Jamie Lynn Spears almost went straight from Pacific Coast Academy to Forks, Washington.
In an interview, Spears, 32, discussed the trajectory of her career after Zoey 101, the Nickelodeon series that ran from 2005 to 2008.
Spears recalled wanting to jump to something bigger, like movies. That’s when her managers asked her to audition for Twilight
“This was before vampires had really made their mark. Now we all love to watch stories about vampires, but I literally was like, ‘Vampires? Are you kidding me?’ ” Spears recalled. “I remember reading it and going, ‘Who is going to watch these vampires?’ Boy, was I wrong.”
TheTwilight franchise became a hit, grossing more than $3 billion at the global box office over the course of five movies. Kristen Stewart starred as Bella opposite costars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.
In a 2020 interview with Nylon, Spears touched on her Twilight audition, saying, “They had to force me. Force me. I remember just thinking like, ‘Y’all are insane. I’m not playing a vampire. That is so stupid. Why would I do that?’ But I went and read for that role. I remember sitting in this little room, and I think Lily Collins was there, and I felt so sick. Little did I know, I was pregnant.”
It was this pregnancy, which Spears announced when she was 16, that prompted the actress out of the spotlight. The Sweet Magnolias actress told Variety she had to make the best decision for her and her baby, which was to leave the industry.