What The Cast Of Twilight Looks Like Today

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Love it or hate it, there's no denying that the Twilight saga was an absolute worldwide juggernaut. The books were so popular that the author of the series, Stephenie Meyer, was the second-highest-paid author in the world in 2010. While teenage girls across the globe were becoming total Twihards, the naysayers started cropping up as well. Legendary horror writer Stephen King even weighed in, telling USA Weekend (via The Guardian), "Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good." Ouch.

Nevertheless, the series got monetized into a five-film-monster, raking in over $2.5 billion at the global box office. Almost overnight, the stars of the franchise were catapulted into fame, becoming household names instantaneously. So popular was the series, that the top three cast members, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, all made a whopping $25 million apiece for the final two films. Jealous yet?

It looks like the Twilight pandemonium still hasn't been put to bed, as Meyer published a companion book, Midnight Sun, in August 2020. Per CNN, "this time, it's sparkly vampire Edward Cullen's story." With interest in the franchise suddenly returning, have you wondered what the cast of the flicks has been up to? Let's take a look at what they look like today.

Much like Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson had some trouble shaking off his Twilight image, even as he set his sights on indie projects that would give him some reputable cred. David Michôd, director of 2014 Aussie dystopian drama, The Rover, ended up casting RPatz in a major role for the film, but even he, admittedly, didn't know what to expect. In a behind-the-scenes featurette, Michôd explained, "I thought he was going to be some kind of teen-heartthrob franchise guy."

Pattinson's next successful venture? 2017's Good Time, directed by the Safdie brothers. The indie flick fared so well, it even got some famous names gushing about it. Appearing on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show to promote his own movie, Pete Davidson refused to stop raving about RPatz's crime-thriller. So, did the Twilight alum manage to get rid of his brooding vampire image? As Benny Safdie told The Guardian of Pattinson, "He wanted people to look at him in the movie as if he had been street cast. He wanted to disappear."

While Pattinson certainly didn't disappear, he's instead become an even bigger star, and has stepped into Bruce Wayne's shoes for 2022's The Batman. When GQ asked why he took on the role, the actor quipped, "What are the reasons not to do it?" More seriously, he explained he sees the part as a "puzzle" that's been filled by various actors. "And the puzzle of it becomes quite satisfying, to think: Where's my opening?"

The Cullen clan patriarch, Carlisle, played by Peter Facinelli, saw steady work as an actor after the Twilight saga ended. In fact, he made a fantastic discovery that boded fab for his career — taking on a guest role on Fox's musical comedy show, Glee. The actor revealed to Hollywood Life that the fanbase was pretty similar to that of the vampire series. "Now I have a connection with Glee fans — it's like a crossover for Glee and Twilight fans." Facinelli added that he even bonded with co-star Lea Michele, as he worked almost strictly with the star.

Learning how to appeal to his younger fanbase both with Twilight and Glee, Facinelli braved forward in 2015, finding work on CW's Supergirl. Only remaining on the show for a year, perhaps the celeb finally had enough of all the otherworldly vampires and superheroes. His next move? Stepping behind the camera for 2018's Breaking & Exiting. The actor-turned-director admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that the experience was "nerve-wracking." He went on, "When you're an actor and you go to a screening ... you think, 'Wow, I hope people like my performance' ... with this movie ... everything falls on me."

Pivoting yet again during the COVID-19 pandemic, Facinelli turned his sights to a new hobby: hypnotherapy. Speaking to E! about his new "skill," he revealed, "I'm actually certified now in hypnotherapy. I'm not going to be doing it professionally, but I wanted to do it more for myself." Whatever fulfills you, dude. 

Much like Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene traversed across the pond for some UK-based fun away from Hollywood. The actor landed a lead role alongside Scott Adkins in the English action-crime flick Accident Man, based on a character from the '90s UK comic, Toxic!.

With her brief British stint under her belt, Greene returned to America to join the cast of the YouTube web series, Step Up: High Water. Her role in the show is definitely a far cry from the sweet and loveable Alice Cullen in Twilight. Speaking to Access Hollywood about her character, Nine, she revealed, "I get to basically just be catty and sassy ... She's not evil, but I think she definitely knows what she wants and goes after it."

As for her personal life? It looks like the star still has a bit of spooky Twilight nostalgia in her. The brunette beauty took some time away from acting to get married in 2018 to hubby Paul Khoury — in a romantic grove of redwood trees. Harking back to the woodsy forest setting in which the Twilight saga was shot, her wedding day looked absolutely magical! So, any tots on the way for the happy couple? "We're not having kids in the near-near future," Greene told Us Weekly in 2020. "Before we have children, I just want to kind of get certain things set and implement certain things into our lifestyle now."

After playing the most intimidating member of the Cullen clan, Emmett Cullen, Kellan Lutz landed even more burly Hollywood roles, and really, are we surprised? 2013 first saw him flexing his cartoon muscles in a 3D rendition of Tarzan, with the actor revealing that he still had to be in peak physical form for the role. In one of the bonus features about the making of the flick (via USA Today) the hunk revealed that for the motion-capture to work for the role, it involved "a lot of jumping, climbing, fighting and other physical work wearing a skintight suit."

