Robert Pattinson Just Pointed Out One 'Very Strange' Twilight Acting Choice He Made (And I'll Never Watch It The Same Way Again)

Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen in peacoat in front of high school in Twilight
(Image credit: Summit Entertainment)

Robert Pattinson has played plenty of notable roles, and he currently has a handful of high-profile releases on the 2026 movie schedule. However, the Twilight movies will arguably remain famous aspects of his filmography so, of course, the franchise came up while he was promoting his new film, The Drama. Funny enough, Pattison just brought up one thing from the original movie that he recently discovered, and I just know I’m going to think about it every time I rewatch it from this point on.

Just recently, Pattinson caught up with Vogue and, during the chat, he spent some time reflecting on his tenure as Edward Cullen. What I found most notable, though, was that the British actor pointed out something about his work that he hadn't discussed up until that interview. In his words:

There was one thing I did see the other day, which is quite funny. When I’m sitting down in the cafeteria for the first time, I've literally never noticed this, for some reason I [use two fingers from each hand] on the table to sit down. I thought it was an elegant, vampiric thing to do. I think that’s what the thought process was. But, looking at it twenty years later, you’re like, ‘Huh... that’s very strange.’

Pattinson is talking about the iconic scene in Twilight where Edward Cullen makes his first entrance in the high school cafeteria whilst Bella Swan is getting the rundown about the mysterious Cullen family. As the actor discovered, in the scene when Edward is sitting down, he chose to use a couple of his fingers (kind of like an upside down peace sign) to lower himself down. Here’s an image of the quick moment in action:

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Robert Pattinson sitting down in cafeteria in Twilight

(Image credit: Summit Entertainment)

This is honestly so precious to me. Robert Pattinson was only several years into his career at that point, and I love his funny commitment to the bit to play the immortal teenager. Every time I watch the movie now I’ll think about Pattinson's comments on Edward sitting down and it’ll bring a smile to my face. Here’s what else he had the say about the first Twilight movie:

I really love that movie. I think I would have done it exactly the same. To be honest, I don’t think I’d be able to do the performance now because everybody was approaching it so earnestly and took it really, really seriously. There was no kind of tongue-in-cheek element. No one was winking at the audience. It was very real, which is strange for a vampire romance. I envy my past self’s abilities.

While 2008’s Twilight definitely came from a phenomenon of a book, the actors subsequently explained that while making that initial film, they really had no idea it would be such a big hit. (It was made on a small budget of $37 million dollars, and grossed $412 million). Pattinson has also recently spoken about still being shocked by the “cultural legs” the has. The Good Time star also discussed what it was like to quickly become famous due to those supernatural young adult films.

HBO Max: Plans start from $10.99 a month

HBO Max: Plans start from $10.99 a month
If you're looking to stream the Twilight movies, you can watch all five movies right now with an HBO Max subscription, so sign up now.

While Twilight's reception was mostly mixed (outside of the huge fandom) upon its release, these days, Robert Pattinson is a fan-favorite actor who’s regularly getting approached by big names to be in big movies like The Batman, Mickey 17 or . Right now, you can see him in The Drama with Zendaya, now in theaters, and look forward to him in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey this summer and Dune: Part Three this holiday season.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.

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