I’ve just learned that Ben Barnes was on a short list of four people to play the role of Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga. I’m pretty sure that it came down to scheduling conflicts with the Narnia series, as the reason he didn’t. However, when it comes to casting for the films, it seems that he studio is all about the cash the films bring in, and will recast if there is any clash in schedules, as Bryce Dallas Howard is replacing someone in the third film (shooting prior to the release of the second).
The four actors up for the role were revealed at the TwiTour, by way of Twilight Lexicon:
Catherine Hardwicke said that the 4 finalists (who she called bachelor 1, 2, 3, 4) for the part of Edward Cullen were [Robert Pattinson], Jackson Rathbone, Ben Barnes, and Shiloh Fernandez. She said to watch for Shiloh because she predicts that he’s going places.
I’m no fan of Twilight. Never seen it, nor read it. I have heard some mixed things about it, and I’ve heard that if you summarize what happens to the girl in the story, it really sounds like she’s not only stalked, but being watched by a definition creeper, and loses most of her friends over it, and even after she’s married to one of them, she has feelings for another. Seriously? In my world, when you’re married, you don’t harbor those types of feelings, or entertain thoughts of it. Needless to say, I don’t understand the fascination with wanting someone watch you sleep all night (based on a line in the movie trailer). Can anyone defend it? Are my friends, who have read it, off base in their summaries?