Happy Sad Confused - TWILIGHT with Catherine Hardwicke I Watchalong

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

It's been 15 years since the release of TWILIGHT so we're celebrating it with this special WATCHALONG episode with director Catherine Hardwicke! From casting stories to reuniting with Kristen and Rob, enjoy this trip down memory lane! If you want to watch the ENTIRE Watchalong, it's available exclusively on our patreon! Patreon.com/happysadconfused SUPPORT THE SHOW BY SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! FirstLeaf -- Go to TryFirstLeaf.com/HappySad to sign up and you’ll get your first SIX hand-curated bottles for just $44.95 Earnin -- Download Earnin in the Google play or Apple app store. When you download the app type In Confused under PODCAST Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 XC90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com.

Is the technology such that it's going to go up? Is it going to come down? Do you think it's going to be just sort of an extrapolation to where it is right now? Well, I think there's a lot of smart people wrestling with that right now. Today I'm speaking with Michelle Herodence. She's the executive vice president of Embridge Inc.

And president of Embridge Gas. She's a leader helping us reshape how millions of us experience energy at home. Join me, Chris Hadfield, on the On Energy Podcast. Listen wherever you get your podcast. One day, Kristen told me, you know, I went outside of my house today, go have breakfast in there. It was like paparazzi there. She's like, this is getting, this is wild, you know.

Actually, strangely enough, I ended up, I went to Rob's birthday party recently. I kind of crashed with my friend Tony Collette had just done a move with him. And so Rob was like, yeah, Bray and Catherine. So we had a fun thing. And then Kristen crashed it too. Hey, guys, it's Josh Harrow. It's here with a little note before we dive. into this week's watch-along.

You are about to hear a special edition of Happy, say I confused. Yes, it's a watch-along episode with Twilight director, Catherine Hardwick. What does that mean? Well, you're about to hear the highlights of a full-on commentary track that Catherine and I did while watching Twilight in its entirety. You're going to hear all the best bits, 45 to 55 minutes of the best anecdotes, secret stories, and more from Twilight. But if you want even more than that, if in fact you want to listen or watch the entire watch-along,

that's right, the entire movie alongside Catherine Hardwick and I, it's all there on our Patreon page, patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused. Go there if you just need more of that twilight goodness. But in the meantime, enjoy this, the best bits and bobs of this watch-along with Catherine Hardwick. Enjoy. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused. begins now i'm josh horowitz and this is a happy sad confused watch-along what are we watching

today guys it's the film that launched christin steward and robert padinson into the stratosphere it's the film that proved that vampires can be sexy but they really should sparkle too we are watching twilight with director katherine hardwick today katherine i'm so excited for this welcome aboard uh thanks for having me this is kind of fun very fun it's going to be very fun. We're going to reminisce. It's been about 15 years since this movie made a huge mark on a generation. It changed my life. I know it changed yours. Are you ready to dive back in? Let's go back to the forest. Here we go, guys. Spider monkeys, get ready. We're watching Twilight. Here's how it's going to work. If you're watching on YouTube, if you're listening to the podcast, you're getting all the best bits, all the highlights. If you want the full experience, though, if you want to experience this, the entire film with Catherine and I, Go to patreon.com slash happy say it confused and you can watch the entire shebang right now. The initial script of Twilight, and I don't know if this is the one you read or not, had very little to do with what Twilight was.

It had nothing to do with the book. And so I remember I went to the first meeting with the summit executives. They hadn't really read the book, I don't think. And I had just read it and I said, I know what to do with this. This script goes in the trash, not ever going to look at it again. because Bella was, you know, like she was a track star, not like kind of a clumsy, every person. Yeah.

And also at the end, there was so much action with the FBI and jet skis. And Bella's on a jet ski. I'm like, that's crazy. What? This has nothing to do with the book. Why do people love the book? Because, man, you just feel, you feel what Bella is feeling. You feel that passion.

You feel that yearning, that longing. You feel that ecstasy. And I'm like, I got to figure out how to get that into this movie and put that on the screen, you know, like that ecstatic feeling of first love. So there's a lot of casting to talk about. Oh, my God, I know. So I don't even know where to begin. But let's begin maybe with Jacob, with Taylor, since we see his introduction in this scene. Obviously, this made his career and changed his life.

What did you see? What were you looking for in Jacob? And what do you remember about the casting process for? Well, the first thing that I was trying to do is, find a real Native American kid that was the right age. So we literally went to different reservations. We put up casting notices. We were doing everything we could to be as authentic as possible, which was challenging because back then we didn't have movies like TV shows like reservation dogs. And there weren't that many acting opportunities. So a lot of kids on reservations

weren't even thinking about becoming actors. And then I remember I did find a kid, you know, he's actually in the movie too from a reservation but you know he really hadn't had any experience at all and then you know taylor is just a badass he's always been you know a martial artist he's always had confidence you know and just like you know charisma confidence it just seemed like he was really the best fit for this and then of course christian i mean just casting christian that was a whole special thing so there's anna she's so cute and she just pops off the screen you can see why she became what she became um should we get into the christin casting because this is legendary we're going to get into rob's casting a little later but christin so christin i'm like i mean rob had done some

stuff but christin like was had a legit very prosperous like indie film career going like people saw the talent and so was she on your radar had you seen her and stuff by then well of course she was in panic room when she was like 11 or whatever and i'd seen that but then um you know i did the movie called lords Dogtown and I screened it for Sean Penn and he loved Emil Hirsch in the movie. So he cast Emil Hirsch in Into the Wild. Then they had a screening of Into the Wild and an early screening. I went to that and I saw Kristen in there and I'm like, oh my God, you took my actor. I want to take yours. And so it was a neat little thing, you know, that I just fell in love with the way Kristen set in that trailer sitting next to Emil like looking at a meal like,

