With the Twilight era coming to a close, Robert Pattinson is embarking on the next chapter in his life. With all the adulation heaped on him and girlfriend Kristen Stewart as Edward and Bella, Pattinson is eager to see how fast audiences can adjust to his post-vampiric self.
In his last film, Bel Ami, which recently showed in the UAE, he played a lustful Lothario in the adaptation of the classic Guy de Maupassant novel. Then, at the just-concluded Cannes Film Festival, Pattinson came to showcase Cosmopolis, where he plays self-centered moneyman Eric Packer.
Still only 25, the British actor has managed to conduct himself impeccably despite the constant media focus on his personal life and of course his relationship with Stewart, which he has never overly acknowledged and has hidden with obsessive zeal. In private, he is an extraordinarily good-natured and self-effacing young man, oblivious to his celebrity and grateful to have the chance to become one of the biggest movie stars on the planet and earn roughly $12 million (Dh44 million) per film.
It's a far cry from his modest middle-class origins as the son of a vintage car dealer father and a mother who worked at a modelling agency. Though he earned some money using his cheekbones and piercing gaze as a model at the age of 12, he was anxious to see where his nascent acting career would take him after he landed the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). His career faded after that, however, and it wasn't until he was a last-minute choice to play the part of Edward Cullen that he was convinced that he had a future as an actor as opposed to his aspirations as a musician.
In the interview, Pattinson opens up about his post-Twilight world, his humble beginnings and of course, the Twihards.
Excerpts from the interview:
What would Edward Cullen make of Georges Duroy, your character in Bel Ami?
[Laughs] Edward would frown on his utter lack of morality and that was something I always enjoyed about Edward in that he lived by a very strict code and was very protective of Bella. With Duroy, the man has no regrets whatsoever when it comes to hurting the women who have fallen under his spell. He is quite willing to destroy the lives of the women in his life in order to achieve his aims. Even though he may have this charismatic roguish appeal to him, he's a very dangerous man to get to know.
Were there any aspects of your own personality which you could use to relate to Georges Duroy?
[Laughs] Not really, except for the fact that as I've been doing more publicity over the years for Twilight and being in the limelight more I understand the process more of making your way in the business. There's a lot to learn and you have to be very single-minded in your own way if you want to have an interesting career. So there's an aspect of Duroy's determination that you have to admire.
And even though my mother was connected to the modelling business, I was never really interested in that world. I started acting almost by chance at school and I played in a band and I tended to be loner and not at all a social climber like Duroy.
Is Bel Ami the type of film which will allow you to move on from Edward in the mind of the public?
It's a good role in the sense that Duroy is so different from Edward. That was what I wanted when I read the script and saw that no one will see anything of Edward in Duroy. Every actor wants the freedom to be able to reinvent himself with every film so that the public will be able to accept him playing a new character.
I don't want people to think of me as Edward when I'm working on other films because that just gets in the way. Fortunately, the Twilight films are very distinct and being a vampire has its advantages in that it's not easily relatable to most characters you're going to play in the course of your career.
Do you recall the moment when you first truly decided that acting was what you wanted to do with your life?
I was eating at a London restaurant with my father when our waiter accidentally dropped our plates of food as he was bringing them to our table. We then needed to change tables and as we were doing so I came across a group of several very attractive young women who were talking about taking acting classes at a particular school. As soon as my father and I left the restaurant, I told him that I wanted to be an actor. [Laughs]
You're also very interested in music and writing. Which activity do you think you will ultimately become more involved with as the years go by?
I love playing the guitar and writing songs but I don't know whether I'm good enough to have a second career at that. What I would really love to do is write screenplays and develop interesting film projects of my own in the future. I'm not sure I will want to spend the rest of my life putting my face in front of the cameras. I think I would like to work more on the other side of the camera at some point.
You're still a very young man but someone who has already had a fairly substantial career. How do you find you've changed during this time?
I'm becoming more open as an individual and less self-obsessed and inward-looking. As a teenager, I spent a lot of time being very serious and worrying about so many existential questions and I'm sure I bored so many of my friends to death during that time.
I am much more interested now in simply doing the work and enjoying the creative process of creating a character and working with extremely talented people who are involved in making films. I'm not questioning myself and things in general as much - I'm sure I'm much easier to be around now. [Laughs]
Do you have a hard time with the constant paparazzi attention or fans following you down the street?
I'm used to being photographed and I can live with it although I prefer to walk down the sidewalk with the peace of mind that I'm not being stalked by camera lenses. Usually I can manage to sneak off somewhere and find ways to escape the attention. I've learnt that I have to find out-of-the-way places if I want to have a quiet coffee or lunch somewhere and even then I try to sit in the corner somewhere and pray that no one spots me so that I don't have a minor crowd scene awaiting me when I leave the restaurant.
Do you ever find the attention wears you down psychologically?
No. I understand this business and the price of success is that you lose your anonymity and your life becomes part of the public domain. But I have never felt invaded or tormented by all that. I haven't changed that much about how I live my life except that I'm wary of being followed. You learn to adapt to that and simply figure out ways to move about without having to hide out in your hotel room, which becomes frustrating after a while. I am generally so grateful to have this kind of career that I really find it stupid to complain for one second about the attention. It's simply part of your life and you have to get on with it.
You've said in the past that you have a shy side when it comes to your public. Are you more comfortable now with all the adulation?
It's very flattering and I enjoy speaking with people who often have very kind and interesting things to say about their response to the Twilight films. I'm not the most outgoing individual and I always wish I could be more engaging and witty in those situations where I'm meeting fans who approach me. But I'm getting better at it and I don't feel as uncomfortable and awkward as I used to be in those moments. So in that sense the celebrity aspect of my life has had some positive benefit and I do find myself becoming more accessible and open.
What do you to relax?
When I'm not playing the guitar, I like to read a lot. My favourites are the Russian writers, Dostoevsky, Nabokov. They make fun of me on set because I'm always reading stuff. Lately, I've been reading again my favourite English writer, Martin Amis. His books are extraordinary accounts of contemporary life and psychology.
Has anything surprised you about becoming famous?
Living in hotels is a very insular life when you're working on a film. You never have to tidy your room and everything is done for you and you can get quite used to being babied all the time. So in between films I take a lot of pleasure in just being able to do things by myself and not have a lot of people taking care of my life for me. [Laughs].
Do you ever worry that you might not achieve the same level of fame and recognition as you already have at a young age with the Twilight films?
There is a certain amount of fear and anxiety that creeps into your system every now and then, but it's tempered by the knowledge that the Twilight films have opened so many doors for me and now I have the chance to prove myself and enjoy a very good career that so few actors ever have the opportunity to do so. I have a pretty fearless outlook on things.
Do you ever think that a part of Edward's personality still affects you in some way?
[Laughs] No, but I appreciate his integrity and purposeful way of living. I like the fact that getting married and starting a family was part of his journey and I see that for myself one day. I think a lot about becoming a young father. Perhaps that's because I grew up with having a lot of close friends or a little brother to look after… I've lived in this very protective environment for so long that I've starting thinking that it‘s time to become an adult and take on those kinds of responsibilities such as starting a family.
