These ‘Twilight’ Alums Are on Radically Different Paths
Blockbuster series made stars out of its leads with one clear winner
Poor Taylor Lautner.
The young actor made a splash via the “Twilight” series, but his acting career never took flight. He hasn’t distinguished himself outside the vampire saga.
Hollywood can be brutal, and his career is proof of just that. Making matters worse? He’s been overshadowed by the saga’s co-leads.
Both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson scored plenty of work in their initial post-“Twilight” life. She snagged an Oscar nomination for her performance in “Spencer” (2022) and has worked in high-profile projects in recent years.
Hey, that “Charlie’s Angels” reboot looked good on paper. The box office said otherwise. The same held true for the sci-fi thriller “Underwater,” another Stewart flop.
She started drifting away from the mainstream, earning indie film cred but not bringing in big bucks. She also got more passionate about her pro-LGBTQ beliefs, using her bully pulpit in ways that can alienate some viewers.
Kristen Stewart photographed by Collier Schorr for Rolling Stone pic.twitter.com/MJSJ0u8CNf
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) February 14, 2024
Pattinson has blazed a different trail.
Yes, he aligned himself with credible directors like Bong Joon Ho (“Mickey 17”) and the Safdie brothers (“Good Time”) but also found room for mainstream fare.
He is The Batman, after all, and he’s now an unofficial part of Christopher Nolan’s troupe after roles in “Tenet” and “The Odyssey.”
And people want to see his films. Consider this year’s cringe romance “The Drama.”
The film earned a respectable $48 million despite a challenging topic. Seeing a young couple collapse after the bride-to-be shared a shocking confession isn’t cinematic catnip.
It still made money.
Stewart can’t say the same about “The Wrong Girls.” The new wacky comedy generated tepid reviews and got shunned at the box office earlier this month.
Box office burn outs.
Neon’s WRONG GIRLS were kicked to the curb–just $406k in 520 theaters this weekend, $782 per.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) August 16, 2026
The two mega-stars hit the A-list but now appear headed down different paths.
Pattinson keeps scoring major gigs while tackling projects that let him flex his artistic muscle. The upcoming “Primetime” (Sept. 25) is a perfect example of that balance.
The actor plays Chris Hansen, the journalist who helps bag child predators and other miscreants.
The buzz is building already, and the trailer racked up an impressive view count – 36 million views. That’s a staggering figure for an art house studio like A24.
Stewart continually chooses indie projects that struggle to draw a crowd.
She’s also lashed out at the Hollywood system, suggesting she’ll be happier making her own movies on her own terms.
Here’s part of a late 2025 speech bemoaning the lack of female stories in Hollywood.
“We can discuss wage gaps and taxes on tampons and measure [inequality] in lots of quantifiable ways, but the violence of silencing, it’s like we’re not even supposed to be angry. But I can eat this podium with a fork and f***ing knife. I’m so angry.”
Earlier this year, she threatened to bolt Hollywood and make her own movies via YouTube.
“I’m just so sick of the rules and I’m so sick of the system. It is not designed for artists to express themselves. We’re just really under the thumb of different priorities that don’t align with real dream-making. And I don’t mean to wax poetically because I mean this so very literally, I just don’t think that it’s possible to create sort of radical, vital work under capitalistic parameters … But my goal is to make something for really nothing with my friends before the end of the year and put it on f***ing YouTube.”
She may end up there eventually, and possibly sooner than she thinks. By then, she might wish she had played a little nicer and hadn’t burned some of her Hollywood bridges.