she looked so much yearning so I was just don't I thought Kristen was going to be perfect for this yeah so was the studio was it clear to you from the start like when you brought her in for an audition that she was your number one and was the studio on board well I told them that I wanted to go meet her in person because I hadn't met her and so they let me fly with Jackson Rathbone we flew to Pittsburgh where she was working on a movie right adventure land and and and and and and And then on the weekend, like, I kind of auditioned with her, and we played around, did a whole bunch different scenes, ran out in the park, Chase Pigeons, you know, just crazy stuff. And I thought, yep, she's perfect. And I showed them the audition, and then I had recorded it. And they're like, we like her. And, of course, Panic Room, and she was on the rise, you know. Right. Well, we'll come back to the casting, but I do want to mention, this is a very key sequence, the introduction of the Collins and the way you shoot them is really fun.

Well, we were looking for the most fun cafeteria and just like, where are they going to sit? Where are these going to sit? What are their outfits? They're not so good at blending in, the colors. Say what you will about them. Not too much. Not too much. But they had all their clothes.

We're in the color palette of an Arctic wolf, either white, silvers, blues, or gray. So they had their special look, you know. And then, of course, the famous intro to Ron. Oh, my God. So was Rob, I mean, we're going to talk a lot about Rob, but was Rob, I mean, he has to be effortlessly kind of cool and alluring in this. And is that something you can direct or you just sort of like unleash Rob and let him be Rob, essentially? No, really. I mean, Rob is a very modest person and very humble person and self-deprecating in a way.

So he was nervous about, you know, am I living up to the book? you know, am I gorgeous enough for the book? And I would just say, like, you know, just, let's just do the scene. And if I have any problems, I'll let you know. But don't stop in the middle, you know, just keep playing it. You're doing great. So I try to give him a lot of love and encouragement, you know. And we did, of course, do a makeover on him, too.

I mean, the hairstyle, the eyebrows, even the teeth, he started working out, you know, and worked with a trainer. He put a lot of effort and, you know, beautiful effort into it and emotionally writing letters to Dr. Cullen. They would write letters about how their life had been over the last hundred years, you know. I mean, knowing these guys over the years, I've gotten to know them pretty well myself, like they are, they're tough on themselves. They're like actors who like really kind of beat themselves up. I mean, like, Kristen, I always say has this like amazing BS detector and it's like she can't stand anything that feels remotely inauthentic. So did you feel that on set, like were they, it sounds like you had to almost be their cheerleader and reassure them like it's okay. You're doing great.

Yeah, I think Rob would be more like that. But you're right, Kristen, if she didn't feel like a line felt right coming out of her mouth, you know, we had we wanted to fix it, you know. Let's fix it. Let's let's make it better. Let's improv. Let's try things. You know, so she's, yeah, great bullshit to take a great description. And I think also very important that, like, you cast, she was just, what, like 17 when you shot this? She was 17, so she couldn't even work proper hours until the last three weeks. As soon as she turned 18, I'm like, okay, night shoots all night. Now I'm going to work you. The fun is over, babe. But that comes through, as you well know, like often I think it's a mistake that a lot of films make, which is like casting a 25-year-old. A 26-year-old or something for a teenager, yeah.

All right, so let's go back to the casting of Kristen, because there's a lot. a lot of war about some really notable other actors that met, I've talked to a lot of actors over the years that have told me stories about auditioning and I've heard other stories. Do you remember Lily Collins? Do you remember Jennifer Lawrence? Do you remember Brie Larson all coming in for Twilight? I don't know if they actually came in to see me. I'm not sure. I couldn't guarantee that. I mean, did they tell you they literally saw me? No, I haven't heard them say that they met with you. That's Because what happens is like Trish would, you know, Trishwood, they would meet a lot of different people. But I very early on had my eyes set on Kristen. As soon as I saw Into the Wild, I'm like,

I think she's it. So they might have been seeing all these other people, but then I was just laser focus like, I want her. It was hers to lose. Like basically if you'd go back to the drawing board, but it sounds like from the start, unless she did something to dissuade you, it was going to be As soon as I met her and went out there and spent that time that weekend, I thought she's got it. No bullshit. She's never going to overact. You know, she's got that angst, you know. She had every, of course, her face is luminous and the camera you can shoot anything.

And she looks amazing. Yeah. But you were mix and matching by the time, like, we'll get into the rob casting. Like you did have a little bit, like when they came over to the house, right? Oh, yeah. Then I already had Kristen. And so then I had four, my best four guys, and they all auditioned with Kristen, you know, for an hour and a half each at my house. So that is Ben Barnes, Shiloh Fernandez, Jackson, and Rob.

Rob, right, right, right, right. And did they all, I mean, would you have in a way, they would have all had different interpretations, I take it. Do you remember distinctly different takes that any of them had on Edward? Yes. I mean, each of them, I mean, they're all interesting actors on their own, you know, but I felt like, obviously, right when Rob came in, there was pretty much no contest because the two of them felt that connection, so strong. I don't think she felt it so strongly with the others, but, you know, it totally makes sense because they're both like so indie, indie music, indie, you know, authors, writers, you know, you know, No, films. I mean, they had all that stuff together. In fact, that's why I think Rob, when he knew that Kristen was going to play the part, when I talked to him on the phone when he was in England, I think that's why he thought I'll pay for my flight on my own dime. I'll sleep on Stephanie Ritz's his agent's couch to come over because we couldn't afford it. You know, it wasn't in the budget to fly people over that we didn't know. And it had been like four years, I think, since he'd been in Harry Potter. Yeah, he was, I mean, he needed this. Like, he was out of crossroads in his career.

