See Renesmee From "Twilight" Now at 21
Mackenzie Foy played Bella and Edward's daughter in the final film of the series.
In 2012's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Renesmee grows fast—like, really fast—but it still might surprise you to learn that the actor who played her is now 21. The mystical daughter of vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and human Bella (Kristen Stewart) was first depicted as a computer-generated infant and then as a young girl played by child actor Mackenzie Foy. While the unintentionally creepy CGI baby may have turned off viewers, Foy's much more grounded portrayal of Renesmee left a more positive impression.
Still reeling from how much time has passed? Read on to find out what Foy has been up to in the decade since her Twilight debut, and to see what she looks like now.
READ THIS NEXT: See Former Child Star Haley Joel Osment Now at 34.
Mackenzie Foy played the less creepy version of Renesmee.
When you think of the onscreen depiction of Renesmee, you likely remember Foy—and also the very unsettling CGI baby who plays a younger version of the character. As Screen Rant points out, the technology to create a realistic infant wasn't quite there, leading to an unnerving experience for viewers. And that's to say nothing of the animatronic doll—dubbed Chuckesme, for her resemblance to the Child's Play villain—that was ultimately deemed too creepy to make it into the movie. (It's also reportedly haunted, per the Daily Mail.)
Thankfully, Bella and Edward's daughter ages quickly, as in the novel, and she's soon a normal—well, not quite normal—little girl, played by Foy. Unlike the CGI Renesmee, who didn't look much like any actual person, Foy bore a striking resemblance to her onscreen parents, played by Stewart and Pattinson. "Kristen's eyes are green just like mine," she told USA Today in a 2012 interview. "And then Rob is kind of goofy. I'm kind of goofy like Rob."
She spoke highly of her experience on set.
In an interview with MTV News at Comic-Con in 2012, Foy was excited to be doing press for her film debut. "It's my first movie so I haven't really got to do all the promotional stuff before, so it's all really fun for me," the then 11-year-old actor said. She went on to admit that she wasn't sure how much of the finished film she'd be allowed to see. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 did earn a PG-13 rating, after all.
As it turned out, some of the salty language on set actually worked in Foy's favor. As she told USA Today, she had a swear jar, and cast members were required to pay a toll for using certain four-letter words. "Some of them paid me in advance," Foy told USA Today. But even after the fact, Stewart "did say a couple bad words." The young actor donated all of the swear jar money to St. Jude's Hospital.
In the same interview, she gushed about her close relationship with her co-stars, calling Stewart a "best friend-sister-mom all combined."
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Foy continued acting through the 2010s.
If you aren't a Twilight fan but still recognize Foy, it might be because she's made some other notable onscreen appearances over the years. She followed up The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 with scarier fare, playing Cindy in the 2013 horror film The Conjuring. The next year, she played the younger version of Jessica Chastain's Murph in Interstellar.
Foy's first real starring role came in 2018's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. In an interview with ET, Foy gushed, "I'm a huge Disney fan so being able to be in a Disney film, and being a Disney princess, is just, like, 'Oh my goodness!' It's so cool. It's amazing. It really is."
Her most recent movie was 2020's Black Beauty, an adaptation of Anna Sewell's classic 1877 novel. Foy starred in the film, which debuted on Disney+, alongside Kate Winslet. Foy became an ambassador for the Wild Beauty Foundation, an organization "dedicated to protecting the horses of our time, by bringing unique awareness to the key issues both wild and domestic horses are facing today." She continues to work with horses, as can be seen on her Instagram.
She still has fond memories of her time doing Twilight.
In a 2020 interview with Hollywood Life, Foy only had positive things to say about her experience playing Renesmee. "I mean I was nine when all of that started so looking back at it, it is really just … I see that I was really, really lucky to be a part of something like that and how unique of an experience that was," she said. She went on to add, "The memories I have from that film I will have forever."
As for her Twilight family, Foy told ET in 2018 that she does at least try to stay in touch with Stewart and Pattinson. "They were just amazing people," she said. "I have so many wonderful memories just working with them and hanging out with them. So I do try to talk to them."
