The Twilight cast became major stars in their own right thanks to the young adult supernatural franchise that took vampires and werewolves and placed them in the middle of a love triangle. Based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer, Twilight follows a teenage girl named Bella Swan who moves to Washington to live with her dad and learns that there are vampires in the town, most posing as high school students to fit in. Unlike many vampire movies at the time, these vampires didn’t kill, and it all turned into a supernatural love story.

However, along the way, the characters sprinkled into the franchise include evil vampires, high school friends who are both jealous and helpful, and even a Native American group who turns out in later movies to be shape-shifters. However, this first movie is a horror tale of a vampire who promises to protect his new lover from a rogue vampire who wants to kill her. Thanks to that, the focus here is smaller, and the future wide cast of characters is narrower than in later Twilight Saga movies.

Kristen Stewart As Bella Swan

Date Of Birth: April 9, 1990

• Active Since: 1999

Actor: Kristen Stewart played Bella Swan, the main heroine in Twilight. Stewart started her career as a child with her first notable role in the David Fincher movie Panic Room, where she played Jodie Foster’s daughter. She next appeared in several films in smaller roles, with highlights including The Messengers and Jumper. After Twilight, Stewart stretched her acting skills in comedies like Adventureland, biopics like The Runaways, and award-nominated films like Spencer.

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Character: Bella Swan is the main protagonist of The Twilight Saga. She opened this first movie as a teenager, moving to Washington to live with her dad and start at a new high school. While there, she meets an interesting young man named Edward Cullen and soon discovers he is a vampire. She falls in love with the vampire but soon catches the eye of another vampire, a hunter who wants to kill her and will do so at any cost. Bella has to choose between her own life and protecting those she loves.

Robert Pattinson As Edward Cullen

Date Of Birth: May 13, 1986

• Active Since: 2004

Actor: Robert Pattinson plays the vampire Edward Cullen in Twilight. Pattinson’s career was just getting started when he signed onto Twilight. However, he did get a huge opportunity when he played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. However, Pattinson immediately began to work on changing his reputation, even while starring in the Twilight movies. He took on roles in David Cronenberg films like Cosmopolis, Christopher Nolan in Tenet, and the DC Comics movie The Batman.

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Character: Edward Cullen is a vampire with mind-reading abilities who falls in love with the teenage Bella Swan in Twilight. He does not feed on humans and is very protective of his idenтιтy at first, but once he starts to fall for Bella, he becomes even more protective of her. This comes to a head when she spends time with his family and ends up the target of a rival vampire clan’s hunter, who wants to kill Bella. Edward swears to protect Bella at all costs.

Taylor Lautner As Jacob Black

Date Of Birth: February 11, 1992

• Active Since: 2001

Actor: Taylor Lautner plays Jacob Black in Twilight. Before he signed on to star in Twilight, a young Lautner appeared in the Robert Rodriguez fantasy film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D, where he played Sharkboy. He also had another child role in Steve Martin’s Cheaper by the Dozen 2. However, after Twilight, Lautner failed to find success as an action star in movies like Abduction and left Hollywood for several years. In 2022, he made a small return in the sports movie Home Team.

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Character: Jacob Black was a childhood friend of Bella Swan from when she visited her dad when she was younger. He eventually becomes part of a love triangle between Bella and Edward, and he plants the seeds for that in this movie, with his interest in Bella obvious. Jacob is also part of a shape-shifter pack that turns into werewolves, but in this movie, he had yet to gain that ability, and it didn’t happen until the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Peter Facinelli As Carlisle Cullen

Date Of Birth: November 26, 1973

• Active Since: 1995

Actor: Peter Facinelli plays the patriarch of the Cullen clan, Carlisle. He started acting in 1995 and enjoyed his biggest appearance in the teen comedy Can’t Hardly Wait, where he played one of the film’s antagonists. In 2002, he got the chance to take on a big role in the buddy cop TV series Fastlane, but Twilight allowed him to achieve his breakout role. However, his biggest success was on television, with major roles in Six Feet Under, Nurse Jackie, and Supergirl, where he played Maxwell Lord.

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Character: Carlisle Cullen is the leader of the Cullen family clan and is responsible for either turning all the members into vampires or taking them in when they need help (such as with Alice). He is also the main doctor in Forks, Washington, and works with Bella’s dad when people are brought in, mauled by something in the woods. He is very protective of his family and becomes protective of Bella Swan when Edward falls in love with her and the vampire James begins to hunt her.

Ashley Greene As Alice Cullen

Date Of Birth: February 21, 1987

• Active Since: 2005

Actor: Ashley Greene plays Alice Cullen in Twilight. Greene got her start on television with small roles but Twilight was her first major role in movies or on television. This eventually led to her getting a recurring role on the TV show Pan Am and a main role in the police drama Rogue. She also had a role in the movie CBGB in 2013. However, outside those roles, her career has mostly seen her participate in smaller films and horror releases like The Ritual and The Apparition.

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Character: Alice Cullen is a vampire who can see versions of the future, although they only reveal what could happen, and things could still change based on a person’s decision. She is one of the first Cullens besides Edward to show great interest in Bella Swan, and she knows that Edward and Bella are fated to be together. However, she is also the one who sees James hunting down Bella to kill her, and it is her powers that help the family find and save her.

Billy Burke As Charlie Swan

Date Of Birth: November 25, 1966

• Active Since: 1990

Actor: Billy Burke plays Charlie Swan, Bella’s father, in Twilight. Burke had been acting for 17 years before taking on the role in Twilight, but he was not a big name yet. He appeared in films like Along Came a Spider and Ladder 49 and TV shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Gilmore Girls, but Twilight was his biggest role yet. Since then, Burke has seen great success on TV, with lead roles in Revolution, Major Crimes, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Maid, and Fire Country.

