Twilight director says she was paid $3 to direct 2003 movie as nobody wanted to make R-rated film about teen girls

Catherine Hardwicke says that she was paid a measly $3 (£2.36) to direct the R-rated film, Thirteen.

Before E4’s Skins and HBO’s Euphoria, there was Thirteen - a 2003 teen drama starring Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed.

The Universal Pictures movie was directed and co-written by American filmmaker Hardwicke, 67, and was loosely based on Twilight actor Nikki Reed’s childhood.

In an interview celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary, Hardwicke revealed that it took her and Reed, 35, 24 days to shoot the film and that financiers originally didn’t want to take it on.

Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment, the 67-year-old said: “I mean, every studio and every financier said, ‘No, we can't make it. How could we make a movie that’s gonna be R-rated with an unknown 13-year-old girl in the lead?’ Everybody said no.”

“We made it by hook or crook, you know? And for no money,” she continued.

It’s stated that the director relied on independent equity financing to budget the movie, and ended up with a production pot of $2 million (£1.5 million).

Universal Pictures

Elsewhere in the interview, Hardwicke revealed that she 'got paid three bucks the whole time', but that after Thirteen was made, it received tons of praise.

“But when we finally made it, people were like, ‘Oh, it's powerful. It's moving. It's relevant in a way to what people are going through.’”

20 years on, the Twilight director says that she still loves the R-rated 2003 flick - fondly calling it her 'little baby'.

“You know, I saw what Nikki Reed was going through at 13… Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood, their performances are still so strong if you watch it now because they put their hearts into it.

Catherine Hardwicke Instagram/@catherinehardwicke

“They felt it. They lived it on the day. So I love that film,” she added.

Speaking about the flick's lasting impact, the award-winning director said that Thirteen is booming on TikTok.

“Even now on TikTok, there's like 1.6 billion interactions with Thirteen. People are seeing clips and they're writing in the comments, ‘That happened to me last week with my mom.’”

She claimed that the 'honest' emotions featured in the film make the 2003 movie relevant today.

When asked if there would ever be a Thirteen reboot or a sequel series, the 67-year-old was pretty positive.

She said: “We really wanna do a TV series where we see other 13-year-old girls: Thirteen Afghanistan, Thirteen Detroit. You know, let's see how other 13-year-old girls are navigating their transition into adulthood.”

Thirteen premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2003 and is available to stream via Apple TV.