Paramore star Hayley Williams made a tongue-in-cheek reference to actor Robert Pattinson’s breakout role, as brooding vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise, during her band’s spot at Taylor Swift’s Wembley show this weekend.
The US rock singer and her bandmates have been opening for Swift for much of her record-breaking Eras Tour, including the final UK leg that concludes this Tuesday (20 August).
“Did you guys see Suki [Waterhouse] earlier?” she asked the audience in fan-shot footage, after the musician and actor, who is married to Pattinson, performed earlier in the evening on Saturday (17 August).
“But I would like to dedicate this next song to Mr Waterhouse,” Williams teased, ahead of their rendition of “Decode”, which featured on the soundtrack of the first movie.
She then quoted a famous line from Stephanie Meyer’s 2005 book Twilight, which also features in the film: “This is the skin of a killer, Bella.”
“This is for you, Robert,” Williams said as the opening bars of “Decode” were played.
Pattinson, who played the 108-year-old love interest of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) in all five of the romance-action films, has been notoriously disparaging about the films in interviews following their release.
While promoting the second film, New Moon, he expressed confusion over fans’ attraction to his character, calling Edward a “weirdo” who would “probably be an axe-murderer or something” in real life.
In another interview with Empire, he said: “[Edward is] the most ridiculous person who’s so amazing at everything. I think a lot of actors tried to play that aspect. I just couldn’t do that.
“And the more I read the script, the more I hated this guy, so that’s how I played him, as a manic-depressive who hates himself. Plus, he’s a 108-year-old virgin, so he’s obviously got some issues there.”
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Fans who saw the clip were delighted by the crossover moment, with one writing on X/Twitter: “Hayley Williams had the chance to do the funniest thing ever in the presence of Robert Pattinson and she took it with both hands.”
“Hearing Paramore play ‘Decode’ [and] dedicating it to Robert Pattinson and Hayley said ‘this is the skin of a killer Bella’… I literally can’t explain how much this is the best moment of my whole life,” another fan said.
Pattinson’s partner, Waterhouse, is currently preparing to release her new album, Memoirs of a Sparklemuffin, an 18-track double album, on Friday 13 September.
She will embark on a headline tour around 24 North American cities, including Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago and Nashville, from 28 September to 21 December.