I spent all four years of High School being referred to as “Bella” by both students and teachers alike. It might have something to do with the fact that I bear a striking resemblance to the character, but there is no denying that my intense love for the series had a hand in that comparison. The first Twilight film came out while I was in the midst of eighth grade and as a lonely, clumsy, introverted kid with a shy streak that had just moved from the big city to a cold, rainy, small town, I related to the story for some reason.

Though some fans took their love for the franchise to the extreme and their sheer adoration alienated most people, the series will always have a special place in my heart. And while I am more than aware of the more cheesy and questionable moments that occur throughout the films, watching any one of them will always bring me back to the fourteen-year-old girl I was when I devoured them every day in order to feel less alone.

The only thing more exciting than watching one of your favorite films is taking the time to find out exactly what went into creating the thing that you love. Who did their own stunts? How did they select the songs that would wind up on the soundtrack? So without further ado, let’s jump right on into these 25 things that you might not have known about The Twilight Saga.

25 Women, We Get The Job Done

It will come to no surprise to anyone that the first Twilight film was a hit. Upon its release, the first film in what would become an internationally known franchise smashed open the box office as if it were a pinata at a child's birthday party.

The first film made over $69.6 million in its opening week alone.

Which made it the biggest opening weekend ever for a film directed by and starring a woman (at the time of its release). The first film (which is arguably the best film in the entire series due to its “indie flick” style and emphasis on the characters rather than “big budget” style action sequences) is also the only film to have a female director (Catherine Hardwicke). Though Hardwicke was approached to direct the second film, she turned the offer down as she felt their strict schedule would affect the quality of the script she was to create.

24 Representation Is Key

Why is it that Hollywood seems to think that roles depicting Native American characters shouldn’t go to Native American actors? Though it has not been confirmed whether or not Taylor Lautner has legitimate Native American heritage, all of the other actors that were hired to portray the members of the wolf pack and the Quileute tribe were actually Native American people. Even the Quileute legends that Stephenie Meyer included in her story and the art used in the films were based on and inspired by real Native American mythology as well. These statements honestly should not be as impressive and exciting as they are but it is important to celebrate the positive and respectful representation that we do get as it is, unfortunately, not as common as it should be.

23 That Sinking Feeling

Remember that moment in the second film when Bella randomly becomes a total adrenaline junkie and decides to take up cliff jumping as a fun, thrill seeking, casual hobby? While a stunt double was used to film the 70-foot jump, Kristen was used for all of the underwater shots. Kristen was incredibly nervous about filming the sequence which depicts Bella floating to the bottom of that dark and cold body of water. The director, Chris Weitz, wanted to achieve this effect by placing weights in Kristen’s pockets and filming her sinking.

He even attempted the stunt himself to prove that it was safe and immediately began to panic as he reached the bottom.

Upon resurfacing, Weitz decided to rethink the scene. In the end, Kristen was filmed on her side and the camera moved away from her in order to recreate that “sinking” effect in the safest way possible.

22 Brought Back To Life

One of the most jarring moments in the entire franchise is the scene in which a pregnant and withering Bella dresses down for her bath and the camera pans across her skeletal frame. Every single bone in her shoulders and upper back is visible. When I caught this film in the theatre, there was a sharp and collected gasp when Bella’s shockingly thin frame appeared onscreen. It was as if we all finally realized that Bella might not survive this pregnancy. In an earlier CGI test when the post-production crew digitally altered Bella’s slight frame, she was far more withered and skeletal than she appeared in the final cut of the film. Several members of the crew decided that this version of Bella was far too much for audiences to see and decided to plump her up a bit.

21 Seeing Green

While it is no surprise that nearly every single actor that worked on the Twilight films had to wear dozens of contact lenses during the filming process, some people might be intrigued by the fact that there was exactly one scene in the entire franchise when Kristen was filmed without Bella’s brown lenses. In the second film, there is a scene which depicts a rain-soaked confrontation between Bella and Jacob following his sudden unexplained absence from her life.

However, the raindrops weren’t visible on their monitors.

So the artificial rain was cranked up to the point that Kristen had to take several breaks during the scene as she felt like she “was drowning.” This intense downpour also affected Kristen’s lenses to the point where she was almost completely unable to see. So the lenses were removed and Bella’s brown hue was added in post-production.

20 Timeless Inspiration

In my first semester at university, I annoyed several classmates by likening the Jane Austen novel that we were reading at the time to Twilight. And, to my credit, this comparison is honestly not that much of a stretch. I mean, in the first novel Bella literally has to stop reading her Jane Austen anthology while attempting to sunbathe due to the fact that the male love interest reminds her far too much of Edward. And let’s be real here for a moment, Edward Cullen (flawed as he may be) is more or less the spitting image of Mr. Darcy. And this was no accident. It turns out that Stephenie Meyer actually got a lot of the inspiration for her series of novels from the works of Jane Austen, Orson Scott Card, William Shakespeare, and Charlotte Bronte.