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Character: Charlie Swan is Bella’s father and Chief of Police of Forks, Washington. He is slightly awkward and happy to see his daughter finally coming to live with him after she lived with his ex-wife in Phoenix for most of her life. He is also working on the case of several people ending up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, mauled by what seemed to be a creature but was later discovered to be a vampire, although Charlie never knew about this until later movies. He is also close friends with the head of a werewolf pack but doesn’t know about their secrets.

Cam Gigandet As James Witherdale

Date Of Birth: August 16, 1982

• Active Since: 2003

Actor: Cam Gigandet plays James, the main villain in Twilight. He made his acting debut in 2003 on television and had a series of roles on the small screen before he enjoyed his breakout on the drama series The O.C. as Kevin Volchok. In 2008, he picked up the role of the bad boy Ryan McCarthy in Never Back Down and carried that character type into his role in Twilight. Since then, he has had lead roles in TV shows like Reckless and Ice and movies like 2025’s Love Hurts.

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Character: James is the main villain in Twilight. He is part of a roaming vampire clan that has been killing people around Forks, Washington, and has the town in fear. This also worries the Cullen clan since it could expose who they are. When James and his clan encounter the Cullens, he realizes Bella is a human and decides he wants to hunt and kill her, which sends the Cullens on the run with Bella while James does everything he can to achieve his ultimate kill.

Supporting Twilight Cast Members

Cullens, Classmates, and Other Villains

Elizabeth Reaser As Esme Cullen: Elizabeth Reaser plays Esme, the matriarch of the Cullen clan. She has a small role in the first movie, which barely increases throughout the franchise, although she is portrayed as a protective and caring mother figure. She has been acting since 1998, and her most notable roles are in Young Adult, The Uninvited, and the TV shows The Haunting of Hill House and The Handmaid’s Tale.

Kellan Lutz As Emmett Cullen: Emmett Cullen is the strongest of the Cullen family, and he is the person most expected to carry the load in fights in later movies. In this first movie, he is mostly there for the baseball scene and the Cullen family moments. His biggest roles came as the lead in the 2014 movie The Legend of Hercules, as part of the cast in The Expendables 3, and in smaller roles in films like A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). He also plays a lead role in FBI: Most Wanted.

Nikki Reed As Rosalie Hale: Nikki Reed plays Rosalie Hale. She is the most distrustful of Bella Swan, and she is the only one who knows that Bella brings a great threat to her family. However, in the first movie, her role is limited to casting these concerns and acting as bait for James. Nikki Reid previously worked with Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke on the drama movie Thirteen. She also starred in the TV series Sleepy Hollow but she and husband Ian Somerhalder have since retired from acting.

Jackson Rathbone As Jasper Hale: Jackson Rathbone plays Jasper, the newest member of the Cullen clan and Alice’s lover. He is a former Civil War soldier who fought in the Southern Vampire Wars. He has very little to do in Twilight, but his role does increase in later movies. He also starred in The Last Airbender as Sokka. While still acting, most of his roles are in smaller movies. He did have a recurring role in the drama series The Last Ship.

Rachelle Lefevre As Victoria Sutherland: Rachelle Lefevre has one of the most interesting roles in Twilight because she was set up to be a future villain but was then recast when her big villain moment arrived. She played Victoria in Twilight and was dating James, meaning she sought vengeance after his death. Lefevre has several TV roles in shows like A Gifted Man, Under the Dome, Proven Innocent, The Sounds, and Moriah’s Lighthouse.

Edi Gathegi As Laurent Da Revin: Edi Gathegi played Laurent, the vampire coven leader that included James and Victoria. He left the coven when James began hunting Bella, but later returned to the franchise as a villain. His other roles include the mutant Darwin in X-Men: First Class, one of the barons in Into the Badlands, and he had a recurring role in The Blacklist and For All Mankind.

Christian Serratos As Angela Weber: Christian Serratos plays Angela, one of Bella’s friends at high school. She is unsure of herself, and Bella helps her step up and take control of her life. Serratos is best known for her role as Rosita Espinosa in The Walking ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, one of the heroes who lasts until the final season. She also starred as Selena in Netflix’s Selena: The Series.

Michael Welch As Mike Newton: Michael Welch plays Mike Newton, a friend of Bella’s who has a crush on her. He asks her out in the movie, but Bella rejects him. He returns later in the series, still wanting a chance with Bella, making him one of Twilight’s most hated characters. Welch is best known for his roles in Twilight, although he also had a major part in the TV series Joan of Arcadia as Luke Girardi.

Anna Kendrick As Jessica Stanley: Anna Kendrick stars as Jessica, one of Bella’s first high school friends. While they are friends, Jessica is also snide and seems two-faced, which is proven later in the comments she makes in later movies. Kendrick had one of the most successful post-Twilight careers. She received an Oscar nomination for Up in the Air, led her franchise in Pitch Perfect, and picked up a Primetime Emmy nomination for Dummy. She directed her first movie, Woman of the Year, in 2023.

Gil Birmingham as Billy Black: Gil Birmingham is Billy Black in Twilight, Charlie’s best friend and Jacob’s father. He knows the town’s secrets and who the Cullens are, although he protects their secrets. Birmingham has a long career in Hollywood, with recent roles in Yellowstone, Hell or High Water, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Animal Kingdom.