The Twilight Co-Star Ashley Greene Had A Crush On
When "Twilight" first hit shelves in 2005, few could guess how the book series would grow to revolutionize Young Adult fantasy. But readers fell in love with Bella Swan and her immortal vampire teenage BF, Edward Cullen ... so much so that the series went on to sell an incredible 116 million copies, per The Atlantic. Its massive popularity spawned a fad of copycat vampire love stories, not to mention a blockbuster film franchise starring Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattinson as Edward. The New York Times noted author Stephanie Meyer also released "Midnight Sun" in 2020 — a retelling of the first book from Edward's POV — proving that fans were still ready to sink their teeth into the beloved story, even years later.
The "Twilight" movie franchise was also responsible for turning its young stars into household names. While Stewart was already fairly well-known at the time, Pattinson, Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Hale), and Nikki Reed (Rosalie Hale) all gained major notoriety from the films. As fans know, Stewart and Pattinson went on to date IRL after meeting on-set, but it turns out that their love story wasn't the only one playing out behind the scenes. As of 2022, Greene came clean about having a crush on this "Twilight" co-star during filming — but, unlike Stewart and Pattinson's relationship, her romantic feelings weren't reciprocated.
Ashley Greene called this handsome co-star a 'southern gentleman'
Throw a bunch of impossibly beautiful young actors together in a movie about impossibly beautiful vampires, and it seems inevitable that they will develop feelings for each other. Ashley Greene confirmed as much in April when she took to her podcast, "The Twilight Effect," to share that she'd had a crush on her co-star, Jackson Rathbone. In the films, Greene and Rathbone played onscreen love interests, and their professional closeness may have played a part in strengthening Greene's feelings. "I had a big old crush on Jackson Rathbone while we were filming," Greene explained. "Our first encounter, I was like, 'This dude's supercute and a Southern gentleman.' ... He sings; he taught me to swing-dance. And he's supposed to be my lifetime love onscreen, and I was like, 'This is gonna be easy.'"
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Rathbone didn't feel the same way. "I also hadn't developed the skill set of creating onscreen chemistry and separating that," Greene explained, adding that she eventually got over her crush before the movie franchise wrapped filming. Things still worked out pretty peachy for the "Twilight" alum, though. Per People, she wed entrepreneur Paul Khoury in 2018, and as of March, the couple confirmed they are expecting their first child together. "The couple is over-the-moon with excitement about expecting their first child together," Greene's rep told the outlet.