It’s safe to say that Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen has been loved and adored by the Twilight fandom since the film series began in 2008. The actor brought a warm, yet brooding approach to the vampire Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan falls in love with over the course of the franchise’s five movies. With it being nearly a decade since the final Twilight movie was released, Pattinson is reflecting on that time he almost got fired while filming.
With Robert Pattinson being the latest actor to wear Bruce Wayne’s cape and cowl for The Batman, he went back through his most iconic roles. When the conversation turned to Twilight, he was reminded of his attitude on set. In Pattinson’s words:
I was 21 and kind of wanted to make it as art-y as possible. So I was kind of - we had this strange tension where the studio was kind of a little bit scared to make things a little bit too emo and stuff. And I thought that was the only way to play it. It just seems so ridiculous talking about it now because I was literally - I spent so much time just infuriated. That's definitely something about being 21 as well, 'cause I can't believe the way I was acting half the time, like when I think back on it.
While speaking with GQ, Robert Pattinson opened up about his Twilight experience, recalling that apparently the studio really did not like his take on Edward Cullen. The actor then went over how his job was in question:
The scene when Edward introduces Bella to his family the first time, I remember that being the day because my agent and my manager came up as a surprise visit. And I was like, 'Oh, hey!' I just thought everything was fine. And then at lunch, they were like, 'Okay, so whatever you're doing right now, after lunch, just do the opposite, or you'll be fired by the end of the day.' And I was like, 'Okay!' And so, that was the only [way] they got me to sort of smile a bit.
The trademark of Robert Pattinson’s Edward Cullen is how emo and weird he played it. As the actor shared, he didn’t know how to make the vampire smiley and chipper because he didn’t feel that was the character, and that in turn caused some major tension on set. Even so, Pattinson obviously kept the job, but it wasn’t without really sticking to his guns and playing Edward how he wanted to.
It will be funny to go back to that Twilight scene now at the Cullen family’s home where Pattinson is smiling a lot more, because now we know the context of that moment. He was very much playing to his agent and manager, but the moment they left, it seemed as though he went back to what his instincts told him.
Twilight may not have turned out as a classic romance that a Hollywood studio would be aiming for, but it was certainly a success and continues to be a cult classic fans frequently go back and binge years later. Robert Pattinson would go on to have a pretty unconventional career after wrapping up Twilight with his talented cast, starring in a span of indie films, like The Lighthouse and Good Time.
Robert Pattinson’s Batman will apparently be unlike any other version of the comic book character, per the actor. The Batman opens in theaters on March 4. We’ll keep you updated here on CinemaBlend if the movie spawns the actor’s first franchise since Twilight.
