NZ Herald: Rob the Boy in the Bubble

An NZ Herald article on our man Rob...

The Twilight juggernaut is propelling the 23-year-old British actor to the heights of mega stardom and, having previously only played minor roles, most notably as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, he is making the most of it.


The small independent movie, Remember Me, was able to go ahead as the result of his casting and Pattinson is now in Unbound Captives, a western set in 1859, where the world's sexiest youngster gets to act alongside the "Sexiest Man Alive", Hugh Jackman.


"The Twilight fans are so devoted, even fanatical, that I'm now able to do so many films," Pattinson says. "The economy is just so bad at the moment. I don't care if they think I'm right for the part or not. I can get their movie made, which is great."


The trim actor says what has happened to him has been "pure luck." After all, handsome Henry Cavill, who made a dashing impression in TV's The Tudors as Henry's friend, the Duke of Suffolk, had been Twilight author Stephanie Meyer's original choice to play Edward Cullen, the lovelorn vampire who falls in love with the human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).


But Cavill was too old by the time the blockbuster movie went ahead and Pattinson won the role instead. "I never set out to achieve anything, certainly not fame like this," he admits. "I still have to deal with how to actually make my life work."


The obvious comparison regarding his ascent to stardom is with Daniel Radcliffe who, even if he gets his gear off on stage, will forever be known as Harry Potter. Like his fellow Briton, Pattinson has gone against the puerile grain of Twilight to appear in gay sex scenes for his portrayal of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali in Little Ashes.


Pattinson hopes his Twilight role will leave him without the typecasting that Radcliffe will surely face. "I worked on Harry Potter for 11 months and I couldn't imagine doing that for all those years. I don't know how those guys have stayed sane. I would go completely crazy, hardly being able to do anything else for so long."


Pattinson was contracted to do the four Twilight movies and once Eclipse wraps up in Vancouver, only Breaking Dawn remains to be filmed. "They were all filmed quickly and painlessly," he says.

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