Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart Had an Instant Attraction, Says 'Twilight' Director

Stewart pushed for Pattinson to be cast after kissing him during his audition, Catherine Hardwicke recalls

Photo: Jordan Strauss/WireImage

It was love at first sight for Kristen Stewart when she set eyes on Robert Pattinson, according to Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke.

“She felt connected to him from the first moment. That electricity, or love at first sight, or whatever it is,” Hardwicke tells Newsweek of the couple, who are now filming Breaking Dawn in Vancouver.

Stewart met Pattinson in Hardwicke’s kitchen in Malibu, Calif. After they kissed for the first time in the audition (on the director’s bed!), Stewart helped Pattinson get the job.

“Kristen was like, ‘It’s got to be Rob!’ ” Hardwicke recalls.

But the director made Pattinson make a promise first: “You’ve got to realize that Kristen is 17 years old,” she told the actor, who is four years older than his costar. “She’s underage. You’ve got to focus, dude, or you’re going to be arrested. I made him swear on a stack of Bibles.”

When Hardwicke had originally seen photos of Pattinson, she wasn’t sure if he was the right fit to play Edward Cullen. “He had been fired from his last job, he was unemployed, he was in debt,” Hardwicke says.

But she was convinced after he flew to Los Angeles – on his own dime – for the reading with his future love.

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