Robert Pattinson and Kristen Steward were actually a couple during their first Twilight audition

Over the weekend, about 500 Twilight fans gathered in Forks, Washington — the IRL setting of the Twilight Saga — to celebrate their fandom during the annual Forever Twilight in Forks Festival. There were a ton of fun activities: hiking at the La Push beaches, a cooking class where you could learn how to make Bella’s infamous cup of blood, a T-shirt quilting class, and even a full-scale wedding reception starring actors dressed exactly like Bella, Edward, and the rest of the Olympic Coven.

But the highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Saturday’s Forever Twilight in Forks Festival Panel. The two-and-a-half hour panel featured a presentation from Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke as well as a paired interview with Nancy Kirkpatrick (President of Worldwide Marketing, Summit Entertainment) and Eric Kops (Director of Publicity at Summit Entertainment).

They shared a ton of never-before-seen photos from the cast’s auditions, candid behind-the-scenes glimpses, and off-screen stories from their years working on the global phenomenon. And, of course, they addressed all the drama that took place — including the romantic relationship between stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.  

Pattinson and Stewart Were Actually a Couple

“First of all, Rob and Kristen were in love,” Kirkpatrick confirmed. “They were a real couple, it wasn’t manufactured in Hollywood. I wish I was that good.”

The two first met at Rob’s Twilight audition for Catherine Hardwicke — Kristen had already been cast in the role of Bella and was reading with potential Edward actors. Kirkpatrick said, “Rob and I were flying on a private plane — to a Walmart, of all places — and we’re chatting. He goes, ‘Oh, yeah. I was in love with Kristen from the very first time I saw her in the audition.’” Catherine Hardwicke shared photos of the two actors from that day — Stewart wore jeans and a gray sweatshirt, and Pattinson had black hair from a previous role and wore a red and blue plaid shirt.

Kirkpatrick continued, “Catherine told Rob, ‘She’s only 17! You’re 21! You can’t, hands off.’ Rob was like, ‘So I had to wait.’ That was a very real relationship.”

 “It was a blessing and a curse in some ways, it made things really complicated,” Kops said. “You were worried about them as individuals. You knew that they were young stars and this was such a giant thing that exploded. We were very protective of them, always. [We] tried to let them have a personal life and be young people, and yet you knew it was a billion-dollar thing to our company. So it was a really delicate balance of trying to honor what they had as individuals and honor the franchise.”

source: fandom.wikia.com