Anna Kendrick is popularly known among fans for her roles in the Pitch Perfect and The Twilight Saga film series. Her performance as Jessica Stanley in the latter elevated her career significantly. Although the supernatural film series, based on Stephenie Meyer’s books, catapulted the success of the entire cast, Kendrick feels that she got the best deal of all.
Following the release of 2008’s Twilight, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan became household names. The success ensured multiple sequels based on the remaining three novels. Surprisingly, the widespread stardom also harmed Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as they almost lost their careers after The Twilight Saga.
However, Anna Kendrick claimed that her side role as Jessica Stanley allowed her to have a unique experience and not face any negative impact of stardom.
Anna Kendrick had a better time with The Twilight Saga than her co-stars
Anna Kendrick was cast in 2008’s Twilight to play Jessica Stanley. She is an amalgamation of the novel’s Jessica Stanley and her friend Lauren Mallory who is never mentioned in the films. While Stanley is popular in the film series for her snarky comments, Kendrick’s character was not a major highlight of the series.
Following Twilight, the Trolls actress appeared in New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn Part One. According to Anna Kendrick, the underutilization of her character actually helped her to form a healthy relationship with The Twilight Saga.
In a recent interview with Business Insider, Anna Kendrick revealed that unlike her co-actors who were more integral to the story, she did not have much to do in the story as Bella Swan’s best friend. As a result, she neither felt burdened with responsibility nor pressured by the fans to be a perfect version of the character from the novels.
Almost everyone else in the cast had to treat every moment like life and death, good versus evil, our eternal souls are on the line – and all I had to do was show up and make a snarky comment as I kind of pass through the frame. So I really felt like such a bystander to it in a way that I was very grateful to be privy to this kind of cultural phenomenon without it really impacting me in the ways that I think would’ve felt really challenging and overwhelming.
She claimed that some fans were so obsessed with The Twilight Saga that they even noticed even the smallest of the details. As a result, the film series worked well to help Anna Kendrick’s career. But the same could not be said for Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart who were not only subjected to intense media scrutiny but almost lost their careers.
How did The Twilight Saga almost ruin Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s careers?
Across many interviews, Robert Pattinson openly expressed his distaste for the vampire film series. The Batman actor even stated that he would have mindlessly hated the movies, had he been not the lead star. The film series was such a bad experience for him that he almost lost the role when he tried to portray Edward Cullen a bit differently.
But Robert Pattinson witnessed a more complex situation when he was typecast because of The Twilight Saga. He had a tough time searching for serious roles. According to Business Standard, the Tenet actor “went through a big time of depression between 23 and 25” for not getting his desired roles before landing Cosmopolis in 2012.
After The Twilight Saga, Pattinson did many indie films to establish himself as a serious actor. But sadly, the lack of an indie film fanbase almost led him to bankruptcy (see GQ). Fortunately, his career saw another turn when he got to be a part of big-budget flicks like Tenet and The Batman.
On the other hand, Kristen Stewart faced a different crisis as the fame intensely affected her personal life. She was not only brutally trolled for her performance, but also for her looks. As per News.com.au, the Bella Swan actress almost considered doing a face transplant to be happier in life.