Taylor Swift, The Ultimate Twi-Hard, Almost Had A Cameo In Twilight: New Moon

Imagine a world where Taylor Swift played a lunch lady in Twilight — it almost actually happened. In a recent interview on the podcast The Twilight Effect with Ashley Greene and Melanie Howe, a director of the famous Twilight series, Chris Weitz, admitted that Taylor Swift almost got a role in the movies. He also spilled on how Swift’s Twilight superfan status led her to inquire about a role, and why the cameo ultimately never happened.

All the Taylor tea was spilled on the Aug. 16 episode of The Twilight Effect, which is hosted by Twilight alum Ashley Greene, best known for her role as the perky psychic vamp Alice Cullen, and her best friend Melanie Howe, a self-proclaimed Twi-hard. Their guest was New Moon director Weitz, who revealed that a certain country-pop icon got rejected from joining the Twilight series despite expressing interest in appearing.

At the time, Weitz and Swift shared the same agent, so getting in touch with Weitz to discuss the potential for a cameo wasn’t difficult. Their agent admitted to Weitz: “Taylor would like to be in this movie, not because of you, but she’s a Twi-hard,” Weitz recounted. The director recalled that the agent even stressed Swift would have been content with a small cameo, like a student in the background at the Forks High School cafeteria or a patron at the diner Charlie Swan frequents as a regular.

The behind-the-scenes tidbit surprised the podcast hosts, as Greene marveled “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know that,” and Howe echoed the sentiment. Unfortunately, Weitz had to turn down the request because he felt the cameo may be distracting, noting that Swift would steal the show even if she was just a background character. “The moment Taylor Swift, like, walks onto the screen for about like five minutes, nobody is going to be able to process anything.” At the time that the 2009 sequel was in production, Swift’s career was taking flight and her name was on everyone’s radar. A Swift cameo would have, at the very least, distracted fans from the main storyline for a few minutes.

The choice is one that Weitz has expressed regret for because he was a fan of Swift. “I kick myself for it, too, because I was like, ‘Wow, I could’ve been hanging out with Taylor Swift. We could have been friends.’” It’s fun to imagine what a Swift cameo in the franchise could have been, especially considering her unexpected relationship with Twilight star Taylor Lautner at that time. The two dated in 2009 at the same time New Moon was released, before splitting up at the end of that year. It’s no Twilight cameo, but it’s close enough!