Yeah, I mean, I think he had come over. When he came over in my house, he had black bangs hair with dyed black, black bangs. He was kind of out of shape because he's hanging out at the pub all the time and stuff. And so, you know, he, when, when, after we did the fun auditions at my house for a couple hours, including the biology scene, including the kissing scene on my bed where he fell off my bed. You know, famous moments. Then I looked the next morning. I looked at all the footage I shot and had recorded.

And I thought it works not just in person, but it works on screen. Which is huge. And then I had to be sure, because I was, you know, of course in person, I'm like, yeah, I just got carried away. But you have to be sure does it really translate. Then I sent it over to Summit. And then he went over to meet them. And they call me back and go, do you think? you can make this guy look good and i'm like yeah i do did you see his cheek

bunk here's a photograph we're doing a makeover on the hair everything we're we're doing everything makeover he's going to start working out and he's going to be gorgeous but they didn't believe at it at first he walked over there the pretty woman montage yeah the makeover had to have that's so funny he walked over there i think like it with a stained shirt you know like he you know it was Rob. Were there any roads you went down in terms of like his look in the film that you abandoned? Like was the hair always going to be what we see? Was the P coat always going to be the P coat or was it locked in pretty early? No, because I looked, I just looked in my little Twilight book and I had a sketch done like in my mind like I love guys with long hair so I thought oh my God he'll look so good with long hair. So we did hair extensions on him and we thought that the P coat might be like a long peacock before we cut it. and so we have a sketch and he put the extensions in he hated them he's like no no do not torture me I'm like okay if you hate him you're not going to wear them and then playing around and came up with this great hairstyle yeah a lot of guys probably emulated this to look cool at the time well you know what I found

out that they didn't want to admit it but hairdressers told me right and left that kids would walk into their salon I need that hair style Make me the cool guy in Twilight. Now, let me say one funny thing. I just did talking about my skater, you know, the skater movie, Lords of Dog Town. I just did an event for that. And this hardcore guy that had just faced tattoos, had just been in prison for 10 years, hardcore prison. He goes, you know, I really like Twilight, man.

We watched it all the time in prison. All the guys loved it. I'm like, what? That's amazing. I have heard many people. come up. Everyone loves to come up and say, I know I'm not the demographic, but I love Twilight. And then this was hardcore prison, men's prisoner. Somewhat surprising, but speaks to the power. The audition tapes we still have never seen.

Because I really can't show them. Because they were not lit. They didn't wear hair and makeup. And I just, it was just me and them. So they could just do whatever they wanted. And I, I don't think I should really show them. Unless both of them. them one and two, but they've never reached out and said, hey, let's pop those tapes. That's unsound in character. I would be a little surprised. I would do. I need more publicity, actually. Can you just release these auditions tapes? Yeah, we love that, yeah.

And is it true that you kind of gave Rob a little bit of a warning? Like, please don't. Don't get involved. I could tell, like when they were doing the biology scene at my kitchen table, I saw, like the spark for flying so much. I'm like, Rob, I don't know if you know, in the U.S., 17, underage, and they were like, shock that I said. A lot of blushing, yeah. Yeah.

So as a director, is that awkward, like, in the course of this film, they obviously fell for each other. Well, I mean, she was with Michael O'Garano, who was actually, that was her boyfriend, and he was in Lords of Dog Town. And I love Michael, and he's like the dearest. person so they were a couple and even after the movie wrapped you know michael went with her on our publicity tours and everything so i mean they obviously had you know great attraction but she was with

michael i see but you weren't in the years later i assume so based on what you saw you weren't shocked obviously of that they had no because you look at them like you know you feel it here you know definitely I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the L.A. Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We come together to host Unspool, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, must-season, and case you misdums.

We're talking Parasite the Home Alone. From Greece to the Dark Night. So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure. Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your. podcast. And don't forget to hit the follow button. Hey, Michael. Hey, Tom. So big news to share it, right? Yes, huge, monumental, earth shaking.

Heartbeat, sound effect, big. Mait is back. That's right. After a brief snack, nap. We're coming back. We're picking snacks. We're eating snacks. We're raiding snacks. Like the snackologist we were born to be. Mates is back.

Mike and Tom, eat snacks. Wherever you get your podcast. Unless you get them from a snack machine, in which case, call us. We'll say also soundtrack and one of the unsung heroes of this film is Carter Burwell. I love the score of this film so much. And for those that don't know, Carter Burwell, like, when I saw his name on the credits, I remember, I was like, oh, wait. Like, this is legit. Like, this is Cone Brothers.

Like, this guy does. He's done every Cohn Brothers movie, plus many, many other gorgeous movies. Obviously, right now he does the morning show. You know, he does every, all these big, beautiful things. And to get him on this movie was a real coup. I mean, that was amazing. I thought I had, like, been transported to heaven or something. But, you know, Bella's theme was a big deal.

So we were talking a little bit of the score soundtrack. Like, was there money for the soundtrack? Like, what were you dealing with in terms of, like, was it tough to kind of, like, get the song? soundtrack you wanted for this film? Well, I mean, everybody somehow, even though soundtracks weren't selling that well, we had Alex Pistavis came in as the music supervisor, and she somehow was setting up a deal of her own label at the time. So she was very enthusiastic about this film, and she sent us, like, incredible stuff. And then, and we used multiple pieces from her.

Of course, Rob recorded two pieces of his that are in the movie. And then, of course, other friends, people came in and, you know, Perry Farrell, you know, all different people. Haley from Paramore came in to the editing, so people came in the editing room and got excited about it. It was really sort of magical how it happened. So did it feel like the days when like they had these kind of one-on-one scenes were like, this is where the real magic was happening on the set, because this is what the film keys on. If these scenes don't work, if you don't feel something. Right. I mean, those days were very important. And we had some, Some rehearsals before, and then I think Rob and Kristen sometimes would rehearse, you know, when they got off work, they stay later, you know, rehearse scenes and try to be sure that they felt things, you know.

