Twilight: New Moon director regrets rejecting Taylor Swift cameo

Taylor Swift in Cats
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Twilight: New Moon director Chris Weitz regrets not including a cameo from Taylor Swift in the popular teen vampire film – after the pop star asked him herself.

The director discussed the decision on Ashley Greene and Melanie Howe's podcast The Twilight Effect – in which former franchise star Green sits down with friend and 'Twihard' Howe to dish on the film series. Weitz revealed that Swift, a big fan of both the books series and first installment, hadn't asked for a big part, and wanted to be "someone at the cafeteria, or the diner or whatever."

"The hardest thing for me was to be like, the moment that Taylor Swift walks onto the screen, for about five minutes, nobody is going to be able to process anything," Weitz explained. "I kick myself for it too, because—I was like, wow, I could’ve been hanging out with Taylor Swift. She must have been like, ‘Who is this jerk?’ But sometimes you make decisions thinking this is for the best of the film."

Weitz may have made the right call, especially considering that the movie was released back in 2009 – when Swift was first reaching global stardom. In a drearily-colored film about sparkly vampires, it's not hard to imagine that the singer would've stuck out like a sore thumb. The sequel did go on to break the record for highest first-day gross, raking in $72.7 million. Luckily, Swift has had plenty of other acting ventures – although one of them does include the 2019 CGI disaster musical Cats

For more, check out our list of the 100 best movies of the decade.

Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.