Every Twilight fan – and everyone even vaguely aware of pop culture in the late 2000s – knows that the core conflict of the franchise is “Edward vs. Jacob.” You couldn’t go anywhere in 2009 without seeing “Team Jacob” and “Team Edward” merch. And according to Taylor Lautner, the fictional feud with Robert Pattinson bled into reality.
On the latest episode of Spotify’s enormously popular Call Her Daddy podcast, Taylor Lautner reflected on the “tough” dynamic between himself and his Twilight rival, Robert Pattinson as the two heartthrobs vied for the affection of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).
“I think it was tough,” Lautner, the face of werewolf Jacob Black, said of the intense Team Edward vs. Team Jacob rivalry that brewed among Twilight fans. “I don’t know for him. But for me, at least, it definitely – especially at the age I was at – you get your feelings hurt sometimes when you shouldn’t. It’s hard not to sometimes. It was a little difficult.”
“I think it was awkward at times for the two of us to be standing together on a balcony and having 10,000 girls booing Rob but then cheering for me but then this half booing me and cheering [for Rob], but then us having to have some sort of friendship,” he continued. “It was difficult.”
It was even tougher, Taylor Lautner admitted, because he and Pattinson are “just very, very different people.”
“We never really connected on a deep level just because we’re different humans,” Lautner explained. “But he was always fantastic and the sweetest person ever.”
Taylor Lautner Has No Ill Feelings Toward Twilight, Robert Pattinson
These days, Twilight is fondly remembered as the cringe-worthy yet undeniably endearing teen drama that had millennials by the heartstrings.
And though the franchise’s most meme-able moment – Bella! Where the hell have you been, Loca?! – comes from Taylor Lautner himself, the actor holds no ill feelings against Twilight or Jacob Black, the role that launched him into a new stratosphere of fame.
“I only feel great feelings towards the franchise and everything it’s given me,” he said. “There’s pros and cons to what it gave me, but the pros far outweigh the cons. It took a journey after the franchise was over with figuring out who I really am and what is truly important to me in life. I’m very, very thankful for the franchise.”
For Taylor Lautner, the strangest part of being a Twilight star is witnessing its sudden return to popularity over a decade later, thanks to Gen Z.
“The past few years… it was just the TwiMoms stopping me in the street,” he told ET. “It just kinda outgrew itself. I love the TwiMoms, but only recently has it resurged,” he said.
“We have these young teenagers starting to watch it. It’s crazy to see it come back around.”