And then, of course, for me, before I had done Twilight and even before I did 13, I took like five years of acting classes so that I could try to understand how does it feel to be in that pressure cooker on the moment. and how could I make the set more conducive to that, keep people away, keep it quiet, keep it focused on the actors, you know. So I tried to facilitate things the best I could. Right. Did it feel like you had the budget you needed for this film or were you constantly?

I mean, I guess no film that you're ever feels like they had the budget. Oh, no. Of course, I was completely fighting the budget all the time. And, you know, I had other cool sequences underwater, dream sequences, is longer, you know, more elaborate on the stunts and everything, but those were kind of cut, I wanted to film in Forks, at least a little bit of it in the real place, but those were not, didn't fit in the budget, but actually about three weeks before the Tech Scout or two weeks before they said I had to cut like $4 million out of the budget in the next four days, or they weren't going to make Twilight.

So I was just like, exactly in this scene, that's supposed to be snowing in the, in the book, We couldn't afford the snowing. I'm like, okay, I'll put ice patches down. You know, I just try to think of every creative thing I could do to cut that $4 million. Going back to the indie roots. So did you feel like you were kind of the one? It sounds like you were the one that was like, let's remember we need to like, this has to be for the fans first. See, there's the worms.

I like that one because that's like the recycling, composting the worm. Okay, the fans, oh yeah. I mean, to me, of course, I wanted to be sure that. The things that people just love passionately about the book that I did them right. You know, I made them proud. I made them happy. And then I wanted to expand on that, too, you know, make it even better than they'd ever imagined, you know. Do you think, did you know in your heart of hearts like what this could be?

Did Summit? Like, when did it kind of dawn on everybody how big this could be? Because it seems like nobody knew this market even existed. Well, every studio in town turned this down. MTV, Paramount, they put it in turn around. Everybody said, we're not making this. Even when I started on the job, they said, you know, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was a popular book for girls.

It made $29 million. That's probably all this movie can ever make. And, of course, our opening weekend was for almost $400. $70 million, right? $69 opening weekend. Then we made $400 overall. So nobody could predict it. Even up to the day before opening weekend,

that Wednesday or Thursday before, they said, if we make 30 something, we're going to be ecstatic. What was the budget for the film? Can you say now? It was under 40. So I don't know how much they paid Stephanie for the book. I don't know how much they paid Paramount. But so it would have been like what I had maybe 35 or I don't know, something like that. Yeah, I mean, we should say. So you just set some of the numbers. I mean, let's not diminish how huge this was. For those that were not of age then, I remember what it was like. You certainly remember what it was like. This was not. just, it wasn't just about the numbers. This was a phenomenon. This was a cultural phenomenon. It broke all sorts of records. You must take pride in the fact that I believe at the time it was the

highest grossing opening weekend, highest grossing total, I think, film for a female filmmaker. Right. I got in the Guinness Book of World Records. But yeah, that must, I mean, you must have taken a lot of pride and still do, I would hope, in terms of being at the forefront of a movement. I mean, now, you know, you ran so that's, you know, or you walked so that Greta Gerwig could run, et cetera. Yeah, Patty Jenkins, Greta. So that's really exciting, you know, to see that now more people are given that chance, you know, given a budget, healthy enough budget that you can do it. But the moment I did go to a book signing that Stephanie Myers did when we were just starting prep. and I saw the girls there and I saw them

as soon as she said the word Edward I saw them like screaming like the beetle craziness and I thought wow she just said a word she didn't even have a face we hadn't even cast anybody yet as soon as we have the guy

people are going to lose it you know did they have any time did Taylor and Kristen have time to get to know each other because this obviously you also have to feel something in this relationship in this film

I mean Taylor also came over with four actors to my house and worked with Kristen, did the chemistry reads. Yeah, so we had really basically the same thing over there as four other actors. Four other Jacobs, you're saying? Yeah. Oh, gotcha.

And he got the part, baby. Amazing. What were the hardest, again, we were kind of talking about, like, Rob and Kristen, kind of getting over their own insecurities. For Rob, what was the toughest days you think, as you recall, like kind of getting him over the hump to kind of like actually one of the toughest days was before when we're at the

cullen house and we fly out to do the trees there's kind of an intense scene before that you know where they're getting to know each other and talk about music and everything and they just didn't feel comfortable with the screenplay and then they said we're going to go and do a you know so then we rehearsed it in the hotel before and we kind of almost had a full rewrite on it and then we thought okay and we've got it then the night before they met up and decided it should be something totally different so the morning they showed up and i'm like whoa okay what what's your rewrite and then we kind of did another oh wow that one was on the plus side you have very invested actors on the downside you're like oh god it was it was fascinating you know it was tricky to

but you want everybody to love what they're saying or believe in what they're saying right so i believe in that, you know, if somebody, but I remember the producer was like, knocking the door, it's been two hours, are we going to start filming? We're about to kill me, you know. So what do you remember about the release? The movie comes out. It sets these records. Is that, that must be a moment frozen in time for you. Do you remember specific, going to specific screenings or premieres? Oh, yes. But even let's go back a little bit. The first time we knew we were in, you know, know, standing in tall cotton, I guess, is when we went to Rome. Rob and Chris and I went to the Rome Film Festival, and they were just going to show a little

teaser, and we were going to, like a trailer for the movie, and we were going to go to a bookstore and do a signing, and so we didn't have any security, nobody thought about anything. We go to the bookstore, and there's like a line, like around three blocks. We're like, whoa, we didn't even have time to, you know, finish signing everything, so we had to leave that made some people mad so we started walking to the van Rob Kristen and I we got mobbed literally like a thousand people trying to crush us and I'm about the same you know almost like a little bit of Christian but I'm like trying to bodyguard Chris I like trying to jump in front of her to save her Rob was trying to get the door up we finally get into the van pull each other in

and then try to drive we couldn't even drive and suddenly once okay this is not just a little movie. These people are going nuts. And now we had, after that, we had to have security guards and everything. That's when we knew, okay, this is big. It's so fascinating because you saw them in this fascinating transitional time in their life. You saw the before, the middle, and the after of their life changing forever. And sometimes I would feel sort of guilty like one day, I mean, when we were filming,

there were almost nobody had found that we were filming, and found the set like one day we were kind of shocked a few people were watching or whatever I mean now of course the next movie you had to have massive security guards but for us we were really under the radar you know and so I remember one day Kristen told me you know I

