Catherine Hardwicke On ‘New Moon’ Stars: ‘I’m So Proud Of The Whole Cast’

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Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and director Catherine Hardwicke attends the ‘Twilight’ premiere in Rome
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Director Catherine Hardwicke attends the premiere of Summit Entertainment’s ‘Twilight’ at The Mann Village and Bruin Theatres on November 17, 2008 in Westwood, California
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Kristen Stewart, Kellan Lutz, Cam Gigandet, director Catherine Hardwicke, and Robert Pattinson accept the Best Movie award onstage during the 18th Annual MTV Movie Awards
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Director Catherine Hardwicke arrives at the film premiere of Summit Entertainment’s ‘Twilight’ held at the Mann Village and Bruin Theaters on November 17, 2008 in Westwood, California

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FIRST PUBLISHED: June 14, 2009 4:05 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: June 14, 2009 4:25 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

“Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke may not be directing saga sequel “New Moon,” but she hasn’t forgotten about her former actors.

“I’m so proud of the whole cast,” she told Access Hollywood at the Women In Film 2009 Crystal and Lucy Awards on Friday night. “They’re all getting to do amazing movies. It’s great.”

And it was returning star Taylor Lautner, who bulked up for his bigger role in “New Moon,” who she singled out.

“I think he looks amazing,” she said. “He’s totally worked hard for it so he looked great.”

“Twilight” won big at the MTV Movie Awards on May 31, and the director was excited to see the vampire drama outdo summer blockbuster “The Dark Knight.”

“We even won Best Fight!” she said. “That was pretty cool. We beat Batman and all those movies. I was pretty proud of that.”

The film also won Best Movie, Best Female Performance (Kristen Stewart), Breakthrough Performance Male (Robert Pattinson) and Best Kiss (Kristen and Robert). With its $69 million box office debut, the film also notched the biggest opening ever by a female director – and Catherine said she hoped she’d be able to inspire other women.

“Only seven percent of the movies are directed by women, which is kind of crazy,” she said. “Women go to the movies and they love the films and they’re amazing actors so, you know, we need to change that.”

The director herself said she has three projects lined up and is just waiting for one to get greenlit.

“We just turned in the script today,” she said of a potential next film “It’s a modern rad version of ‘Hamlet’ as a supernatural thriller, starring Emile Hirsch.”

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