podcast, where she shared who she feels would be amazing casting for both Bella and Edward should the movies get rebooted. According to Deadline, Hardwicke name-dropped Satlburn star Jacob Elordi for her choice as the new Edward Cullen, “I mean, he’s amazing. He probably would be Edward today.” She continued to glow about Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, “I do think there’s a lot of really cool young actors today. Of course, you just mentioned Jenna Ortega. She’s amazing.” The Twilight director also brought up a recent encounter she had with a Jacob casting hopeful, Mortal Kombat‘s Lewis Tan, and acknowledged the recognition that would’ve come with that casting, “It would’ve changed anyone’s life if they got that part.”

While Robert Pattinson gained a certain notoriety with his association with the series, even receiving backlash for getting cast in The Batman, Hardwicke explained that his initial casting was giving the studio hesitation. “When he came over to my house, he had black bangs for hair and was kind of out of shape because he was hanging out at the pub all the time. I thought ‘it works not just in person, but it works on screen.’ I had to be sure. Of course, in person, I just got carried away, but you have to be sure — does it really translate [to the screen]?”

She sent the studio the audition tapes, “They called me back and go, ‘Do you think you can make this guy look good?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do. Did you see his cheekbones? We’re doing a makeover on the hair and everything and he’s going to start working out and he’s going to be gorgeous.’ But they didn’t believe it at first. He walked over there with a stained shirt… It was Rob.”