The Twilight saga started as a rather small book adaptation, but skyrocketed into a five-movie franchise and phenomenon that remains relevant and popular today. However, what was it like for the stars at the center of these films? Kellan Lutz recently got honest about playing Emmett Cullen for five years of his career, and apparently it wasn’t all sparkles.
Twilight star Ashley Greene, who played Alice Cullen in the movies, recently launched her own podcast The Twilight Effect with her friend and Twihard Melanie Howe. On the latest episode, Kellan Lutz was brought on as a guest, and he did a deep dive into what it was like to star in the franchise. During the interview, Lutz got real about the downsides to the role with these words:
I was just happy to be there, especially in Twilight. Obviously, as the other movies progressed and we just had to wait around, I almost didn’t do the Breaking Dawn movies because I was like ‘Guys, mentally I need to be doing something’ and it was draining. I only have one life and if I only live to be thirty, I just spent a couple months [waiting on set]. My agent was like ‘But all the money you’re making?’ and I’m like, you can’t take it with you. I really don’t care about the money. I’ve worked enough. I am grateful we did the movies, but it got to the point where my passion, the twinkle in my eye wasn’t there anymore and that’s concerning when you fall out of love with what you do.
Kellan Lutz spoke openly about what it was really like on the set of the Twilight films as they were given bigger budgets, and the truth of the matter was that he and much of the cast spent a lot more time in their trailers waiting than filming scenes for the movies. The actor reunited with his co-star and longtime friend Ashley Greene to talk about the good times, of course, but it’s really eye-opening to get a sense of why some of the cast grew weary of the movies.
Throughout the interview, Lutz made it clear about how much he loved playing Emmett. The actor was a supporting character in the franchise, but he really bonded with his castmates, including the Rosalie to his Emmett, Nikki Reed. The actor has even shown some support prior to returning to the franchise for an adaptation of Midnight Sun.
According to his recent words, being part of Twilight was never about the money for Kellan Lutz, and he almost walked away from it after he felt like he’d lost some of his passion for being an actor. However, looking back, he’s really happy he remained a part of it. Lutz has since had a fulfilling career appearing in projects such as in FBI: Most Wanted, along with recently welcoming his first child with his wife last year within his personal life.
Greene also revealed that she was in a “similar situation” as the Twilight movies started to progress, but ultimately decided that the fans would be “devastated” if she quit the movies before their conclusion. Lutz agreed that doing it for the fans was also the biggest pull that kept him aboard as well. He also talked about how increased security and paparazzi as the movies continued was also a challenge, even on set, as it actually stifled the cast being able to connect with one another.
It’s wild to hear about what being on Twilight was really like, isn’t it? You can relive the Twilight franchise now with a Hulu subscription.