Robert Pattinson, Twilight Interview by Paul Fischer
British actor Robert Pattinson had no idea what he was letting himself in for when he auditioned for, and won the plum role, of brooding vampire Edward Cullen, in the much anticipated film version of the best selling novel Twilight. Though he had exposure, to some extent, with big movies in the latest Harry Potter, nothing, it seems has prepared him for the fame and adulation of Twilight, fame that has brought him to tears, as he confided to PAUL FISCHER.
QUESTION: So, are you particularly prepared for the teenage female frenzy that is going to surround this movie, but you in particular? Which apparently seems to be in the cards.
ROBERT PATTINSON: I don't know. I mean, I don't know why it still shocks me. I mean, I've been going for the last three weeks, just going to different cities all around the world, just to get to these planned mobbing, where everybody just screams and screams and screams. But every single time, I get so nervous, and kind of cold sweats, and everything. So I doubt that I am ready.
QUESTION: So that's how you react to the screams and the frenzy?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Every single time. I started crying in Italy. Like, completely involuntarily.
QUESTION: Really?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Yeah. Like, do you know when you have the wrong reaction to something? It was really embarrassing. I didn't even know I was. Kristen, I think, turned around to me. And she's like, "Are you crying?" I just found out there's a whole pile of stuff. So. Yeah. I started crying when people are screaming at me. I really didn't think that would happen.
QUESTION: Conversely, did you pay any attention to any of the on-line complaining? "Oh, he's not right. It should have been this person or that person." Did you pay any attention to that?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I did at the beginning, for a little bit. I was expecting it, but I kind of - I agree with them.
QUESTION: Why?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I don't know. I completely expected it. That's the reason I didn't want to go in for the part initially, because it's really putting yourself out there. You say, like, "Oh, yeah. I think I can play this part, the perfect guy. Best-looking guy in the whole world." It was like - even going in for the audition, I felt like a bit of an idiot going into the audition. I felt pre-judged by anyone who turned up to the casting. It's like - I mean, I just thought even having the gall to go in means you're a bit of an arrogant prick.
QUESTION: Did you fight with the producers?
QUESTION: Is that hard to master, and get comfortable with?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Yeah. I mean, I've done wire work before. But just getting hit, which is easy, because you're just getting hit with the wire. I mean, you don't have to do anything. But trying to maintain your center of gravity and stuff, it's tough. It can look really fake, really easily.
QUESTION: So, when did you have to practice, to get it -
ROBERT PATTINSON: I didn't have that much time to practice. I mean, they took a pretty big risk, letting me do a lot of it.
QUESTION: Going back to the probably enormous girl fan base that you will gain after this movie - I mean, you've really exploded on the scene lately. You're on Perez probably at least once a week. How are you dealing with dating in Hollywood? Do you avoid it? Are you seeing anyone for those teenybopper girls out there to know?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I'm not dating anyone. I mean, I theoretically don't avoid it. But it's weird. There's like - you have to issue - I mean, it's strange. I've been going to the same places every time I go to LA, because they're the only places I know. And now everybody kind of knows me in those places. So it's like - I don't know. Just knowing that people will talk about stuff, and - you know. It's very uncomfortable. And also, if you try and chat people up, everyone's like, "Oh, he's such an - you're just an actor. You probably go around sleeping with everybody." So it kind of has the converse effect of what you would have thought.
QUESTION: Are you not moving to LA? Are you interested in making that leap?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I think there's no reason to. I mean - and also, London's in my heart. I need it. And I haven't been there for a very long time.
QUESTION: Can you talk a little bit about - once you put the makeup on, and sort of get the hair done and everything, is that the final step in slipping into this character?
ROBERT PATTINSON: No. I mean, it really wasn't so much about the makeup and stuff on this. I mean, I thought - in fact, it didn't even really help to be, like - there were a lot of scenes where I have to be scary and intimidating, and stuff. And - you know, just the whole thing, having a bouffant haircut and stuff, doesn't - it's not really that intimidating. So, yeah. It wasn't really one of those parts where you could put on the coat or put on the shoes, and you kind of feel different. I didn't really feel any different. It's just - and it worried me. But a lot of the stuff which works was just not - I didn't talk to any of the cast about anything other than the film for at least a month and a half of the shoot. And it creates a strange aura around you, and people don't really know what to make of you.
