“We never really connected on a deep level just because we’re different humans,” Lautner said of Pattinson, while also reflecting on reconnecting with Swift after she “absolutely” broke up with him.
As any Twihard knows, the Team Edward versus Team Jacob rivalry was something that fans took very seriously, and Taylor Lautner is opening up about how the competition affected him and Robert Pattinson off-screen.
While appearing on Wednesday’s episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, the 31-year-old actor — who played Jacob Black in the fantasy romance film franchise opposite Pattinson’s Edward Cullen — recalled how the Twilight rivalry between himself and Pattinson was “difficult,” admitting that it would even sometimes hurt his feelings.
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“I think it was tough. 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,” Laurtner told CHD host Alex Cooper. “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 continued. “It was difficult.”
Lautner went on to note that he and Pattinson were “just very, very different people.”
“We never really connected on a deep level just because we’re different humans,” he said, adding, “But he was always fantastic and the sweetest person ever.”
Lautner and Pattinson starred alongside Kristen Stewart in the 2008 film, and went on to reprise their roles in four sequels: The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), Eclipse (2010), Breaking Dawn — Part 1 (2011), and Breaking Dawn — Part 2 (2012).
Looking back, Lautner said he’s grateful for the experience.
“I only feel great feelings towards the franchise and everything it’s given me,” he shared. “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.”
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Meanwhile, elsewhere during the podcast interview, in which he appeared alongside his wife, Tay, Lautner reflected on his past relationship with Taylor Swift, and detailed the “rekindling” of their friendship over a decade after their 2009 split.
“I think when you respect somebody for who they are, like in their soul, it allows you to move on, forgive and continue that love in a different way,” he shared.
“We stayed friendly, we would see each other now and then. But we then did fall out of touch and didn’t talk for a while,” he continued, sharing that they “were so young” when they dated, but he “always had the deepest respect for who she is as a person before anything else.”
However, as Swifties know, Lautner and Swift, 34, recently reconnected, with the former even appearing in the latter’s music video for “I Can See You” — a vault track from the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). On the night of the video’s premiere back in July, Swift even had the other Taylor join her on stage at her Eras Tour concert.
“Honestly, I would say one of the greater things to happen in my life over the last year is the rekindling of our friendship,” Lautner recalled.
Although he later admitted that it was “absolutely” Swift’s decision to end things in 2009, he still only had good things to say about the pop star, praising Swift as a “wonderful human” and a “pretty great” person “to have in your life.”
