‘Twilight’ Director Says Jenna Ortega & Jacob Elordi Would Be “Amazing” In A Reboot

Jenna Ortega and Jacob ElordiCindy Ord / MG23 / Getty Images / Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke is opening up about the actors who would play the lead roles in the fantasy film if a reboot happened now.

During an interview on the Watch-a-long podcast, Hardwicke agreed that Jenna Ortega and Jacob Elordi “would be perfect” to play Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.

“I mean, he’s amazing. He probably would be Edward today,” Hardwicke said of Elordi.

The filmmaker added, “I do think there’s a lot of really cool young actors today. Of course, you just mentioned Jenna Ortega, she’s amazing.

Hardwicke also mentioned that she recently had an encounter with model Lewis Tan who told her he tried to land the role of Jacob Black, who ended up being played by Taylor Lautner.

“It would’ve changed anyone’s life if they got that part,” Hardwicke added.

During the same appearance, Hardwicke opened up about the studio’s hesitation over casting Robert Pattinson in the lead role of Edward at first.

“When he came over to my house, he had black bangs for hair and was kind of out of shape because he was hanging out at the pub all the time,” the film’s director said. “I thought ‘it works not just in person, but it works on screen.’ I had to be sure. Of course, in person, I just got carried away, but you have to be sure — does it really translate [to the screen]?”

After Hardwicke sent over “fun auditions” she sent over to the studio, “They called me back and go, ‘Do you think you can make this guy look good?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do. Did you see his cheekbones? We’re doing a makeover on the hair and everything and he’s going to start working out and he’s going to be gorgeous.’ But they didn’t believe it at first. He walked over there with a stained shirt… It was Rob.”

The move to cast Pattinson as Edward proved to be a great decision following the success of the Twilight saga.