Not too long ago, Henry Cavill admitted that he was actually considered for the role of Edward Cullin in the ‘Twilight’ series. With ‘Breaking Dawn Part 1’ still popular at the box office, it’s a bit fun to wonder if the franchise would have been as successful with other actors in the title roles.

Recently, Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn from ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’) spoke to US Weekly and revealed that she was eyed for the role of Bella. “There was definitely interest here and there because there’s only so few pale girls in Hollywood,” she quipped, “I’ve known (‘Twilight’ director) Catherine Hardwicke since the movie ‘Thirteen.’ I was actually supposed to star in (‘Twilight’), but I was on ‘Buffy’ at the time.” Apparently the role eventually went to Kristen Stewart as Trachtenberg’s schedule couldn’t accommodate the film schedule for ‘Twilight’ and vice versa.

Trachtenberg doesn’t regret not getting the role, philosophically saying, “I already have ‘Buffy’… I’ve already done the vampire thing. [Hypothetical answers mean] you’re not living in the moment and you’re looking negatively at what you’re doing now.”

While hypotheticals may mean not living in the moment, it’s still fun to speculate. When the first ‘Twilight’ movie was being cast, it was the hottest project at the time and many young actors were vying for parts. Besides Trachtenberg and Cavill, here’s a few more that might have been in ‘Twilight’ series:

EDWARD CULLIN

    

Shiloh Fernandez, Dustin Milligan and Michael Welch

For the role of Edward, over 2,500 actors auditioned and director Catherine Hardwicke was able to bring that number down to 4. Robert Pattinson, Shiloh Fernandez, Michael Welch and Dustin Mulligan the top 4. As Hardwicke explains, “I brought the four guys that I thought were the best and she [Kristen Stewart] had to make out with them or do four different scenes with them and at the end of those two days she said, ‘It’s gotta be Rob.”

Fernandez has since gone on to star in ‘United States of Tara’, ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Red Riding Hood’ and Milligan played Ethan Ward on ‘90210.’ “I did my best Edward Cullen,”says Miliigan, “But unfortunately, I didn’t have a British accent. So, I didn’t get the job!”

As for Michael Welch, he admitted to MTV, “… I auditioned for pretty much every role… As much as I appreciate my representatives thinking that I could pull off hauntingly beautiful — the most gorgeous creature you will ever see on the planet — it’s not quite me…” Luckily for us, he was eventually cast in the role of Mike Newton for the franchise.

BELLA SWAN

Jennifer Lawrence has confessed that she is a fan of the ‘Twilight’ novels. “I love the ‘Twilight’ books. I’m not even ashamed to say it, they are like methamphetamine to me. So when I heard Kristen Stewart say, “I only read the first one,” I was like, “Oh man,” because she wasn’t a huge fan of the books.”

Needless to say, Lawrence may not be talking about this as the role that got away as she has since been nominated for an Oscar for her role in ‘Winter’s Bone’ and will be seen next year in ‘The Hunger Games.’

JANE

You may know Lucy Hale from ‘Scream 4’ and ‘Pretty Little Liars’, but she also auditioned for the part of Jane in ‘The Twilight Sage: Eclipse.’ Of course, she was up against Dakota Fanning. Need I say more?

JACOB BLACK

After the first ‘Twilight’ movie, producers weren’t sure if Taylor Lautner would be able to bulk up into a sexy werewolf with a six pack, so they began looking at other actors. One of which was Michael Copon (‘Scorpion King 2). Luckily for those on Team Jacob, Lautner was able to transform himself and the rest is history.

LEAH CLEARWATER

Vanessa Hudgens auditioned for the female shape shifter role during the time the production was gearing up for ‘New Moon.’  Even Ashley  Green, who was already cast as Alice, had said to MTV,”I think she’d be great.” But apparently since the character of Leah wouldn’t appear until ‘Eclipse’, the audition may have been for naught as they weren’t even casting for the part yet.

Although a Cavill and Stewart or a Trachtenberg and Pattinson pairing may not sound ideal, the ‘What If’ game continues on in Hollywood. So what do you think? If any of the above actors got the roles they auditioned for instead of the ones that were cast, would the ‘Twilight’ movies still have the same bite?

Source: US Weekly, MTV, Next Movie