19 Going Rogue

Bella’s catastrophic eighteenth birthday might have been the worst birthday ever held. I mean, only one person came to my 22nd birthday and it doesn’t even come close to that epic birthday disaster.

But apparently, things were just as intense both on and off screen.

Jackson Rathbone (the actor who played the character of Jasper Hale) ended up getting so into character that he literally needed to be restrained during the scene. Jackson fought back with no inhibitions and it required both Peter Facinelli and Kellan Lutz to hold him back. He even ended up wiggling lose during one of the takes and accidentally knocked Elizabeth Reaser over. Everything was forgiven afterward and personally, I believe that Jackson’s intensity gave the scene exactly what it needed.

18 A Change Of Pace

I am not the type of person to hide my opinions and it is of my opinion that the first Twilight film is clearly the best film in the entire series. The movie was filmed in an independent style that focused on the characters (their personalities, interactions, and developments) rather than the supernatural elements, action sequences, and romantic plots. And clearly, this opinion is held by others as it has received the highest rating out of the entire series on Rotten Tomatoes and is also the only film in the series without a single Razzie nomination. I believe that the decline of the series is reflective of the fact that the later films decided to focus on the dramatic/suspenseful action-driven elements of the plot and lost the indie charm that made the first film so great.

17 A Lifetime Of Thoughts

It will come as no surprise that certain main cast members have grown to deeply regret their role in the series as they have taken every opportunity to speak out about their intense dislike for every aspect of the series.

But not every member of the cast feels that way.

Kristen Stewart, for example, holds Bella very closely to her heart. However, in a 2016 Ellen Degeneres interview, Kristen revealed that recounting those years she spent as Bella feels like looking back on a High School yearbook. She struggled with the intense and sudden rise to fame and the public backlash that followed. And honestly, I do not blame her. I cannot imagine trying to navigate the treacherous waters of early adulthood while being openly mocked by an insanely large portion of the population.

16 Body Troubles

In order to become a werewolf, your body is going to have to go through a lot of changes. And one of those changes includes a major physical transformation. And in order for Jacob to go from plucky teen to hunk of burning werewolf, he needed to pack on nearly thirty pounds of raw muscle. The crew worried that Taylor Lautner would not be able to supersize himself in time due to their tight filming schedule and began to look for another actor to fill the role. Afraid of losing his job, Lautner hit the gym (and ate so many chicken cutlets that he was nearly sick on several occasions) and successfully managed to gain an impressive 26lbs of sheer muscle before filming for New Moon began and was able to keep the role throughout the rest of the series.

15 Apple For Your Thoughts

The photos on the cover of books are rarely chosen by accident. In the case of the Twilight books, the beautiful, shiny, red apple that would many any teacher drool and doctor flee that graces the cover of the first book is there for a multitude of reasons. The first reason is a bit of a biblical allegory.

Bella is the fruit that Edward is forbidden to taste and vice versa.

But the temptation is too great and, like Eve, they both decide to bite. In Scandinavian mythology, this delicious fruit symbolizes eternal youth and beauty- which the Cullen’s have down in spades. Meyer has previously stated that she chose the apple because, in fiction, the appearance of an apple usually means that trouble is just around the corner. The examples that she sourced were Snow White and the Golden Apple presented to Aphrodite in Greek Mythology.

14 Musical Immortals

When you’ve lived as long as Edward has, you are bound to pick up a number of skills eventually. And one skill of Edward’s which is prominently featured throughout the series is his unparalleled piano skills. That boy can tickle those ivories like no other and the scenes that feature Edward’s piano skills have always sent goosebumps up my arms. So imagine my excitement when I learned that Robert was actually playing the piano. But his musical abilities don’t stop there. During the filming process, his co-star Nikki Reed secretly filmed him practicing one of his songs and brought the recording to the crew, urging them to include the song in the film. The song “Let Me Sign” played while Edward attempted to drain the poison from Bella in the ballet studio. Robert was reportedly surprised at how well the song blended into the film.

13 Gift Of The Gab

Do you remember that bizarre scene in New Moon that occurred after Bella and Jessica left the movie theatre together? You know, the one where the teenage Bella approaches a group of bikers that are catcalling her from outside of an establishment? And then proceeds to jump on the back of one of their motorbikes?

If you literally have no idea what I’m talking about, allow me to fill you in.

As the girls leave the theatre, Jessica launches into a rant that Bella is far too distracted and numb to absorb a single word of. While Bella lets her mind wander freely, Jessica attacks the entire genre of the zombie and their attempts at creating a critique of society through their films. And the best part of this rant is the fact that it was entirely improvised. That is right. Anna Kendrick improvised every single line of that amazing anti-zombie rant.

