Renesmee: Who She Is, Who Plays Her and Her Twilight Story

Renesmee is the daughter of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a girl born to a human mother and a vampire father, and her safety drives the stakes of the last two Twilight films. She is born at the close of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011), directed by Bill Condon, and she is at the center of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012), also directed by Condon.

The full cast list for Breaking Dawn Part 2 credits Mackenzie Foy in the role, in the fourteenth billing slot. So, if you are asking whether Mackenzie Foy played the Cullens' daughter, the answer is yes, and you can meet the rest of the ensemble on the Twilight cast page. The credits also list the part as Renesmee (4 Years), Renesmee (5 Years), Renesmee (7 Years) and Renesmee (Young Woman), which fits how quickly she grows.

The baby on screen was a visual effects job rather than a real infant. According to Bustle, the filmmakers used CGI, mapping Foy's face onto the child, after an animatronic doll was dropped.

The girl's closest relationships are with her parents and with Jacob Black, and each one shifts how the other characters behave. With Bella Swan, the story begins with a pregnancy Bella insists on keeping even though Edward is frightened for her. With Edward Cullen, the turn comes when he hears the baby's thoughts and goes from fear to love.

The pairing with Jacob gets the most attention in the fandom. In Breaking Dawn Part 1, Jacob bonds with the newborn instead of killing her, and that bond stops the wolves from harming the baby. In Part 2, the bond is lifelong, and Bella accepts it after her first burst of anger.

Outside the family, Rosalie Hale guards Bella during the pregnancy, so she is one of the first to protect the child. Charlie Swan notices that his granddaughter is growing oddly. Alice Cullen gathers the witnesses who save her, and Aro is the villain who wants her. Irina, who started the crisis by misreading what the girl is, is put to death by the Volturi for her mistake. For the wider family, see the Cullen family page.

In my opinion, the best scene is the end of Breaking Dawn Part 1, because the whole film turns on a single moment of looking. Jacob arrives intending to kill Bella, sees the newborn, and the bond stops him. It could be argued that this is the most important beat in the saga's last stretch, since it ends the wolves' threat to the Cullens without a fight.

A close second, perhaps, is the snowy standoff in Part 2. The child is the reason the Volturi come, and the outcome depends on witnesses rather than force. I like that the film lets a child's safety be argued out in a field, then gives a vision that shows how the battle would go, and then lets the Volturi leave.

The CGI baby will divide viewers, but the choice is understandable given that an animatronic doll was dropped. If you want the character at her warmest, watch the final vision of her and Jacob in Part 2. If you want to compare how the books and films handle her, see Twilight books vs movies.