I went outside of my house today go have breakfast and there's like paparazzi there she's like this is getting this is wild you know and so I was feeling guilty I mean there's such beautiful like precious souls. I didn't want them to be crushed wild. I'm like, what did I do? I didn't mean to. And to be frank, like it seems like it took them a minute to adjust. Like you saw them. I mean,

they're also in very pivotal ages in their lives. And like it's so heartening now with some distance to see them come out on the other side and figure out how to kind of deal with it in the best possible way and to be happy, prosperous people. It's like you did your part. Like you got them through it. They got themselves through it. But I felt, and also one thing that's amazing, both of them have basically greenlit, like dozens of indie films that would have never been made, like if they hadn't supported them. And so they've actually helped, like, create a new Sundance or something you could say. You know, they really have done great with what they, you know, the gift that they were given. Do you ever, do you ever run into them, Robin Kristen? Are they in your

life in any way? I do. I do. Like, actually, strangely enough, I ended up, I went to Rob's birthday party recently. I kind of crashed with my friend Tony Collette, had just done a move with him. And so Rob was like, yeah, brain cath. So we had a fun thing. And then Kristen crashed it too. Oh. That's a great moment. So that was just a few months ago. It was just like, oh my God. Did you all reminisce? We all hugged each other. It's like, this is so crazy and cool. You know, but they're all, like Kristen has presented me an award before. And, you know, I see Rob. I see them both at parties and events and everything.

I mean, they're both lovely and, you know. It would be a trip 15 years on for you to direct them in something else. Let's be real. Like, I mean, have you ever even talked about it? Oh, my God. It's a long career. Hopefully we'll get there. I mean, that would be so fun.

Have I ever had the exact perfect project for them? Maybe not or maybe they were too busy or, but, you know, but I got my fingers crossed. Okay. Did you know he was a musician in the audition process? Like, when did that emerge? How did that evolve? Did you have to convince him? Was he excited about having it?

Oh, that was pretty trippy. I mean, I knew he was a musician because Edward had to play piano, and I knew he could play piano. Of course, he plays absolutely beautiful piano, and he can improvise. He just, like, you weep when you hear and play the piano. But I didn't know really his singing voice. And so Nikki Reed told me one day, you know, when we're all hanging out, the actors, he sings. and he sings like a 60-year-old blues man, you know, with that deep voice, amazing. And I'm like, every day, like, Rob, can I hear you?

Or, you know, begging him, and, you know, and he's like, no, no, I'm too shy, you know. And then finally I said, Nikki recorded a little bit, you know, and I put it against the movie. And I'm like, oh, my God, it works, especially in the final scene, the ballet scene. And so then I begged him to come over. He was kind of like too shy, you know. But my friend has a studio that is the big size of a closet in Venice. He walks around and flip-flops. He came over and recorded it there.

Wow. And then he felt okay about doing it. Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget Online Casino is live. Bringing Vegas-style excitement and a way. world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple.

And in just a few clicks, you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games. Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions and jackpots that can turn any mundane moment into a golden opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold

at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling Problem call Connects Ontario 1866531-260, 19 and over, physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Goodbye. Summer movies, Hello Fall.

I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast, and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Chalmay playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos' Bougonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis' return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2,

and Edgar writes, The Running Man, starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Okay, it's official. We are very much in the final sprint to election day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even court appearances. It can feel exhausting, even impossible to keep up with. I'm Brad Milkey. I'm the host of Start Here, the daily podcast from ABC News. And every morning, my team and I get you caught up on the day's news in a quick, straightforward way that's easy to understand with just enough context so you can listen, get it, and go on with your day.

So, kickstart your morning. Start Smart with Start Here and ABC News, because staying informed shouldn't feel overwhelming. A lot of important scenes, but this is a very important one. This one, I love this scene, and a lot of people had it tattooed on their arm lines from this scene. And this scene takes place in a car, in the book, okay? And that, like you think about as a director, as a director, you're wearing a seatbelt. You can't move. There's only four or five angles in a car. I'm like, I don't want this in a car.

I want this, I want a super technocrine. I want to be out in the woods. I want to feel how long you've been 17. I want to feel how dizzy you would feel if you were coming to this realization. But I also like how they're not face-to-face. Like even that, the staging of it really works here. It really adds to it. Yeah.

And here we're moving around and helping you feel like this is just crazy. Because imagine if you were trying to confront somebody if they were and you're madly in love with it. That's a lot. And are they going to kill me or not? Right. So I was kind of going with that out-of-body experience. As you can see, the text. Technocrine moving around the trees and just like losing it.

You know, like, how do you feel? Yes, exactly. Rocking your world. I like that. It must be like, so do you have a lifelong generation that are friends, whether you know them or not. I'm not even talking about the actors. I'm talking about the fans.

