'We never really connected on a deep level,' Lautner said of himself and his 'Twilight' co-star.
Jacob Black and Edward Cullen's rivalry extended to the actors that played them. On the latest episode of Spotify's Call Her Daddy podcast, Taylor Lautner recalled the challenges he and Robert Pattinson faced in real life while battling for Bella Swan's (Kristen Stewart) heart in the Twilight franchise.
"I think it was tough," Lautner, who played werewolf Jacob Black in the movies, said of fans' intense Team Edward vs. Team Jacob rivalry. "I don't know for him, but for me at least it definitely, especially at the age I was at, you get your feelings hurt sometimes when you shouldn't. It's hard not to sometimes. It was a little difficult."
"I think it was awkward at times for the two of us to be standing together on a balcony and having 10,000 girls booing Rob but then cheering for me but then this half booing me and cheering [for Rob], but then us having to have some sort of friendship," he added. "It was difficult."
It was made even harder, Lautner said, because he and Pattinson are "just very, very different people."
"We never really connected on a deep level just because we're different humans," Lautner explained. "But he was always fantastic and the sweetest person ever."
Now, more than a decade after the final Twilight film was released, Lautner feels no ill will towards the franchise that made him a star.
"I only feel great feelings towards the franchise and everything it's given me," he said. "There's pros and cons to what it gave me, but the pros far outweigh the cons. It took a journey after the franchise was over with figuring out who I really am and what is truly important to me in life. I'm very, very thankful for the franchise."
When ET spoke to Lautner in January 2022, he gushed about the resurgence of Twilight's popularity among Gen Z.
"The past few years... it was just the TwiMoms stopping me in the street. It just kinda outgrew itself. I love the TwiMoms, but only recently has it resurged," he said. "We have these young teenagers starting to watch it. It's crazy to see it come back around."
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