After spending five years apart from each other, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are set to reunite on April 18th for the premiere of their first film together in More than a year.
The film, entitled On the Road, will have its exclusive world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Its North American premiere will follow at the Toronto Film Festival later that month.
The first installment in the Twilight saga will be shown at a special time to celebrate its legacy and the upcoming film’s 20th anniversary. The two-night event will air on Fox on April 18th and April 19th.
The following day, the third film in the franchise – Eclipse – will be released in theaters across the country. It will be the first time Stewart has appeared in a movie theater since early 2018.
The franchise continues with Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which will be released in theaters on November 15, 2019.
Now that the two main characters are set to appear together onscreen for the first time in nearly a decade, fans are eager to see how their relationship has changed since the first film.
Let’s dive into how the two actors’ relationships went down in the Twilight franchise. We’ll explore their meeting, their on-set romances, and how their characters’ personalities have evolved over the years.
How Did Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson Meet?
As stated previously, the beginning of the story lines for On the Road was set during the filming of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Following a dramatic on-set incident in which Stewart’s character Bella is injured, she requires extensive and painful surgery. While recovering, Bella witnesses the events of a love quadrangle – involving her childhood frenemy Renée – unfold before her eyes. This prompts her to pack up and leave for Paris, where she meets and eventually marries the French actor Logan Lerman. While there, she is haunted by her time in the past and haunted by her connection to the Volturi – the secret society of vampires that exists in the twilight world.
This is when we meet up with Pattinson, who at the time is already a household name in North America due to his role as Cedric in Twilight. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2018, he described how he heard about Stewart’s accident and rushed to her side. “I heard what happened and I ran to her,” he said. “We had a love at first sight.”
The On the Road premiere will mark Pattinson’s first appearance on the big screen in a decade, since the last Twilight movie in 2015. It will also be the first time Stewart has been on-screen since the critically-acclaimed drama Lady Bird, which she starred in in 2017.
Did They Have A Romantic Relationship On-Set?
When we last saw the couple in the Twilight movies, they were arguing on-screen about whether or not to have sex. Ultimately, it was Bella’s insistence that their first sexual experience be a traditional one that led the couple to have unprotected sex. This is something that they regretted – which is why they broke up for a time – but have since admitted that it was a turning point for them both.
There is no denying that the relationship between Stewart and Pattinson has flourished since the first Twilight movie. The pair have consistently collaborated on films since then, with Stewart appearing in several of Pattinson’s movies and vice versa. While they’ve never officially discussed their on-set romance, it has become a hot topic ever since the Twilight franchise ended.
In 2018, a source told People that “they had an actual, literal and passionate romance” on-set for Eclipse. And in 2019, Stewart confirmed to GQ that she and Pattinson dated during filming. “We definitely did,” she said. “It was really romantic.”
The romance allegedly continued off-set as well. Rumors emerged in 2017 that Pattinson had proposed to Stewart. While the actor has never officially confirmed these rumors, he did admit that he thought about popping the question during the filming of Eclipse. “I did ask [Stewart] to marry me at one point,” he told Entertainment Tonight in 2018. “I put the ring in her pocket and we had a long talk about life and how we see each other’s roles in it… I definitely did propose.”
What Was The Backstory Of Their Characters?
As previously stated, Bella is haunted by her childhood friendship with and later rivalry with Renée. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2018, Stewart described how she approached playing Bella. “I think everybody who’s ever been through a friendship breakup or witnessed the end of a good friendship or seen somebody be sad about an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend knows what it’s like to kind of project that onto a character,” she said. “It’s weird how it stays with you. Even though I’m acting, I have moments where I’m like, ‘Nope, I’m not kidding, this actually happened.’”
This is most likely a reference to her on-set accident, which had a profound effect on her life. While she was sidelined for four months, Stewart watched the Twilight films and was inspired to become a Hollywood movie star. “I’ve seen it all firsthand and there’s no one else who could play this part but me,” she told Vanity Fair in 2018. “I feel like I know her [Bella] better than anyone else ever could. It’s the closest thing you could get to re-living your high school years, but with the intimacy of a movie star.”
Pattinson’s character, Cedric, is the son of an English lord. He is portrayed as a dashing and brave young man who travels the world as a rich and famous playboy. In the beginning of the film, he is revealed to be a vampire and is cursed with immortality. However, after several years apart from his family, he decides to return and fight for them, putting his soul into the process. He breaks down the character’s backstory. “I think there [are] a lot of similarities,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “Both of us were brought up in families that didn’t understand us or support us, but through sheer willpower, we decided to make our own way in the world. [It was] a journey of self-discovery and realizing who you want to be at the end, which is a lot like Bella. She’s a very free-spirited character who doesn’t really know who she is or what she wants until she meets Edward [Lambert], who sees something unique within her and helps her discover it.”
How Has Their Character’s Personality Evolved?
The personalities of each of the Twilight movie characters remain largely the same as they were at the beginning of the franchise. However, as previously stated, their romances have changed significantly. The spark that first attracted Bella to the vampire Edward was overshadowed by sibling rivalry. However, it did lead to them getting married. Now that they’re set to star in a movie together, we’re getting a glimpse into a more mature and established version of their characters.
This is particularly interesting because while the couple have always collaborated on-screen, they reportedly haven’t always gotten along personally. In a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, Stewart described their on-set dynamic. “[Robert is] amazing,” she said. “He’s such an inspiration. It’s funny, he comes across as such a sweetheart, but we’ve both been through some crazy stuff. We definitely have. I’m not going to lie. He’s a tough cookie.”
Despite their tumultuous past, their dynamic is clearly defined by their undeniable chemistry on-screen. It’s clear that the two have learned from their mistakes and do have real emotional connections to one another. In a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, Stewart described how she felt when she finally worked through her feelings for Edward. “I wasn’t expecting that,” she said. “[It was] such a long time coming because it took a lot of work to feel that. I didn’t feel relieved, like, ‘Mission accomplished. I’m done with him.’ I felt like it was just the beginning.”