Twilight Director Says Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson Kissed on Her Bed During Audition

Christopher Polk/Getty Images Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's onscreen chemistry was immediately evident to Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke.

The filmmaker, 66, appeared on the podcast The Big Hit Show where she recalled the audition between Pattinson and Stewart, which she says took place in her own bedroom.

"This is my bedroom, still my bedroom, still the same bed," Hardwicke said. "And Rob and Kristen did the audition right here on the bed. They did the kissing scene and he fell off and landed right there on this floor."

Hardwicke said Pattinson "walked in and he had his hair was died black for some play, with these wacky bangs. He was a bit out of shape. His shirt was just all messy, and I'm like, 'Ooh, okay. Okay, let's see how this goes.'"

"Rob and Kristen auditioned on my bed, the kissing scene, Rob was so into it he fell off the bed. I'm like, 'Dude, calm down,'" she recalled. "And I'm in there filming with my little video camera, whatever."

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"And at the end, Kristen was like, 'It has to be Rob.' But I could tell they had a lot of chemistry, and I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" she said. "I thought, Kristen was 17. I don't want to get in some illegal things. So I remember I told Rob, 'By the way, Kristen is 17. In our country, it's illegal to have a sexual…' And he's like, 'Oh, okay, whatever.'"

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In October 2018, Hardwicke told PEOPLE the two future stars "were both shy" when they first met to audition for the franchise.

"It was funny because they were both pretty shy and kind of a little bit nervous and awkward," Hardwicke said at the time. "I said, 'Okay, let's go do the biology scene where you guys first meet.' So we went to my kitchen table for that scene and you could see pretty quickly that they were vibing off of each other."

"It was pretty positive. After the end of their audition, I could tell that there was a lot of electricity and chemistry," she recalled.

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There was so much chemistry that Hardwicke had to warn Pattinson away from Stewart at the time, she said.

"And I remember I told Rob, separately, I went, 'Listen, man, you gotta remember that she's under 18 and in our country, you can get in trouble!" she said, laughing. "He went, 'Okay, okay, jeez, calm down!'"

The two dated famously dated and seemed to be going strong until photos emerged of Stewart kissing her married Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders while she was dating Pattinson. The couple reconciled shortly after but ultimately called it quits in 2013.