Most actors make a slow rise to fame, taking small roles in the backgrounds of shows and movies before hopefully getting a starring role to pay the bills.
But when one of your first roles is in the Harry Potter film franchise, and just a few years later, you land the lead in one of the biggest YA novel adaptations to ever hit the big screen, your status changes from struggling actor to super star practically overnight.
This is, of course, the resume of Robert Pattinson, who played Edward Cullen in the insanely popular Twilight movies. The hype around these films and their young cast was akin to Beatle-mania, and it was a huge adjustment for the quiet star.
In a recent conversation with Pattinson’s The Drama co-star, Zendaya, via Interview Magazine, the pair talked about the sudden fame and the weirdness of being so intrinsically linked to a fictional character.
Pattinson said: “When I was doing Twilight, there was such a cultural pushback against it, almost simultaneous to its success, so I kind of had to ride both things. I really enjoyed making the movies, but then there was such a huge marketing push behind it as well.
“I didn’t want to get my personal identity caught up in that, so I tried to push forward my individuality a little, and that kind of stuck with me. It was also interesting getting famous off of playing a part—people thought I was that character in the beginning.”
Zendaya commented on how weird that must have been, and Pattinson went on: “It was quite strange, but it also allowed me to push against it. Also, I wasn’t precious about that identity because it wasn’t my identity to begin with.
“It’s interesting to use the public perception of you as part of your character development, because you’re like, ‘I assume at least a few people in the audience are going to be expecting this,’ so you can make it more dramatic.
“But at the same time, you never really know what people are thinking. A lot of people are very protective of, ‘This is who I am, this is my identity,’ and I’ve never really felt that. Part of me is very certain of who I am, but I don’t feel it’s odd to just wake up one day and just be a different person. [Laughs] I think it’s positive insecurity.”
It must have been a truly strange experience being the heartthrob character to an audience of women ranging from teen to middle aged. It sounds like Pattinson took it pretty well, and he has been able to break away from being pigeon-holed moving forward in his career, so it all worked out.
This year alone, Pattinson has roles in the films The Drama, The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, and Here Comes the Flood. Next year, we will see him return to the role of Bruce Wayne, aka The Dark Knight, in the sequel The Batman: Part II.
