Ashley Greene recently opened up on the massive crush she had on one of her “Twilight” co-stars, Jackson Rathbone. The pair starred in all five of the “Twilight” films as a couple, Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale from 2008 to 2012.
Fans enjoyed their intimate moments in the films and hoped they got together in real life. Interestingly, Greene recently admitted that she felt the same way, as her romantic interest in Rathbone wasn’t just onscreen.
She revealed that she developed an actual crush on him during their time on the film series, and she opened up about it. Did Rathbone feel the same way for her? Were they a thing in real life? Keep reading to find out.
Ashley Greene Had A ‘Big Old Crush’ on Jackson Rathbone
The actress admitted to her feelings for Rathbone on the most recent episode of her podcast, The Twilight Effect. She said, “I had a big old crush on Jackson Rathbone while we were filming.”
She explained that it was love at first sight since the crush started from their first meeting. “Within our first encounter, I was like, ‘This dude’s super cute and a Southern gentleman. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m into it,’”
Her crush got stronger as they spent more time together, both onscreen and off-screen. “He sings; he taught me how to swing dance,” she said. She said about their roles in the film series as romantic partners, “And he’s supposed to be my lifetime love onscreen, and I was like, ‘This is gonna be easy.’ “
When asked, Greene insisted that Rathbone “had to have known” about the crush because she made it quite obvious. Also, “if he did know, he just wasn’t into me.” So, the two never took their romance off the set and remained friends.
Ashley Greene Dated Other People
Greene explained that she couldn’t control her feelings for Rathbone and that she “hadn’t developed the skill set of creating onscreen chemistry and separating that” at the time. “So I was like, ‘We have chemistry, great!’ “she added. But looking back now, she referred to the experience as “super fun” and the feelings as “a harmless crush.”
The 35-year-old star got married in 2018 to Paul Khoury, and the couple is currently expecting a child. When asked, she confirmed that she was dating other people during her crush on Rathbone. She said, “I wasn’t just like, chilling, hopelessly waiting for him.”
Greene gave up on her feelings for her onscreen sweetheart at some point in the film series because “at a certain point, you can only crush so hard until your dreams are just broken.”
The Crush Was Expected
Greene also talked about the crush in a recent interview she had with Insider. She explained that it was “only natural” that some cast members developed feelings for each other since they spent so much time together.
“Being around each other solely four or five years of our life, it’s kind of bound to happen, and obviously some of them turned into relationships, and some of them didn’t,” Greene said. As the films got popular, a lot of attention was on them, and for this reason, they had to stay away from the public.
“We were kind of forced to stop going out at a certain point,” Greene said. “We ended up getting together in our hotel rooms and playing music and having drinks and it was a really kind of intense bonding moment for all of us.”
‘Twilight’ Inspired Gay Fans
Also with Insider, Greene talked about her time as Alice in the “Twilight” films. She also mentioned that Alice held a special place in the hearts of some LGBTQ “Twilight” fans since she was the reason for their “gay awakening” at the time.
“The first time someone told me, I cried,” Greene admitted, “I was like, ‘That’s so incredible!’ You know the impact that Twilight had on people, but to kind of go that extra step and be able to allow people to be their true selves is really special,” she continued.