SAN DIEGO — Many years ago, Leonard Cohen sang about "The Sisters of Mercy," who were "waiting for me, when I thought that I just can't go on."

On Thursday, that persona was taken on by writer Stephenie Meyer and director Catherine Hardwicke, who arrived at Comic-Con as surrogate mothers for the young stars of Hollywood's hottest new franchise. Thousands of die-hard fans screamed their names, and stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner expressed nervousness backstage about the largest public appearance of their young careers. But the Sisters of Mercy gave them pointers, shepherded them up the steps and aided them when they thought they just couldn't go on.

Moments after the madness, MTV News caught up with the Sisters as they walked around arm in arm, wearing matching pins that read "Comic-Con Virgins." True friends brought together for the cause of the Cullens, they spoke to us about the shape-shifting "Bella's Lullaby," shedding tears over Pattinson, and their shared secret: They were both nervous as hell backstage too.

MTV: Guys, I have to tell you: I've been coming to Comic-Con for seven straight years now. I've seen Hall H panels with huge stars for huge movies. But I've never seen anything like all that craziness.

Catherine Hardwicke: That is really cool to hear!

Stephenie Meyer: You can see our pins: We're both Comic-Con virgins, so we have no idea.

MTV: How did it feel to walk out onstage in front of 6,500 screaming Twilighters?

Meyer: I was terrified. We were backstage when we heard all the screaming, and then walking up those stairs [onto the stage] was scary.

Hardwicke: And then you see all those cool lightbulbs flashing at you! I thought it was a cool light show. I was like, "Yeah!"

MTV: Of course, we have to ask you about Robert. His appearance was like seeing Elvis enter the building. How do you feel about all the attention he's getting?

Meyer: The reception was amazing. I don't know that he saw any of this coming. And today must have been a little scary. But to see that they have embraced him, when they started out being unsure about their Edward ...

Hardwicke: Yeah, they said mean stuff about him at first: "Anybody but Rob ..." [They laugh.]

Meyer: And look at how they love him now. It's amazing.

MTV: Today confirmed it, in some people's eyes, as the greatest casting decision in the history of mankind. So Catherine, you must feel pretty good about that.

Hardwicke: Yeah. I just really feel like a genius now. [They laugh.]

MTV: Down at the panel, you revealed that there'll be a song by Muse on the soundtrack. What else can you tell us about it?

Hardwicke: Yeah, we've got a Muse song in a really cool place in the movie that totally rocks. I think people are going to be excited.

MTV: Does it have a title? Is it a new song or old?

Hardwicke: It's a song that exists, but they might be doing a cool remix for us. Like a little "Twilight" version. That would be awesome. Fingers crossed!

MTV: But they're not going to change the lyrics and, like, put in references to Edward and Bella or something.

Hardwicke: No, no. Not the lyrics. But there might be a cool mix, just a little bit of extra "Twilight" stuff to fit the scene. And then we've got Rob's songs too.

MTV: Exactly. So this is "Bella's Lullaby"?

Hardwicke: Well, no. It's not "Bella's Lullaby." It's in another place in the movie, which is really heartbreaking. It's at quite an amazing place in the film.

MTV: OK, So at some point Robert performs a song, but this song is not "Bella's Lullaby"?

Hardwicke: No, it's not "Bella's Lullaby." "Bella's Lullaby," actually, what it turns out is that's a theme; a beautiful love theme, that develops and goes all the way through the movie. You see it like in the most beginning parts, and then it gets really into the full song in the middle [of the movie], and then you hear bits of it later. But Rob has two other songs in the movie.

MTV: Can you tell us the names of these songs? Are they Bella-specific?

Hardwicke: No, they're not. They're really beautiful love songs, like heartbreaking. I cried the first time I heard the two songs. They're deep; they're very soulful.

MTV: And Stephenie, what do you think of the songs? Have you heard them yet?

Meyer: I have not. Today was the first time I heard that Muse was going to be in there, which was really great news, and that Rob's songs are in there too. So I'm really excited to hear them.

Hardwicke: She's going to see it on Tuesday.

MTV: The whole movie?

Hardwicke: Well, what we've done so far. Just like the temporary version.

MTV: Stephenie, what are your feelings going to be on Tuesday when you sit down and finally see your dream up there on the big screen?

Meyer: You know, I have no idea! There's a lot of emotion in that. I'm not really sure what it's going to feel like to actually sit there and watch it.

Hardwicke: Every time I watch a movie that I've worked on [for the first time], you just get freaked out. Because your heart, it's so close to you. So I'm sure it will take her a minute afterwards to chill out.

Meyer: Yeah. To even process it, it's going to be so much. It's an amazing thing to have someone take your characters and make them real!

Every Tuesday is "Twilight" Tuesday here at MTV News! Check back here each and every week for the hottest scoop on the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's beloved vampire series, and we'll still bring you breaking "Twilight" news throughout the rest of the week. And make sure you check out the MTV Movies Blog for our ongoing "Twilight" discussions each and every day.

Check out everything we've got on "Twilight."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.