QUESTION: You stayed away from them? Is that what you're saying? Like, socially?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I didn't stay away from them. But I made sure that - you know, most films, people just want to have, like, a good time when they're doing it.
QUESTION: What was it about the role that made you overcome those initial misgivings you had about trying out for it? That made you think, "Okay, I really want to do this?"
ROBERT PATTINSON: Just going to the audition. I mean, I went in having no idea how to play the part at all, and thinking there was no chance of getting it. And I - just meeting Kristen. I mean, Catherine literally didn't say anything during the whole audition. She just filmed. And just, Kristen did it so differently to how I was expecting Bella to be played, that it kind of shocked a performance out of me. And it was the first time in a long time that I'd had an organic experience in an audition. And that's kind of why. And I thought that there could be a lot of depth to the story. But - I only realised in the audition.
QUESTION: Do you sign your life away when you take this on? Do you automatically sign on for three movies?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Yeah, I'd signed on for three. But, I mean, I'd read the books, so I knew he wasn't in it that much in the second one, and not in it as much for the third one. And also, that I'd have to be 17 for the whole time, so I knew it couldn't go on 'til I was, like, 30.
QUESTION: Are you looking forward to doing these sequels?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Yeah. I mean, it's such a sort of intimate story. And you rarely get a chance - I mean, even in Harry Potter, the entire university, which is based in changes every single movie. But in this, it's just like, a character study for a trilogy, which is very - it's very, very strange. And I can't think of another movie which does that, and where the story has so little - the scenery doesn't change. Nothing changes. And it's in a very, very small town. It's very claustrophobic. And so, yeah. I planned the character for another two.
QUESTION: Is there one scene in Twilight that you think defines Edward and Bella's relationship?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Is there one scene? I don't think so. I think - I mean, there are definitely key lines. The thing is, the way me and Kristen did it, I think, is kind of different. The power balance is different to how it is in the book. And - I mean, basically, it just seemed more interesting having this guy who is an all-powerful, perfect creature. And he's utterly at the knees - on his knees, to this normal girl. And she has complete power over him. And it's like - even in the audition, there was kind of - we did the meadow scene in the audition. And it seemed like Kristen took on - instead of this wonder and love thing which is in the book, it was a much more comforting role. Like, he looked to her for strength. And literally even the scene, she was a sort of mothering thing at the end. Which is strange. Even in reality - because I'm quite a lot bigger than her, and older than her. And it was just a really strange experience doing that in the audition.
QUESTION: Do you think the movie gets it right about teenage love? First love, and passion that can come out of that?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I think in some ways. But I think in a lot of ways - I mean, when I was 17, I always just looked at people who would be like, "Oh, I'm in love," and then they break up three weeks later, and just think, "Ah. You know, that's what love is when you're 17."
QUESTION: Did you have anything like that in high school?
ROBERT PATTINSON: No. I was so anti-anyone who said they were in love, I just thought, "They're idiots."
QUESTION: What were you like at that age? What was your high school experience?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I was just, like, a loner.
QUESTION: Were you?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Yeah.
QUESTION: Are you do you do anything before the next one starts?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I'm doing this movie called Parts By Billion, with Dennis Hopper, in January. It's a kind of surreal love story. And that's shooting in January. It's a very, very small film.
QUESTION: In the States?
ROBERT PATTINSON: Yeah, in LA.
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Cam Gigandet, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, Taylor Lautner, Kellen Lutz, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Anna Kendrick, Christian Serratos
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
The much anticipated film version of the best selling novel Twilight will release in Australia on 11 December. This action-packed modern day love story between a vampire and a human is based on the current New York Times and international bestselling series.
When Bella Swan (Kirsten Stewart) moves to the rainy town of Forks, Washington, she doesnt expect much in her life to change. Thats until she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she has ever met.
Twilight is a cultural phenomenon, the books have been translated into more than 20 languages and a dedicated fan base eagerly awaits the movie release.
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