I'm talking about this generation. Like when somebody recognizes you or understands what you've done, what are those interactions like 15 years later? I've had a lot of fun ones. Like I said, I just had one from the prisoner. But I've had many women come up to me, girls, every age, like, this is my comfort movie. Every time I have to go out of town and stay all by myself in a hotel room, I watch it every night. You know, you never know.

And then I've had beautiful experiences at like a Twilight reunion that I went to in Forks where people lined up, you know, for five hours people told me what it meant to them in their life. If they were dyslexic, they couldn't read before this. They learned how to read after they saw the movie so they could read the books if they had no friends and they lived in a remote island in Australia and they met a friend in England that loved Twilight the same reason they did and they connect and see each other once a year.

I mean, there were so many just beautiful stories. This is a special moment. I think it's the only time we get to see Rob actually smile in the film, happy. Exactly. He's got his shades on. Feel it himself. Yeah. We love this. Oh, my God.

How cute is Robert? How cute are they both? I mean, they're gorgeous. Yeah, look. Oh, he gets it. Smile. But the columns don't like it. So what's the, we should start to get into the, the, I'm curious, you know, I know you've talked about kind of like the subsequent films.

Did you ever, like, seriously entertained doing New Moon? Did Summit, did you engage in that conversation with Summit or was it a non-starter for you? Well, here's what happened. When I read New Moon, the book, New Moon, I didn't feel it as much as I felt the first one. I felt the first one was just so fresh and everything and original. I really loved it. And then when we wrapped, I thought, you know, maybe I could get excited about the next one. But they were already writing the script for it.

And they had a timeline now. Okay, now we have to start shooting this day. the day after we were supposed to be in Paris promoting the opening of this now you're going to fly here to Italy and do this and I'm like wait a minute I think we need time to dream how do we make it better than this one not words the studio wants to hear we need time

we need time to dream they're like no we need to make a movie we want to stay on schedule so they were open to it they love they loved working with you well they had to they had to offer it to me I mean whether they loved it or not because it was in my contract. If my first, if this movie made one and a half times what it cost to make it, then they have to offer it to you.

It's a good rink on the contract. Yeah. Yeah. So, but one and a half times we made way more than that. First day maybe. Yeah. Any reshoots on this one? Any additional photography?

Yeah. The scene where they kissed for the first time in the bedroom, we did do that separate because the first day we did it was a cover set for, this was the scene, by the way. Oh, yeah. that we had to rewrite many times until we felt good enough about it. This is the Clare d'Aloon moment. Yes, yes. This was maybe our toughest one to get the writing that they felt comfortable with.

This is the one you said that basically they went off on their own. They're like, hey, we have some tweaks. We have some ideas. Yes, yes. And then they didn't quite remember them the next morning. So we tried to recreate. Working with young people. It was so fun, though.

But I like how it all came out. and I love the scene. And, you know, sometimes you got to have a little torture and then it works. So let's talk about some of the ripple effects of Twilight. I mean, the vampire, vampires came back. They were back in vogue, I think, thanks to this. What, true blood, vampire diaries. I mean, we can even thank, you know, 50 shades, not vampires,

but we didn't have that without Twilight. Fan fiction was based on this. Yeah. So, again, as a filmmaker, this is the kind of stuff you can't anticipate. it must have just like just broken your brain and have to see what this film wrought in the pop culture universe. It's pretty fun to feel the ripple effects

like, you know, whatever, the prison, the guy in prison, the, you know, 80-year-old lady telling me, yeah, I could really relate to this. And now I want a boyfriend like Edward, you know, at a retirement. You know, like every spectrum, you know, the population somehow could relate to this movie in some way because we all want to be in love, you know.

We always all want to have somebody love us and unconditionally love us back and a dangerous love. Well, again, yeah, I think the, I mean, this has been analyzed. I'm sure there are PhD papers about Edward Cullen by now. But like, but the fact that, yes, he has the danger element, but he is a protector. He shows restraint. He's riding that line.

That is an idealized version. Yes, and he does come up and saver. And, of course, we've heard a lot about that, too, is Bella, two. Passive, you know. What do you say to that? Well, we heard that criticism about the book before. So we tried to make her without deviating too much from the book. We tried to make her have more agency and be a strong, a bit stronger character and grow into her strength.

And of course, Stephanie did that over the arc of all the books. She's very powerful and strong. But, you know, we still wanted to be true to the book, too. Look, times change. Like if you were making Twilight today, would there be any significant different ways you approach it, you think? Yeah, I guess so. I mean, if we remade it. I mean, of course they're doing a TV series.

So I haven't actually found out exactly are they trying to be. I don't know yet. I don't know. Maybe they don't even know, you know, because we had the writer's truck so you could work on. But, you know, how close do you stick to the original? How much do you change it? And for me, it would be fun to do Twilight and Outer Space. I'd be happy.

I'd be ecstatic to do that, something totally different. Is there anyone in the new crop today? Like, who do you cast? You know, is Jacob Allorty, Edward Cullen today? Is Jenna Ortega? Oh, that would be perfect. Have you seen Saltburn yet? Yeah.

