Stephanie Meyer's Casting For Carlisle Cullen Was Poor, To Say The Least

Summary

• Casting for the first Twilight movie was an important step in the production, so Stephanie Meyer took an active part in the process.
• Meyer had an A-list actor in mind for the role of Edward, but when Robert Pattinson was chosen instead, she suggested the actor play Edward's father, Carlisle.
• Fortunately, he declined and Peter Facinelli got the part instead.

Since The Twilight Saga is mainly a romantic story, casting played a huge role in the early stages of creating the first movie.

The dynamic and chemistry between the actors could make or break the adaptation, so Stephanie Meyer, the author of the fan-favorite book series, took an active role in the casting process and was never shy about expressing her preferences.

However, all of her initial suggestions fell through for one reason or another. And in the case of Carlisle Cullen, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

The writer had two options in mind

From the beginning of the pre-production process, Meyer always said that her perfect Edward Cullen was Henry Cavill. And for his vampire dad, the author had Charlie Hunnam in mind.

But for the filmmakers, both of these actors felt age-inappropriate for the roles that Meyer intended for them. Cavill seemed too old to play a vampire frozen in time as a 17-year-old teenager (he was 25 when the first Twilight flick hit the theaters).

Hunnam, on the other hand, was too young. He was just six years older than Robert Pattinson, who eventually landed the lead role. Also, Hunnam reportedly wasn't even considering vampire-related projects. It was a different time, after all.

So Meyer went back to Cavill, who was apparently something of a celebrity crush of hers at the time. But the actor turned down the role of Carlisle, which was certainly for the best for the series. After all, he was even younger than Hunnam, and that would have made the dynamics of the Cullen family odd, to say the least.

Yes, Carlisle Cullen is a vampire and could have been turned at a young age. But in the story, he serves as this ultimate father figure, so a larger age gap between him and his adopted children seems more appropriate.

Peter Facinelli enters the picture

Even after two of Meyer's initial suggestions fell through, Peter Facinelli was not the next in line to play Carlisle. At first, an unknown actor was considered for the role. But fortunately, he turned it down for some reason, and Facinelli got the life-changing call.

The actor joked that he bought his iconic role for $29.99 because he wanted the part so badly that he sent Mayer a book about vampires after his audition, hoping to impress the famed author.

And it looks like the ploy paid off. Facinelli got the role that made him famous. And we got a brilliantly played Carlisle Cullen, who was much more convincing as a father figure on screen than Cavill and Hunnam could be at the time.