12 Don't Tell Them It's My Birthday

In order to protect minors, there are strict laws in place to preserve the safety of children who work on film sets. Anyone under the age of eighteen cannot work over a certain amount of hours. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. There is a set amount of hours that anyone under the age of eighteen can work and filming cannot exceed those hours under any circumstances. When the filming of the first Twilight film began, Kristen was only seventeen years old and, being the title character, the filming literally had to revolve around her limited schedule. Luckily, she turned eighteen during the shoot. The cast and crew rewarded her with a small party, a cake, and placed her name on the call sheet for an incredibly long night shoot set to take place that very same night. Welcome to adulthood, Kristen.

11 Delicious Viscera

Now, as far as I know, none of the Twilight films used a drop of real blood in any of its sets, costumes, or makeup applications. They most likely relied on a hearty mix of corn syrup, water, and red dye in order to create that luxurious liquid that those pesky vampires crave so much.

However, that mixture couldn’t be used on the baby used to film the birth scenes in the first Breaking Dawn film.

It could have irritated the child’s sensitive skin. Instead, a mixture of strawberry jam and cream cheese was used and the crew covered the baby in this concoction from head to foot. Don’t worry, the baby did not mind at all. In fact, the baby absolutely loved it. The crew actually had a hard time trying to keep the baby from licking this mixture off of itself.

10 Isle Of Trouble

Though the scenes that occurred on the Cullen’s private island off the coast of Brazil are some of the most beautiful scenes in the entire series, boy, were they an absolute nightmare to film. First off, they only had a week to film every single shot they needed on the location and, as predicted, they finished the week with several interior scenes that still needed to be completed (this was done by recreating the set on a soundstage later in production.)

On the third day of their Brazil shoot, the entire crew and several members of the cast were stranded on the island overnight due to a severe rainstorm.

They even had to place tarps over the furniture throughout the home in order to prevent any water damage that might have occurred during the storm.

9 Rated Argh

I remember the outrage that followed the release of the fourth film in the Twilight series. When Bella and Edward’s first night as husband and wife debuted on theatre screens across the world, several uninformed parents ran to the internet in order to express their absolute outrage at the content of the film that they had just taken their young daughters to see. And I would be willing to wager that those enraged parents would have rioted in the theatre if they had included the original version of that scene in the final cut of the film. Apparently, the original version of this intimate scene was so intense that the film was slated to be rated R. The crew fought tooth and nail for a PG-13 rating and in order to achieve this goal, they had to seriously edit, recut, and even digitally alter this long-awaited scene.

8 Extensive Backstories

In order to make the long-awaited wedding scene more special for all of those involved, several members of the crew who had worked on several of the films throughout the series appeared as guests in the crowd. The nerves were running high, temperatures hit incredible lows, and the shoots dragged on for days… and the excitement of being involved in this huge moment in the series quickly faded.

In order to pass the time, several members of the crew who were posing as extras took to creating extensive backstories for their characters.

Amongst those bored, shivering, and creative extras was none other than Stephanie Meyer. She spent the lengthy wedding shoot sat beside the franchise's producer, Wyck Godfrey, and the two of them decided that their characters were an older couple whose marriage was on the rocks due to Meyer’s character’s crush on Bella’s father.

7 Checkmate

Alright, brace yourselves because this entry is going to be equally nerdy and pedantic and while I am not one to nitpick, sometimes being a bit of a pedant can be fun. Okay, now that that disclaimer is out of the way, let’s jump right on into this entry. In the indoor chess game which occurs in the first Breaking Dawn film, Edward pulls a major rookie move.

Edward misses out on his chance to pull a Qa1. A move which could lead him to an instant win of the game. This moment is odd because Edward’s amazing chess skills are mentioned throughout the series, as it is a bit of a recurring theme. Maybe he was letting his new bride win as she was losing the battle in other departments (if you catch my drift) but we all know that the “stubborn as a mule” character of Bella would go completely bonkers if she knew Edward was letting her win.

6 The Greatest Sound Of All Time

I have a philosophical question for you. If you make a film that does not include the infamous Wilhelm scream at some point, did you really make a film? Luckily, this famous sound bit appears at least twice throughout the entire film series. The first time that the Wilhelm scream appears is during the fake film which was created for the second movie in the series.

In New Moon, Bella, Mike, and Jacob go see an absolute mess of an action flick entitled “Facepunch” at the local theatre.

The famous Wilhelm scream can be heard while the trio sits awkwardly in the theatre. The next time the scream is featured in the films is when Benjamin cracks the Earth during the final battle in Breaking Dawn Part 2.