Time Q&A with Rob

Courtesy of ROBSessedblog via RPLife

Seem ingly overnight, Robert Pat tin son went from play ing Voldemort’s road kill in Harry Pot ter and the Gob let of Fire to being the immor tal half of one of the hottest screen cou ples of all time. He spoke with TIME about how he landed the role of Twilight’s Byronic vam pire Edward Cullen, what it’s like to be a gen er a tional crush and how to walk unmo lested along the streets of Vancouver.

TIME: You took on an edgy vam pire movie and it’s become this. Did you know what you were sign ing up for?

Robert Pat tin son: I had no idea it was going to be like this. I really had no idea until… I guess I still don’t. The time that it hit me really was when we were shoot ing in Italy and the emo tional reac tion — it wasn’t just scream ing. It was like peo ple were so intently lis ten ing and watch ing. After every take there was polite applause. And it wasn’t hys te ria. It was lit er ally devo tion to the char ac ters. It was amaz ing. I haven’t felt that in any other situation.

Cast ing Edward was cru cial to the fran chise. What did Cather ine Hard wicke see in you?

I don’t know. I was a lit tle intim i dated by Kris ten in my audi tion. So I played it like a guy who is beat ing him self up a lot about every thing. I don’t think any one else did it like that. I think they con cen trated on the con fi dence aspect. If you read the book, you know he’s the per fect man, ideal man. If you’re a guy you have cer tain ideals about what you think is attrac tive. And that’s why I didn’t go into it for ages, because I thought I’d end up being silly in the audi tion. I’d be pos­ing. I guess I tried to ignore every aspect of the con fi dent hero of the story. And I played the extreme oppo site. It didn’t end up being that in the film.

If they’d cast the other guy for Edward, would the fran chise have been as suc cess ful as it is today?

I hon estly don’t know. No mat ter how famous I get as an indi vid ual, it’s always evened — or even sur passed — by the fame of Edward Cullen. That’s got to mean some thing. I don’t mind that. That’s just the way it is.

Why are Amer ica and the world so men tal about it?

I was just in Japan, but when I first went there in Feb ru ary, the peo ple who went to the fan events there were mainly peo ple who went to Amer i can schools. This time it was entirely Japan ese the audi ence. No one could really speak Eng lish, but they reacted in the same way as they have around the world. Even the dis trib u tor was say ing, Japan ese audi ences don’t react like this. And they were stunned by the whole thing.

There must be this weird, pri mal thing in peo ple that they react to. There are so many love sto ries that come out. So many vam pire sto ries that come out. Even the load of vam pire sto ries com ing out now have the exact same story line. This doesn’t have the same reac tion. I think it’s all about being part of a club. Peo ple used to say it was a guilty plea sure. But I don’t even think it is that any more. I think peo ple gen uinely appre ci ate that they are part of something.

How can it con tinue at this level?

I have no idea. It kind of feeds on itself by the looks of things. It seems to have got from the begin ning of this year to now. I was just talk ing to the head of the stu dio who said they are only 25 per cent through the cam paign for New Moon. And the track ing on the movie is ridicu lous. Even ran dom celebri ties are asked, What do you think of Twi light? It’s insane. I remem ber say ing at Comic-con last year that I didn’t know where it could go from there. I didn’t know how much big ger it could get. I guess this time they are get ting guys to watch it. Guys were the only other place left to go

They shoot the movies very quickly for a lot of rea sons — momen tum for one, but also because vam pires don’t age. Does that throw pres sure on you to, well, look exactly the same?

I don’t really think about that. I think I def i nitely look older in this one. But then I look younger in the third one, which is just weird.

A whole gen er a tion will remem ber you as Edward. You’re a gen er a tional crush. Is that hard to live up to or dif fi cult to accept?

There’s no liv ing up to it. I think the major fear is just fight ing too hard against it. Most peo ple who have a down fall from a like sit u a tion is when they do try to fight, and fight and fight: I’m not this teeny bop per per son, blah, blah, blah. Even if a lot of peo ple see me and the fran chise as like that, I never have, at any point. But I don’t feel the need to fight against it. I’ve never tried to pan der to any kind of audi ence. I’ve tried to make the films as intel li gent and uncheesy as you could. And I’ve tried to make them the best they can be. I’ve never thought about it any other way. So I hope that pays off.

A lot of celebs use dis guises to escape their bub ble. What’s been your worst?

In Van cou ver, shoot ing New Moon, I tried some thing. They have this thought that no one there wears hoods except for prob lem peo ple. It’s the only city in the world where hoods are not fash ion able. It’s like if you’re wear ing a hood you’re going to mug peo ple. So it’s a bor ing dis guise, but it worked when I wore a hood. And then I’d sort of spit on the ground a lit tle bit and do a lit tle bit of shak ing around as you’re walk ing. Every one moved around to the other side of the street.

Can you go out of the bubble?

You can go out. The only dif fi culty is when there are peo ple wait ing out side the exits where you are going. You will get fol lowed. It’s the fol low ing that’s the worst part. If it’s just get ting a photo taken out side the exit, that would be OK. But it’s the fol low ing that takes away your freedom.