For those of you thinking, Wait, she was in Twilight?, I sure was! I was the sassy, awkward friend who broke up the relentless succession of intense stare-downs with musings on boys, tanning, and various school gossip. It was a sweet gig. The rest of the actors had to bring heart and honesty to fantasy situations involving life, death, eternal love, and the preservation of one’s immortal soul. All I had to do was make jokes about how everyone was acting weird all the time.
The best part was that I got all the fun with none of the consequences! I got to show up to this mega-franchise for one to three weeks per movie, bear witness to the madness, and act like an idiot. I was once allowed to go on a rant about the zombie apocalypse genre (which was mostly a shout-out to Edgar Wright) and it actually ended up in the film. And I wasn’t saddled with the creepy super-fame. Most of the cast couldn’t walk out the door without being mobbed, but, weirdly, the vapid friend from school didn’t inspire the same zeal in fans. None of the other filmmakers I worked with during those years had ever seen Twilight, but the series kept me in room and board while I did their movies for no money. It was like the world’s most ridiculous day job.
I have a vivid memory of my first day on the first movie. The cast and crew had been shooting for several weeks already and I was brought to the set to say hello to the director before my first scene the next day. Usually, a cast is happy to see additional characters; it’s nice to get some new blood. Walking into the lunch tent felt like a scene from Band of Brothers. These were Toccoa men and I was the idiot greenhorn showing up like, “Hey, bros! Who’s amped to get in there and rip it up?!”
Kellan Lutz is the sweetest guy, but that day I think he might have strangled me if he’d had the energy. Kristen Stewart—one of the most committed actors I’ve ever worked with—made a valiant effort to be friendly, but I could tell she was putting her back into it. Underneath every word, I heard You don’t know, man, you don’t know what it’s like out there.
Wet and cold is not an environment conducive to making friends. Imagine if the first four weeks of a new job were spent outdoors in the freezing rain. Even when you all got to go inside, you’d just want to sleep and defrost your toes. You can’t create many inside jokes when you’re mostly numb. We were shooting in Oregon and Canada, in some of the most breathtaking locations I’ve ever seen. I would have enjoyed them more if I’d been in galoshes and a winter jacket. As it happened, we were pretending it was late spring, and after my first thirty minutes on set, ice-cold water had seeped through my Converse and saturated my cotton socks. Only fourteen hours to go!
On a small set, I might have had the luxury of a fluffy coat to run to before and after a scene. On Twilight, I was referred to most often as “Number 44.” A coat wasn’t in the cards.
I’d also like to mention the real MVPs of the Twilight movies: the background actors. Sometimes referred to as “extras,” background actors have the most thankless job on set. By the fourth movie, old “Number 44” had at least earned herself itself a coat. But movie four was brutally cold. Especially the wedding scenes. Between shots the background actors stood around those space heaters that do almost nothing, but they didn’t have winter coats. And they would come back the next day!
If you told me I had to be in that weather with no relief, I would have bailed like the little bitch I am. Extreme cold messes with you. The elements don’t discriminate. And no amount of “you’re getting paid to do this” matters when your body’s basic survival requirements are in play. Someone once told me that the reason most Navy SEALs drop out isn’t because of the physical demands or the danger, but because they don’t want to be cold all the time anymore.
So now, when I’m standing in a patch of wet moss in open-toed shoes and a strapless chiffon sundress, watching my breath fog in front of my face (sometimes they try to make you suck on ice so they won’t have to remove the fog in post—don’t fall for it), I think: You are a fucking Navy SEAL, Kendrick! You will get through this scene, you will say this stupid joke, and if you lose a nipple to frostbite in the process, it will be for art!!