Director Catherine Hardwicke recently looked back on the duo's initial audition together โ which actually was held in her bedroom!
"This is my bedroom, still my bedroom, still the same bed. And Rob and Kristen did the audition right here on the bed," Catherine said on The Big Hit Show podcast.
Catherine recalled that Robert showed up to the audition a little disheveled, but she was willing to give things a shot.
"[He] walked in, and he had his hair 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, OK. OK, let's see how this goes,'" Catherine said.
And when it came time for the actors to run through the kissing scene, it was still clear how much chemistry there was between the future co-stars.
"Rob and Kristen auditioned on my bed, the kissing scene โ Rob was so into it he fell off the bed. I'm like, 'Dude, calm down.' And I'm in there filming with my little video camera, whatever," Catherine explained.
By the end of the audition, it was obvious to Kristen that Rob was the perfect fit for the role, but Catherine says she had some hesitations about the legality of it all.
"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.' I thought, Kristen was 17. I don't want to get in some illegal things," Catherine admitted.
She added, "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, OK, whatever.'"
Obviously, Rob got the part, and the duo went on to date IRL for several years โ as soon as it was legal.
You can listen to all that Catherine had to say here.