Yeah, Jacob Allerty. I mean, he's amazing. Yeah, he probably would be Edward today. Exactly. it's funny different people so many people pop up like lewis tan told me that i saw him the other day goes i tried to be jacob you know i wanted to get that part you know uh yeah i would have changed anybody's life if they got that part is there any young actress that feels like a christin steward of this next generation to you that jumps out i mean it's a tough

act to follow that's so interesting i mean because i do think there's a lot of really cool young actors. So I'm not sure if I could say, I mean, of course, you just mentioned Jen Ortega, and she's a bat. She's amazing. And what's the awkward level of something like this with these young performers who clearly were feeling something, whether they were acknowledging it or not at the time? Did you feel? Right. Well, that's what makes it good, you know, because you've got that tension there that's real that they did feel, you know, so connected to each other, you know, and they can't be. So yes, it is interesting because as a director, you're in there directing slash choreigrating, choreography. Yeah, yeah. Choregraphing. I like that. Correagraph. You're in there

creating a scene of intimacy that looks good on the camera. Now, what is a real intimate scene doesn't usually translate to the camera because if two people are actually kissing, that's kind of like faces smashed together. You can't, you know, there's no real angle. You can't, it's not as beautiful. But here, like in that shot, you see both faces. You feel the connection. You feel the intimacy. And you feel both faces. You can see what both are thinking. Yeah. And then, you know, you ask the actor to trust you, you know, yes, it's feeling good. Yes, it's looking good. And our cinematographer's beautiful lighting, Elliot Davis, he knows how to make people look just delicious. Each of these franchises, it's kind of hard to lump them all together, but they were inevitably lumped together, you know.

I mean, Hunger Games came, Divergent came right. They had the female written by a woman, author, you know, female star, and then, unfortunately, every other one but mine were all directed by men. So we have a little bit of an axe to grind with that. If you're looking for why some didn't work out as well as others. Couldn't they have gotten more women directors? Now we're finally giving beautiful women directors the chance. But back then, every single one of those that we just mentioned, you know, went to men. Okay, so this is the most fun sequence ever, none to mankind.

And immediately the stunt coordinator and I are just trying to figure out how do vampires play baseball? all different than humans and how can we make it exciting you know and what could they do with their special strength and what ways can we make it super fun and then of course we had to train everybody to learn how to play baseball yeah you didn't have many expert baseball players in your cast we had jackson already knew and then cam jaconda but he doesn't really get to play so all the rest of us had to learn how do i hold a bat which end yeah yeah oh i mean I'm sure Cullen knew. I mean, I'm sure.

Kellyn. Yeah. Kellyn definitely knew. But I didn't want to say he didn't. And I'm sure Peter probably knew. But, you know, Rob didn't play baseball in London. And the women weren't big baseball players. So I thought it was great.

Like Ashley really, you know, worked hard to get her stuff down. Nikki got that slide in. It's just awesome, you know. The Thunder. Oh, it's so fun. And then, of course, Stepp Mews, you know, having this song made it wonderful, that Stephanie had written the whole book to Mews and to a few other things. So day one, I thought, I'm going to have Mews do the score for the whole movie.

Oh, wow. I wanted them to do all the songs and do the whole score. Well, I kind of, I guess I kind of forgot. Bands have touring schedules, and they have record deals, and they don't just stop and do what you want. You got them in there at least. So I got this one. I forgot to mention on the casting front, were you ever aware?

I mean, I guess he was a little too old at the time, but Stephanie, I guess, had Henry Cavill. Oh, yeah, of course. We knew the fans loved Henry Cavill and Emily Browning. Those were their thoughts. So Henry was definitely too old to be a high school student by the time we made. I mean, you wouldn't believe 17 and putting him in high school. So, and then Emily Browning, I met with her and I love her and I've worked with her since, But she, at that moment, didn't know how much she wanted to be in the film business anymore, didn't want to commit.

But, I mean, she's lovely. She would have been great, too. So that is the one person, I think, that I actually had considered, because the fans loved her so much. Gotcha. Ever encounter Henry in your travels subsequently? I have never met him. He's a good guy. You'd love him, yeah.

I've never met him. When something is super popular or whatever, I'm sure. Yeah. You've got to have a backlash to it. I have a backlash to something that's super popular. Everybody does. natural, you know. But then I've had so many people come, I know, it wasn't for me, I'm not the demographic, I wasn't supposed to like it, but I secretly did like it. There you go.

You know, or Quentin Tarantino told me he really liked, you know, or whatever. So I've had like just all the random people, you know, say that they like. That must have been amazing to hear Tarantino say that. Yeah. That's hysterical. And James Cameron, you know, he invited me to first screening of Avatar. He goes, well, you really got the love story, you know, and so. Well, he's a secret romantic if you look at his movies like they're actually underneath all that they're very earnest a week before they told me what if there's only 300 women in salt lake city they're online blogging about this unlike 300 very passionate women i think there's a few no we're like 30 million yeah but nobody knew it was going to be that big nobody knew oh and you said how fun was opening weekend oh my god it was

So did you guys go to theaters? Is he sneak around? Yes. So I went to Austin, and for Richard Linklaren, I've worked with him before, many things, and I love him, and I love Austin Film Society. I'm from Texas. So I went and we did a screening Thursday night Austin Film Society. Super fun, you know, benefit for them.

And then I'm there, so I'm like, I'll just go to the Alamo Draft House, you know, blah, blah, blah, unannounced. Okay, I was my, I'm not an actor. I'm not even an actor in the movie. I was mock people somebody fell on me a fan and like fainted on me and I almost died you know it was a way to go Catherine yeah like being fainted on by a fan and people were all you know alamo draft you know they they made blood drinks and then they made it look super fun everyone's dressed up vampires so we were just having the best time ever and then came back and did some Q&As here

and like in the Q&As here in LA people were like literally on Saturday night had already seen it like eight times or seven times however many screenings there were they'd already seen it that many time I'm like oh my god and so summit goes look if we make 30 something opening weekend we're going to be excited okay we made 69 million that was bigger than any bond even at that time and then they said well everybody that wanted to see it opening weekend saw it so that's all we're ever going to make cut to 400 million did was that did you feel like you ever had an opportunity to celebrate with the cast after opening or was it kind of like you everyone was off doing their own thing well we had the big premiere here in westwood that was wild and fun and i went with the making of guy he he said i said let's go and see if anybody is like camping out the night before so i'm in his like little car and i have my little video camera i'm gonna film it so i'm in a car with a camera in front of my face we see a line like two blocks around Westwood. People recognize me. I'm holding a camera in front of my

face. They started yelling so I'm like, I better get out. I end up being there for two hours signing pillowcases, computers, and I'm not in the movie. You know, and so yeah, but what was your question before? Just, I guess, celebrating with the cast, having that moment. So that night, that was super fun, you know, the premiere. Then we had the premiere in London. We had one with, but Robin Kristen and I were there in London. That was absolutely wild, but they left us outside in the cold for freezing. Kristen couldn't take it. She had to go inside.

