As the Twilight film franchise continues to harvest tons of New Moon media attention, Twilight Saga stars Robert Pattinson, Kristin Stewart, and Taylor Lautner are now at the center of one of the decade’s biggest film phenomenons. In Vancouver, B.C. where the Twilight sequel New Moon is being shot, Twilight mania has reached a new high as both fans and press have converged to eagerly await the daily personal or professional moves of Pattinson, Stewart, and Lautner. However, with the rising success of the Twilight Saga, as well as the target audience of young female fans that continues to escalate, are the Twilight actors being swallowed up in the enormity of attention? When the cinematic sun eventually sets on the Stephenie Meyer based Twilight Saga, will the actors be forever hemmed in by their own Twilight success, or will they be able to shake their Twilight image to avoid a professional stereotype?
Both the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings trilogy produced highly lucrative films that propelled their relatively unknown stars into a new stratosphere of celebrity. Actors Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe of the Harry Potter series are now huge worldwide celebrities within a certain age bracket. Despite the fame, there is still a market for the Harry Potter stars in other sectors of the film industry. Whether they have branched out into the indie scene or to the theater stage, Watson, Grint, and Radcliff have all shown versatility underneath the spotlight as they’ve grown up in front of the camera. And with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince still to be released in 2009, it’s still much too early to know if any of the stars will be professionally pegged as “that Harry Potter guy” or “the Harry Potter girl” that may prevent them from carving out their own diverse careers as actors.
Will it be any different for the actors of the Twilight Saga? Again, it’s far too early to predict since typecasting is a fickle beast in the entertainment industry. Often when you’re successful in one area, that’s your pigeonhole. And for some actors it’s a lifelong struggle to overcome. Fans of Twilight and New Moon have already fallen in casting love with Robert Pattinson who has truly exemplified the brooding profile of his character’s description from the novels. New Moon is still in production and there are more films to be made in the Twilight Saga, as New Moon and Eclipse are both on the cinematic horizon. Will it be too much Twilight too quick for the Twilight Saga stars?
Kristin Stewart recently starred in Adventureland, playing an awkward adolescent in suburban America. The role was much more demanding for Stewart but the movie was nowhere near the financial windfall that Twilight has proven to be. Stewart, however, has risen through the acting ranks with upwards of 15 credits to her name pre-Twilight, which have all helped Stewart in being known before playing Bella Swan. Kristen is currently involved in three other projects away from the Twilight Saga, including the recently announced Runaways, so she’s certainly keeping busy out of the shoes of Bella.
Robert Pattinson, the heartthrob and personification of perfection for many fans, is also working to stay busy beyond Twilight and New Moon. Pattinson recently landed the lead role in Hollywoodland director, Allen Coulter’s Remember Me, which tells the tale of two lovers who try to keep their relationship together amid family tragedy. Like I mentioned, if you’re successful in the entertainment world in one area, it’s easy to become pigeonholed and known for one thing.
Since Remember Me will be another lover role for Pattinson, Robert could easily become known to casting directors as what we’re already seeing from Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga. While the Stephenie Meyer based series has helped propel Pattinson to uber celebrity status, along with his nod in People magazine’s issue of Most Beautiful People, Robert, himself, has publicly stated that he doesn’t understand the phenomena that the films have spawned. Will he be able to move into more diverse roles after this? Surely there will be roles available but will fans and casting agents and directors be able to see past the Edward Cullen persona as a lead love interest?
Taylor Lautner, however, the youngest of the three Twilight and New Moon stars, may be the one to come out of the Twilight Saga no worse for wear in the end. If you look at the trajectory of Lautner in the first two Twilight films, Taylor’s star is just beginning to rise since his New Moon character, Jacob Black, steps to center stage in the Twilight sequel. For the past two years, much of the rabid hype and attention has been focused on Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. When the green light was given to New Moon, and it was announced that Lautner would be back as Jacob Black, it was only over the past six to eight months that Taylor truly became a household name to even more fans.
Assuming there will be a break between Eclipse and a possible adaptation of the fourth Twilight novel, Breaking Dawn – which would actually help the Twilight stars broaden their acting resumes - Taylor would only have the major visibility and media attention of two Twilight films to the three of Pattinson and Stewart. So, theoretically, with his star still on the rise, Taylor Lautner may step out of Eclipse into the acting circles at the height and maturity of his popularity at the age of 18 to a then 24-year-old Robert Pattinson and a 20-year old Kristen Stewart. Although each will still be in their acting prime in terms of roles for young adults, when it comes to momentum beyond Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, Taylor Lautner may have timing on his side more than anything. It may come down to fans wanting to see what Taylor does next more so than the others. Interestingly, at the moment, Lautner doesn’t appear to have anything else on the go, which means he hasn’t even started to explore projects beyond Twilight.
At this point in Twilight time, New Moon and Eclipse are slated for release. There’s been no word on when Breaking Dawn will be made. Can the actors endure such heavy Twilight attention for another year after Eclipse, which would be a ballpark estimate of 25 months? Although we want to see Breaking Dawn get made (and it will), there comes a point when it can work against you. Over the next year and a half, the Twilight Saga will continue to be a major focus of the media and fans, as the press continues to pounce on every move the Twilight actors make. With so much attention focused on Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner for another 15 months, the transition from the Twilight universe to other projects might be a little rocky in terms of fans shaking the perception of their Twilight characters.
To avoid the glitz, glare, and red-carpet attention of Hollywood, the Twilight Saga stars could take the indie route where they can tackle a wide range of diverse and grounded reality roles while gaining critical acclaim and some newfound acting street-cred. Although there has been some negative press surrounding Twilight and New Moon, as is natural, seeing how the Twilight stars fair away from saga may be a welcome sight for non-Twilight fans who have considered their roles to be a little too romantically contrived.
Will Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner be able to shake their Twilight image to avoid a professional stereotype when stepping into other roles and projects? There are a few options, including staying busy, taking on opposite roles of their Twilight characters, or even taking an acting break and fading out of the spotlight for a while before jumping back into the public eye. Given the massive popularity of the Twilight Saga, there’s always the chance that being typecast may simply be something beyond their control. It’s still too soon to tell whether there will be any negative backlash in the way of potential roles for the Twilight actors. For now, however, Twilight and New Moon fans can rest easy knowing that their favorite stars will “film on” for another Twilight day.
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