Taylor Lautner says ‘Twilight’ fan rivalry spoiled Robert Pattinson friendship

Taylor Lautner has opened up about the impact of the divided Twilight fan rivalry.

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The actor famously played Jacob Black in the blockbuster film series, which at its height saw fans divided in Team Jacob and Team Edward (in reference to Robert Pattinson‘s character Edward Cullen) camps over the pair’s love rivalry for Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).

Speaking about whether it affected his off-screen relationship with Pattinson, Lautner admitted to The Toast podcast: “I feel like I’d be lying if I said no. I was so young. I was 16 when Twilight came out, 17 for New Moon and Eclipse. I finished the franchise by the time I was 19.

“I was so young and yeah, I do feel like it was very strange travelling the world and being in different cities and having thousands of screaming fans either take your side or the other guy’s side,” he continued.

“Like, we’re a team. We’re both just trying to make the best movies… but it was a little bizarre, the competitiveness. There wasn’t a competitiveness between me and Rob, but having that constant reminder, I think it definitely had an impact.”

The Twilight series spanned five films, starting with 2008’s Twilight and concluding in 2012 with Breaking Dawn – Part 2. The films follow Bella’s relationship with vampire Edward and werewolf Jacob.

The films were also notable for their soundtracks, which featured songs by the likes of Muse, Paramore, The Killers, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather and Florence + The Machine, Pattinson admitting in 2019 that they were “ahead of their time”.

“It genuinely does have an incredibly good soundtrack,” he told USA Today. “I completely forgot, but the soundtracks were quite ahead of their time.”

Speaking further on a new generation of fans embracing the franchise, he added: “It seems like with younger people in their late teens, early 20s, it’s sort of become quite a hip thing to like.

“It’s a fascinating second wave of people appreciating it, which is kind of cool. I think when anything becomes a massive phenomenon, there’s always people who get annoyed because it’s just everywhere. But now it seems like a retro thing: the soundtrack, the fashion. It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s so late 2000s.’”

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