So Rob and I were out there doing autographs for like two hours. I think we probably got pneumonia, but it was still fun. It's so fun to see everybody excited, you know. Like, do you remember having, like, I guess you talked a little bit about this, and I think you said in Rome, but like that moment, like a conversation with them after you had the realization of what it was. And I think even Kristen said one day, she goes, I can see something's going to happen to me

that I'm going to make a lot of money. And I'm going to have to figure out the right way to spend that. You know, and what to do with that money. And I've got to talk to me. And I was like, yeah, you do. Now here's Rob, see me. Did he know, like, prior to seeing the finished film when his song was going to come in?

in? Like, did you tell him? I had already cut the film, and then I had a crude recording of this song that he did at my friend's little apartment, and I tried cutting it into this, and I thought it was going to work great. So I convinced him to go with me to a studio that costs $1,000 a day that I paid for on my own pocket that had a piano found on the street, and he came over there, and I had my laptop, and I held it up to him, and he played. with seeing the images. And a few, he did it different every time.

It was very spontaneous. And a few lines I thought should land in a certain place. So I ask him, can we do it again? Because I want that line to add here, but it was very spontaneous, it was very organic the way we did it. I don't know if he's sung since for a film. It's kind of surprising.

I mean, he performed sometimes. Like he would go in Portland and perform in the, bars and things. So a very musical cast from what I gather. Oh my God. I talk to a lot of these guys like sounds like in their downtime. They were just jamming in their rooms. Everybody. I mean, Nikki Jackson, you know, both of them play, sing, have recorded, you know, all kinds of stuff. So in retro, as we come towards the end, do you feel like this film, did it change you more almost from like a business like you're standing in the industry standpoint or as a artist or both? Well, you know, it was painful.

It didn't help me that much in the industry because, you know, people, like I said, they hired a man for every other movie after that. They probably maybe considered a bit of a fluke that a woman direct or something. Oh, because the book was so popular. But wait a minute. If you really look at the story, the script wasn't working and, you know, nobody wanted to make this. Every studio turned it down. So, you know, it was hard. It wasn't easy to get the next shot.

Were you surprised that, like, after this was... I was shocked, yeah. I was shocked because I literally thought, you know, I'd heard about this director when their movie made this much money. I would hear that they gave them a new car or something. I was, like, waiting for my new car. It never came. So I never saw, and I was waiting for my three-picture deal. Never came.

And I was wondering, like, well, what happened? How does it get easier? What do I have to do? Yeah. Okay. And then this song, this song, we had in our little rehearsal in the hotel room in Portland, I had several beautiful songs, and she and Rob started dancing. Then she goes, I don't really like these, but I like this song.

And so Kristen came up with this song, Iron and Wine, Flightless Bird. And as soon as we put it on that hotel room, they started dancing to it, I was just stricken by the, I love. love this song and uh we loved it and that's what we used in the movie it's very sweet though that like all these years later and when you say like that you guys you know still encounter each other there's still that love it's really that's just like makes my heart happy and it's going to make the fans happy to hear that when when uh christian walked into rob's birthday and she's like katherine rob's birthday uh what's going i go i kind of crashed it with tony and then she goes well i crashed it too i knocked you know ring the bell at the gate is it cool if i come he says of course

you know he's such a lovely person i love it all the little tiny details that we put into this and little tiny phrases and you know most movies people don't pick up on all those details but people pick up on almost every detail this film has been analyzed right and people have memorized every line yeah you know Again, you want to do this every five years, 20th? Should we make it a date? Yeah, let's do it. Catherine Hardwick, we just watched Twilight on the 15th anniversary. You should be, needs to say, I mean, you've said it before.

I mean, like, the fact that this has touched so many people in so many different ways, in my own weird way, in my career, Twilight was a really formative experience and to go along the ride with you guys back then was amazing. That's right, because you saw everything as it built and built. And we got to give credit to people at Summit because they did, like, map out an idea, even though there weren't giant stars. They said they saw a way to get this film out there. And then they exceeded their expectations. I mean, by a long shot, of course.

So that was cool. And they believed in, you know, unproven actors in a way. And they believed in me. And, you know, so we got to give them credit for that. There's a lot of good lessons to be learned from this one. But, like, you know, hearing your passion these years later, it's clear why this would work and why you were the one and only person to direct this movie. Thank you so much for the time.

And thank you for making Twilight for all the fans. All right. Thank you for having me. If you want to hear even more from Catherine Hardwick talking all things, Twilight, you can experience the entire watch-along. That's right. Watch the entire film alongside Catherine and I right now on patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused.

And so ends another edition of Happy. sad, confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades or even hundreds of years after they happened. On the infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true stories of the Salem Witch Trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles Starkweather,

of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. Cooper, and of events that inspired movies like Goodfellas, Killers of a Flower Moon, Zodiac, Eight Men Out, and many more. I'm Chris Wimmer. Join me as we crisscross the country from the Miami Drug Wars and Dixie Mafia in the south, to mobsters in Chicago and New York. to arsonists, kidnappers, and killers in California, to unsolved mysteries in the heartland and in remote corners of Alaska. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music, and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge.

Find Infamous America, wherever you get your podcasts.