After hanging up his animated loincloth, Lutz took on another heroic character. This time, the titular role in The Legend of Hercules in 2014. Although the typecasting is clearly evident, the hunky star doesn't mind. Speaking to Reuters, Lutz explained, "If everyone saw me as an action guy and gave me action movie after action movie, I'd be fine with it, it's one of those great genres that you always have fun doing." The actor also mentioned, however, that he'd love to have a career like Matt Damon, who's done action roles, along with both drama and comedies.

As of this writing, it looks like Lutz will have to flex his muscles for another major role off-camera: carrying a newborn. In an Instagram post, the actor revealed that he and his wife, Brittany Gonzales, welcomed a baby girl, Ashtyn Lilly Lutz, on Feb. 22, 2021. Congrats, you two! 

Actor Billy Burke continued tackling moody projects since playing Bella Swan's dad, Charlie Swan, in the Twilight flicks. He had a recurring role in CBS action-thriller, Zoo, where he played a scientist, and in 2016, he starred in the horror film, Lights Out, which was met to relatively good reviews.

But it's his role in the 2018 crime-drama Breaking In, alongside Gabrielle Union, that has us buzzing, considering he plays an absolutely terrifying villain. Surprisingly enough, the actor revealed in an interview with KTLA 5 Morning News that it wasn't his first time playing a bad guy. That's right, folks, Bella Swan's soft-spoken dad actually has a mean streak. "I hadn't done it in a while. I spent the first good portion of my career I think getting gigs because of my ability to grow facial hair and sneer. It was nice to return to that."

At the time of this writing, as Deadline announced, Burke is set to star in Netflix's "dramedy series," Maid, due to come out sometime in 2021. For the role, it looks like he may finally be bridging both of his good guy and bad guy worlds as "a contractor whose life and career was hard hit by alcoholism and the recession," but after "becoming deeply religious and sobering up ... he denies any of the darkness in his past." 

In terms of who has seen the most success since the Twilight days, Anna Kendrick is right up there with co-stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. She's done so well for herself that she even tweeted she forgot she was ever in the series — Okay fine, the girl's got jokes. But the bubbly star has certainly kept busy since the franchise, landing a slew of films credits, most notably the Pitch Perfect flicks and Into the Woods.

Although Kendrick had what some would call a traditional role as Cinderella in Disney's Into The Woods, the star stands behind the fact that it's a feminist interpretation of a classic tale. As she explained to Vulture, "What's interesting about this version ... is that not only does Cinderella leave her prince, but she leaves with forgiveness and respect and compassion for the prince ... There is something extremely relevant and modern about the idea of civility in separation."

In 2020, the star took Vanity Fair down memory lane, and when it came to chatting Twilight, Kendrick recalled that she felt "so cold and miserable" filming in Oregon. Musing about her co-stars, she added, "it was also kind of bonding. There was, like, something about it, like you go through some trauma event, like, you imagine people who survive, like, a hostage situation and you're kind of bonded for life." We're not sure if comparing Twilight to surviving a hostage situation is exactly accurate, but to each their own.

Dakota Fanning has grown up in front of the camera. Who can forget her as the little girl in 2001's heartwarming I Am Sam, or alongside the late Brittany Murphy in 2003's Uptown Girls? Surprisingly enough, Fanning managed to bypass the turbulent years many former Hollywood child stars experience as they grow older and has maintained steady employment well into her adult life. In Twilight: New Moon, Fanning portrayed Jane, a powerful vampire of the Volturi, reprising her role both in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

In 2019, the blonde star landed a role in Quentin Tarantino's highly-acclaimed Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood. "A huge dream of mine was to work with Quentin Tarantino," Fanning revealed to Collider in 2020. "I wanted that since I saw Kill Bill for the first time ... Having that sort of come true was like a moment of this weird, like, relief ... it was just one of those moments that was so exciting."

Besides becoming a Tinseltown heavyweight, it looks like the War of the Worlds actor has a few other prestigious distinctions. According to Ancestory.com historians (via People), Dakota and her younger sister, Elle Fanning, are both descendants of "King Edward III, who ruled England for nearly 50 years from 1330 to 1376." Granted, that's not at all uncommon due to Edward III's vast lineage, which is now estimated to encompass nearly all Britons and many millions of U.S.-born British descendants. But that's not all. The famous Fanning sisters also distant cousins of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Bryce Dallas Howard made her Twilight debut in 2010's Eclipse as Victoria, replacing actor Rachelle Lefevre. Already a part of Hollywood royalty thanks to her dad, prominent director Ron Howard, Bryce previously made her own waves in the industry, starring in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village in 2004.

