Despite all of its flaws, the Twilight film franchise is one of the most popular vampire franchises ever. Based on the successful series of novels by Stephenie Meyer, the story focuses on a young girl Bella who goes to live with her dad and she meets a mysterious and handsome boy Edward Cullen who turns out to be a vampire.
It's been a while since the last Twilight Saga film premiered but the story lives on. The characters were a bit different in the films than in the books. Here's how they should have really looked like in the films.
Edward Cullen
Robert Pattinson played Edward Cullen, Bella's boyfriend who introduces her to the world of vampires. In the books, Edward is repeatedly described as absurdly handsome.
Bella thinks he looks like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. That kind of beauty is difficult to portray on the big screen but the filmmakers did their best job. At least Pattinson's Edward had his brown/golden eyes, even though his hair should have been bronze-colored, and not brown.
Carlisle Cullen
Peter Facinelli did a great job as Carlisle Cullen but the sad truth is that he was too old for the part. In the books, Carlisle supposedly looks to be barely in his 20s, and Facinelli was already 35 when he started playing the part.
Plus, Carlisle is supposed to be so handsome, similarly to a movie star, so that even Bella is temporarily stunned by his beauty when she meets him (even though she already likes Edward by that point). At least Facinelli's hair was blonde as Carlisle's was in the books.
Jacob Black
When Edward temporarily leaves Bella, she and her friend Jacob grow closer. Edward, Bella, and Jacob later form a complicated love triangle. Jacob is younger than Bella and he started out as a kid, growing on the pages of the book and later turning into a werewolf.
In his beginnings, Jacob had glossy long black hair. His actor Taylor Lautner wore a wig for the part. Jacob also had dark eyes in the book and high cheekbones, which is somewhat true for Lautner as well. But what's amiss is that Jacob should have been much taller than Bella.
Jane
The film Jane was even further away from her book version that Carlisle Cullen was. In the books, Bella is hesitant if Jane is a boy or a girl when she first meets her.
Jane is very petite, has pale brown (not blonde!) short hair, slim and androgynous-looking body. She looks very much like Alec, at least at first glance. She also should have fuller lips and be extremely beautiful, just like a lot of the vampires in the series.
Alice Cullen
Edward's adopted sister Alice didn't have as much space in the films as she did in the books, maybe that's why her appearance was mostly off.
She should have been more petite and frail-looking than Ashley Greene. She also should have looked younger than Greene and should have sported a pixie cut instead of the longer hairstyle seen in this picture. At least her love for fashion and elaborate outfits made it into the films.
Charlie Swan
Charlie Swan is Bella's dad and when she goes to live with him, their relationship is awkward at first since they're not used to one another very much. Charlie's mustache was the invention of the films and it didn't appear in the books.
He also should have curly brown-grey hair and his hair should have had the same color as Bella's (plus the grey). At least his brown eyes were spot on. Overall though, Billy Burke was fairly close to the book Charlie Swan when it came to the way he looked.
Esme Cullen
Just like her onscreen husband, Elizabeth Reaser's Esme should have looked younger. Reaser fit Esme's description much better in the first film when her hair was honey-blonde since this is the way Esme's hair was described in the books.
But as the film franchise progressed, Reaser's hair grew darker and eventually ended up brown and very far away from the honey waves Esme should have had. Esme should have come across as gentle and soft but there were instances when she didn't look like it.
Rosalie Hale
Of all the Cullen family, Rosalie was least fond of Bella when she first met her, for reasons later explained in the books and also in the films, at least to a certain degree.
Bella describes Rosalie as tall, with a beautiful, magazine-cover like figure and golden, gently wavy hair. Nicki Reed sported the required blonde wavy locks in the films but her natural darker roots sometimes showed and her eyebrows were also too dark for the fair Rosalie.
Renesmee Cullen
When Bella first met Edward in her new school, she had no idea that she would end up married to him and with a daughter, and the feeling was mutual.
Yet that's exactly what happened and Bella gave birth to their daughter Renesmee. Mackenzie Foy portrayed Renesmee, and the awful CGI baby aside, she was actually rather convincing, if not pale enough. Her eyes were supposed to be chocolate brown and she looks similar to her dad and mom, just like she should have.
Bella Swan
This list wouldn't be complete without Bella Swan, portrayed by Kristen Stewart in the film franchise. Bella Swan in the film looks very much like her book version. She's pale, somewhat awkward in her movement, slender, and has brown hair and brown eyes.
Kristen Stewart's eyes weren't brown so she wore eye contacts and also sported a brown wig in the third film of the franchise. Of all the characters on this list, Bella's portrayal in the film was probably the closest to the way she looked like int he books.