AI Reveals What Twilight Characters Should Really Look Like According To The Books

Arguably the biggest literary phenomenon of the era following "Harry Potter," Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" novels were bestselling hits that were perfect for cinematic adaptations. In 2008, the first "Twilight" movie debuted to rapturous financial acclaim, grossing north of $400 million worldwide. The films were so popular that Robert Pattinson's career was never the same afterward. While we now see Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as major, prolific stars, they received their fair share of hatred back in the day. Some mocked their acting chops, while other fans felt they weren't perfect for their roles. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we now know what "Twilight" could have looked like if the leading players were faithfully cast. 

YouTuber user Screen AI has used generative artificial intelligence to provide viewers with book-authentic variations of their favorite characters. The results are — well — not as exciting as we hoped for. After all, when it comes to casting a film, a lot more goes into finding actors than just their looks. For example, Bella is described in the books as someone who has a "pale complexion," "chocolate brown eyes," and a "heart-shaped face." The video then shows an uncanny valley-like AI avatar who fits this description. But then, when you compare it with Stewart's Bella, you're not really getting much of a difference. 

Edward Cullen is described in the book as someone "tall," "thin," and "muscular," with a "strong jawline" and "perfect eyebrows." Seeing as Pattinson is widely considered to be a sex symbol, you'd be hard-pressed to find an actor better suited for the role. 

When it comes to the leading players, the AI doesn't really provide anything new or interesting. In casting "Twilight," the creative team had to consider various factors beyond authenticity, including commercial viability and on-screen chemistry. In addition, this was a franchise, meaning the actors, especially those playing vampires, had to consistently look the same over the four-year period the films dominated multiplexes. Funnily enough, a lot of the "Twilight" cast looks different today, probably because they wanted to try on different looks after the series wrapped up in 2012. 

The AI images do get a bit more helpful when it comes to supporting characters. Consider Renesmee, whose curly bronze hair wasn't particularly pronounced when Mackenzie Foy played the character, or Charlie Swan (Billy Burke), who didn't receive curly brown hair in the films. These changes, however, are minimal. Ultimately, we got the best possible cast for the multi-billion-dollar franchise. "Twilight" is getting rebooted as TV series, which means fans can look forward to a new generation of actors to take on the iconic characters we know and love. 

One thing that the TV show should focus on is diversity and inclusion, where the films failed. In the series, Taylor Lautner played Jacob, a Quileute tribe member. While Lautner does have some Native American ancestry, the films failed to cast a member from the community. The AI version of the character in the video appears to be accurate to Meyer's description, which makes us hopeful that the TV show can take cues from it.