Since starring in the vampy teen franchise, Bryce was a part of quite a few big-name projects, yet she ultimately decided to follow in her father's footsteps and try her hand at directing. Anything worthwhile mentioning, you ask? Well, there's The Mandalorian, for starters. As of this writing, Bryce has impressively directed two episodes of the ultra-popular Disney+ series. "One of the reasons why I was hired for The Mandalorian was because [series creator] Jon [Favreau] himself is an actor," the star explained to Free the Work. "The transition from writing to directing can be very challenging ... Jon knew that I had been exposed to many different versions of how to approach problem solving and running a set."

As for the biggest challenge Bryce had to face being a part of such a cult TV show? Getting her young children to keep mum on Baby Yoda. Calling the experience "agonizing" to The Hollywood Reporter, Bryce joked, "When the kids went back to school, every single day I would say, 'So, what are you not gonna talk about today?' And they would say, 'Baby!'" Well done, Howard family, well done.

Taylor Lautner wasn't the only shapeshifting heartthrob in the Twilight franchise; there was also Booboo Stewart, better known to Twihards as Seth Clearwater. Stewart's popularity didn't end after the teen flicks, either, as his Instagram boasts over a whopping two million followers. "If people like something, they kinda like it forever," the actor explained to TooFab. "That movie came out a long time ago ... 10 years since I was in it and I was in the 3rd film, but I'm so thankful."

That said, his experience didn't exactly solidify his status as an A-lister how it did with Robert Pattinson or Kristen Stewart. As Stewart told VMan, "In your head, you think, 'Oh, I'm in Twilight, everything's going to change automatically,' but that really didn't happen." He added, "you still have to audition and you still have to put in the work."

Nevertheless, it looks like Stewart's hard work definitely paid off. He landed the role of Jay in Disney's Descendants, reprising it for both the sequel and third installment. He followed that with 2020's Let Him Go, starring opposite Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, and even amid a global pandemic, Stewart has still kept busy. An artist as well, the actor told Boys by Girls, "While everybody else is sitting around ... The way I dealt with frustrations was by creating. I love making things. That's what I like to do, so I went back to that."

You probably recognize Gil Birmingham as Jacob Black's father in the Twilight series, Billy, or, as USA Today puts it, he's "that guy you've seen in everything." Truth be told, you probably have seen Birmingham quite a bit — especially since gaining such praise for his role as Billy. He's made recurring appearances on House of Cards, tried his hand at comedy on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and even developed a "bromance with Jeff Bridges" in the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water. As it turns out, Bridges was one of his favorite aspects of being involved in the flick, and as he told USA Today, the pair had an "old married-couple dynamic."

But Bridges wasn't the only praise he had for the critically acclaimed project, either. Speaking to Cowboys & Indians, Birmingham called the film a "big turning point" in his career, adding, "If you're lucky enough to get any kind of success in this business, it's an incredible blessing, because the majority of people never get it." That being said, he also counts Twilight as a huge factor that helped him, too.

"I had a higher profile in a movie saga called Twilight than I did in a critically acclaimed film like Hell or High Water," he told the mag. "And not to take away from Twilight, but it didn't speak to my heart the way the projects I've done more recently have. Projects with great writing and really interesting character studies."

Julia Jones played Leah Clearwater in the Twilight series, and she has a familiar face that you've probably seen since, appearing in big-name shows such as Westworld, Goliath, and The Mandalorian.

Interestingly enough, Jones reconnected with her Twilight: Eclipse co-star, Bryce Dallas Howard, for the Star Wars universe hit. According to Funtastic Life, "she had no idea going into Mandalorian how big it would be but from the moment she had a Zoom session with Bryce Dallas Howard she knew it was special." In a sweet gesture after filming was complete, Jones gave a shout out to the director, tweeting, "Working with @BryceDHoward again, as she directed Chapter Four of @themandalorian, was an experience I will cherish forever."

Miraculously enough, even during a global pandemic, it looks like Jones lucked out when it came to her career. "It's been a complete and total shift for me, at least with work, and the industry, because, you know, nothing's filming," the actor explained to Whisky + Sunshine. "But I, fortunately ... now have been working on something that is in development." So, what's the project? Per Deadline, Jones has found herself in yet another cult series, landing a role in the 2021 Dexter revival.

Can you imagine a world where Robert Pattinson didn't play Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga? Well, neither can we, but that's the role Michael Welch was after before he landed the part of the popular teen crushing on Bella Swan, Mike Newton. "As much as I appreciate my representatives thinking that I could pull off hauntingly beautiful — the most gorgeous creature you will ever see on the planet," he quipped to MTV, "It's not quite me."

Welch wasn't exactly a newcomer when he came on for the teen franchise. In fact, as he explained to ScreenSlam, he's been "acting professionally since [he] was ten years old," with his first credit being an episode on the cult '90s sitcom, Frasier. "Once that was on my resume ... then I started doing other sitcoms and other dramas."

Since then, the actor's resume has been impressively consistent, yet he's also made time to start a family, proposing to his now-wife, Samantha Maggio, in 2015. As of this writing, the duo share two girls, and the Welch clan can adorably be seen coordinating outfits for the holidays — be it Halloween or Christmas.