The "Twilight" Saga Begins Its Last Chapter
"As "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" storms into theaters, the three protagonists of Stephenie Meyer's hugely popular vampires-versus-werewolves saga are feeling a little blue about the end of their long, strange trip to superstardom.
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This, the fourth film in the series, was shot simultaneously with the fifth, so although Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner will have one more "Twilight" premiere to attend in November 2012, the ride for them is basically over.
Stewart is just 21, Pattison 25 and Lautner 19; all three have become household names in the four years since the first film released. It's a position that tends to bemuse them all, especially Pattinson, the dark-haired British hunk who plays Edward, the vampire who loves Bella the human (Stewart) in the saga.
"I guess it's just presented a whole variety of obstacles, in terms of trying to grow and figure out who you want to be. It's like having a very complicated maze to go through," the dark-haired British hunk mused during a press conference recently in Los Angeles.
"And you're also being propelled by some kind of jet as well, while trying to figure out how to go through that maze at the same time. I still kind of feel like it hasn't really slowed down. I'm still trying to figure out where I'm at, but it's been fun and it's totally bizarre to me. I've said it for years now, but I didn't even know if I was going to continue acting before this happened. And now I have much more of a drive and passion for it than I ever did before. It's incredible."
Lautner, who as Jacob the werewolf has grown from a callow teen into a mature man before our eyes over these four life-altering years, is still slightly flummoxed by what a phenomenon the whole thing has become, and laughed when he recalled the extent that people (mostly female, from ages 9 to 90) have gone to in order to express their love.
"I've had a few girls that tattooed a picture of me or my signature to their arm. I mean that blows my mind. Something new happens every single day and it continues to blow my mind. You'd think that we'd all get used to it and expect it, but every time something happens we're like, 'Are you kidding me?' We wouldn't be here to day, promoting a fourth movie, if it wasn't for that amount of passion."
The international obsession with the love triangle of Bella, Edward and Jacob has spawned countless websites, fueled a merchandising mania and kept tabloid magazines in business, especially when Stewart and Pattinson acknowledged being a couple in real life as well as on screen. Always guarded when discussing their personal lives, Stewart did reveal during the press conference that all three actors have a bond built over the years that will withstand the end of the adventure.
"I can't imagine what this movie would've been if I didn't have really, really, really solid and always growing relationships with [those two men]. Also, another question [people always ask] is, 'Are you guys a big family? Do you love each other?' Yeah, but it's more the idea that like if I don't see Taylor for a while I suddenly go, 'Oh.' And you take your phone out," she said. "It's not like I see him all the time or everyday, but it's just that when you work with people like that you can give so much since you're so comfortable. You can do no wrong. So, they've got you. I think we all just got along and it shows."
But will the three young people still be friends twenty years from now? Maybe not, but the five movies that make up "The Twilight Saga" will certainly still be remembered then, and long after, as a billion-dollar phenomenon the likes of which Hollywood has rarely ever seen.
Jenny Peters' credits include writing on film, celebrities, restaurants and fashion for publications including "USA Today Weekend," the Los Angeles Daily News," "Buzz" and "Cosmopolitan." She currently pens the "Variety" "VPage" and "Seen and Heard" columns, and is the West Coast Bureau Chief of "Fashion Wire Daily."
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