Kellan Lutz’ character Emmett Cullen carrying around a bag of hard-boiled eggs throughout Twilight is a surreal sight, but it’s not a plot hole.
Twilight fans have recently been abuzz with the long-awaited explanation of Emmett’s inexplicable bag of eggs, but despite what some viewers think, the presence of the unlikely foodstuff is not actually a plot hole in the series. After years of silence, Lords of Dogtown director Catherine Hardwicke has finally addressed a question that has plagued the Twilight fandom for over a decade. The director helmed 2008’s Twilight, the first in a series of adaptations that brought author Stephenie Meyers’ bestselling paranormal romance novel saga of the same name to life onscreen.
According to the original Twilight director herself, Catherine Hardwicke had her struggles while making the film. She pushed for a more diverse cast only for the idea to be rejected by the series author, and Hardwicke opted not to return for the sequel New Moon a year later. However, some of the helmer’s creative decisions were not so serious, but still had an unexpectedly big impact on the Twilight fandom.
Take, for example, Emmett Cullen’s infamous bag of boiled eggs. In a recent interview, Hardwicke finally explained the origin of the mysterious (and much-mocked) bag of hard-boiled eggs that supporting character Emmett Cullen carries around throughout the first film. Per Hardwicke, the eggs were real, and Emmett’s actor Kellan Lutz was snacking on them thanks to his workout routine for the film. The director couldn’t resist incorporating them into the movie as she found the unlikely detail “outrageous”. However, much like Emmett Cullen’s missing bizarre backstory, the character detail is never explained onscreen, and many fans feel the presence of the eggs is a plot hole in the movie. However, what those fans appear to have forgotten is Emmett’s dimwitted characterization.
In a recent viral TikTok, user @sarahelizabeth327 noted that Hardwicke’s decision to add the bag of eggs into the scene creates what many fans felt saw as a plot hole. To quote the TikTok, “You’re trying to direct a bunch of vampires who are trying to blend in, you don’t want anything outrageous.” It’s a reasonable assertion and a valid point, but one that misses out on a pivotal part of Emmett’s consistent characterization throughout the Twilight movies. Emmett is depicted, as he is in the source novels, as as a goofy, endlessly loyal, but none-too-smart jock (in contrast with his mate Rosalie’s dark backstory and intense demeanor).
As a result, it’s entirely in character for this particular Cullen clan member to think that normal people would eat entire bags of hard-boiled eggs, and to believe that he’s doing a great job of blending in by snacking on them. Of course, Emmett would be wrong, as his bag of eggs proved so conspicuous that over a decade after the movie’s release the fandom is still creating “Eggmett” memes to this day. However, the fact that Emmett insists on walking around with a bag of boiled eggs is still consistent with his character, and not the sort of plot hole that would require a Life or Death-style justification from Meyer. That said, plot hole or not, the tactic is still not a particularly canny or effective method of blending in among the humans of Twilight.
