The film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga were all the rage in the mid-2000s and added to the growing vampire genre. While Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner led the fanatical Team Edward and Team Jacob debate, many other players formed the Twilight universe. Viewers meet a female vampire named Victoria in the series' first installment, and she swears revenge against the Cullen family after they killed her lover James.

But despite her small role, Victoria is arguably considered the main antagonist of The Twilight Saga: New Moon. In the second installment, she sends Laurent to locate the Cullens and Bella, but the werewolves ultimately kill Laurent before he can strike them down. After New Moon, viewers notice Victoria's evident change in appearance due to Bryce Dallas Howard replacing Rachelle Lefevre in the role. But why did production have to recruit another Victoria actress?

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Why There Were Two Victoria Actresses in Twilight

James, Laurent, and Victoria in Twilight

Rachelle LeFevre wasn't a big name in the acting industry until she got cast as Victoria in Twilight. LeFevre was so adamant about starring in the vampire flick that she sent Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight, a letter revealing her interest in working with her. In preparation, LeFevre also took a method-acting approach by watching lion attacks on YouTube and taking trapeze classes. "For an hour a day, as we got closer to filming, I was a cat in my apartment," shared LeFevre at a Twilight roundtable.

However, despite her dedication to the role, LeFevre had to step down from Twilight due to scheduling conflicts -- at least, that's the story fans got told. According to Entertainment Weekly, LeFevre was "hurt deeply" by Summit's decision to recast her for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in favor of Howard. "Although the production schedule for Eclipse is over three months long," shared LeFevre. "Summit said they had a conflict during those ten days and would not accommodate me." Before filming Eclipse, LeFevre was committed to the 2010 Canadian film Barney's Version, which overlapped with Twilight's schedule.

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Bryce Dallas Howard Was the New Victoria in Twilight: Eclipse

Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Since LeFevre was out of the picture, future The Mandalorian director Bryce Dallas Howard was recruited to replace her. However, this wasn't Howard's first rodeo with the Twilight crew. She was Hardwicke's first choice to play Victoria, but she had turned the role down because she believed it was too small to accept.

Peter Facinelli, who played Carlisle Cullen, was saddened to hear about LeFevre's exit and shared his feelings about the matter with MTV News. "It deeply saddens me," revealed Facinelli. "But you know, the show must go on. We're going to embrace Bryce Dallas Howard -- and I hope that the fans do, too." While Howard's portrayal of Victoria didn't receive much criticism, many Twilight fans agree that LeFevre's presence was missed from the series' final three films.