Twilight's Original Carlisle Was Way Worse: Find Out Which A-List Actor Was Going to Play Him
Stephanie Meyer had in mind someone other than Peter Facinelli for the role of Carlisle Cullen. Luckily, that casting fell through.
Even before 2008's Twilight hit the screens, the vampire novel series was a huge hit with an enormous fanbase.
The fans were very vocal about every decision made regarding the upcoming movies. Of course, with the Twilight Saga being a romantic series, everyone was particularly concerned about casting.
Stars and chemistry between them could either ruin the movies or bring them huge success. So the author of the book series, Stephanie Meyer, took an active part in the casting process. However, her initial ideas about the cast were not fulfilled for various reasons. And in the case of Carlisle Cullen, it turned out to be a good thing.
Meyer never kept her thoughts about who should play in the Twilight Saga a secret. In a 2007's blog post, Meyer called Henry Cavill "her perfect Edward." But Robert Pattinson seemed like a better choice, so in the end, he landed the role.
As for Edward's father, initially Meyer had in mind Charlie Hunnam at the time best known for his work in Nicholas Nickelby, Green Street, and Children of Men. But the actor reportedly was not interested to be part of any vampire-themed film, so Meyer went back to Cavill.
Even though the part of Carlisle Cullen was not as demanding as Edward Cullen's role, Cavill turned it down. Probably, this was for the best, because both Charlie Hunnam and Henry Cavill were not much older than Pattinson, and this would make the dynamics in the Cullen family a bit weird.
Yes, Carlisle Cullen is a vampire and can be as young as they come, but he serves as a strong father figure so a bigger age gap felt more natural.
However, even after Meyer's first and second choices for the role fell through, Peter Facinelli didn't get the role. At first, another unnamed actor got the part but later he turned it down for some reason, and that's when Facinelli got the call that made him famous and viewers got brilliantly-played Carlisle Cullen.
Facinelli told the hosts of The Twilight Effect podcast that he read Twilight before his audition and loved the novel. The actor joked that he bought his iconic role for $29.99. That was the price of the book on vampires he sent Stephanie Meyers after the audition.