There have been few cultural resets as huge as The Twilight Saga, as Stephanie Meyer's books and movies brought back the cult of the vampire to the fore. The 'cold ones' from Twilight had icy white skin, inhuman beauty, piercing red or yellow eyes, and superpowers that came along with immortality.
However, every vampire did not look exactly alike in their universe. They each had their own defining characteristics and features which made them stand out — and most of these unique descriptions translated very well on screen too. The casting for Edward, Emmett, Carlisle, Rosalie, Victoria, and others was spot on, but some characters looked very different in the books than they did on screen.
Jane
Dakota Fanning's Jane was blonde, with her tresses in a tight bun and decidedly feminine. Screen Jane looked cruel and mature. However, in the books, the Volturi member was the very opposite of most of these things.
Stephenie Meyer had imagined her as a slim, young looking vampire, who was turned at the tender age of 12. She had cropped, brown hair and an innocent, full-lipped face when she made her appearance in the second book, New Moon.
Charlie Swan
Bella's father looked slightly different in the movies than he should have. Charlie had straight black hair and dark eyes, but in the books he had curly brown hair which was streaked with greys as well.
He too had chocolate brown eyes and hair that matched Bella's in the books, but the movies couldn't get that quite right. Overall, Billy Burke looked younger in the movies than in the books.
Laurent
Laurent in the books had shiny black hair, a bit of an olive tone to his pale skin, and a French accent. His frame was slightly muscular and he was about 5 feet 9 inches tall.
In the films, Laurent looked quite different to his description in the books. He had dark skin, and his hair was bound in dreadlocks which ran past his shoulders. Edi Gathegi also sported a mustache and an extremely muscular torso, which was visible almost all the time as he wore unbuttoned shirts and jackets.
Esme Cullen
Esme's appearance changed quite a bit through the five movies in The Twilight Saga, which in itself is inconsistent with the books as vampires didn't age or change in appearance. In the books, she was petite, slender, and had a rounder, softer appearance than other vampires. She also had wavy caramel blonde hair.
In the movies, Esme had caramel hair for the first film, which progressively got darker to almost black in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. She also looked very thin and angular in the movies, which was the opposite of her book self.
Tanya Denali
The most defining feature about Tanya Denali was her strawberry blonde hair, mentioned several times in the books. She was also about 5 feet 5 inches tall in the books, which is an average height.
Myanna Buring looked notably different in the movies as Tanya. She had pale blonde wavy hair as opposed to the reddish mane, and was much shorter at a petite 5 foot 2 inches.
Angela Weber
The nicest human in the The Twilight Saga had some discrepancies in appearance between the books and movies. Bella's kind friend had light brown hair, streaked with honey hues, and light brown eyes. She also towered over her friends at 6 feet 1 inch.
Christian Serratos in the movies had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, framed by spectacles. She also isn't quite as tall as her book counterpart at 5 feet 5 inches.
Jacob Black
Jacob Black was The Twilight Saga's central Native American character, with russet skin and glossy long hair which was later cut off. When his werewolf gene was activated, he grew extremely quickly into an impressive 6 feet 7 inches, and also became muscular like a body builder.
Taylor Lautner is not Native American (although he later claimed to have distant Native American ties), and he was also only 5 feet 9 inches tall through the movies. While Taylor Lautner filled out and became beefy for the role, he was supposed to be over 3 feet taller than little Alice, which was not the case.
James
The first book's villain had his appearance altered a fair bit for the movies. Book James was an unremarkable looking man, despite being a vampire. He had light brown hair which was cut short, and an average build and and sort of unattractive features. His outfit comprised of blue jeans and a pale blue shirt.
In the movies, James was quite a looker. He had long blonde hair which he tied into a ponytail or bun, and an impressive physique which was on display quite often. There was nothing unremarkable about villainous James in the movies.
Jessica Stanley
Anna Kendrick's Jessica was a mix of both Jessica and Lauren's characters from the books. According to Stephanie Meyer's description, Bella's human bestie was 5 feet 1 inch tall, and she had dark brown hair which was voluminous and curly, which helped her appear taller than she was.
She was also blue-eyed. In the movies, Jessica had sleek straight light brown hair which she wore with a headband, which is quite different from what fans of the books first pictured.
Garrett
Cullen ally Garrett was a nomadic vampire, who looked distinctly different from his book counterpart. In the movies, Lee Pace sported neck-length brown hair, a stubble, and was taller than what was written at 6 feet 5 inches.
Book Garrett had long sandy blonde hair, which was long enough to be tied back with a leather string, and he was pale and three inches shorter than Lee Pace.