Twilight Star Recalls Reaction To Fan Calling Alice Cullen Their Gay Awakening

Actor Ashley Greene says she was so touched that she cried when discovering that the character she played in the Twilight franchise, Alice, served as a “gay awakening” for many young fans. The Twilight craze first began back in 2005, when author Stephanie Meyer released her novel Twilight. The book follows the fateful high school love story between a vampire named Edward Cullen, and a shy, beautiful girl named Bella Swann, and their encounters with other creatures both good and evil.

The book Twilight and its subsequent sequels enjoyed immense worldwide success, quickly spurring the development of a film adaptation of the same name. Fans of the book eagerly awaited the reveal of the actors set to play each character in the highly-anticipated movie. Finally, reports revealed that Greene monumentally scored the role of Alice, Edward’s sister in Twilight, alongside Robert Pattinson as Edward and Kristin Stewart as Bella. The role for Greene came after having only appeared as guest roles in a few sitcoms previously in her career.

In an interview with Insider, Greene spoke about the unexpected way her character in Twilight made a pivotal impact on fans. Alice’s quirky fashion, edgy haircut, and kind demeanor was (and is) endearing and attractive to many moviegoers. For some young women, it indicated for them the first time they realized that their sexuality encompassed an attraction to women. Check out her statement on becoming a gay awakening for fans of Twilight below:

“I guess one thing that has changed is a lot of people have said that Alice was their gay awakening,” she said, explaining that she “didn’t get that when the films first came out,” but “can fully recognize how and why now.”

“The first time someone told me, I cried. I was like, ‘That’s so incredible! You know the impact that ‘Twilight’ had on people, but to kind of go that extra step and be able to allow people to be their true selves is really special.”

Greene played the role of Alice in all five of the Twilight saga movies. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film first premiered in theatres in 2008, grossing $35.7 million on its first day and securing the actors’ star status long past the 2012 release of the final installment. Humorously, fans at first criticized the casting of Greene for her relatively tall height at 5’5″, in comparison with the  distinctive 4’10” height described in Meyers’ novel– a fact that, with modern perspective, seems bizarre given the subsequent success of her portrayal. In fact, Greene notes in the interview that fans still call her Alice to this day.

The fact that Greene’s portrayal also spurred an important milestone for so many in their youth adds to the unique impact of Alice. The off screen ramifications of her characterization furthermore offers a prominent example of the many cultural benchmarks that the Twilightmovies continues to influence in multifaceted and nuanced ways, even if only in implicitly or consequently. While Alice herself is not scripted explicitly as gay, the fact that she served as a marker of identity-discovery for youth at the time enhances the lasting legacy of the role.

Source: Insider