USA TODAY International Edition
Ten years ago, ‘Twilight’ actor stole the limelight
Ten years ago, fangs were bared for Edward
Robert Pattinson was not well known but he took on the role as Edward and won over fickle fans.
As the first “Twilight” movie turns 10, many remember the screaming crowds and frenzied fan adoration for the film’s vampire lover Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson.
Few remember the online outrage that roared when the then-unknown British actor was cast. Twihard legions hated that Pattinson was chosen to play Cullen to Kristen Stewart’s human Bella Swan, director Catherine Hardwicke recalls.
“People were like: ‘He’s revolting. He’s disgusting,’ ” Hardwicke says of the early days of the super-franchise, which surprised Hollywood and took $3.4 billion in worldwide box office.
Even on the set, Pattinson was rattled by the online onslaught.
“Robert was like, ‘Look what they are saying about me!’ I was like, ‘Don’t read that stuff,’ ” Hardwicke says. “And he goes, ‘My mom sent me these emails about how revolting I am.’ I guess it’s that wry British sense of humor. I just told him, ‘You’d better avoid your mom’s emails.’ ”
To be fair, “Twilight” fans were going to have a hard time with any actor playing their beloved Edward from Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling young-adult novels, much less the question mark of Pattinson. At that point, he had only a small part as Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” to his name.
To make matters worse, as news of his casting spread among fans, they found unflattering photos of the young actor online. “He was drinking beer. He had a little belly. His hair was a bad black dye job from some movie,” Hardwicke says. “He did not look perfect.”
But the director knew she had a hotlooking young actor who showed serious chemistry with Stewart (his future offscreen lover). The couple’s electricity was such during their audition at Hardwicke’s home that Stewart insisted “it
to be Rob” afterward. Playing the undead legend was difficult to live up to for Pattinson.
“The book says Edward Cullen is the sexiest guy in the world. Robert was like, ‘How do you play that?’ I told him to just stay in the moment and be there,” Hardwicke says. “He took it dead seriously and got in terrific shape.”
Hardwicke set up a photo shoot to show off her a cleaned-up Pattinson in full Edward Cullen mode. Those pictures “turned the tide,” she says.
And then “the trailer came out and everything turned around,” Pattinson told The Daily Mirror in 2011. “I started getting love letters and fan mail instead of hate mail.”
Other “Twilight” stars had to deal with backlash that went well beyond their casting. As Swan, Stewart endured comments on everything from a perceived lack of facial expression to her penchant for biting her lower lip.
“But she stayed focused and on track,” Hardwicke says. “Of course she got criticized for 100 reasons. But some of these were from all the other fans who wanted to be there kissing Rob Pattinson instead of her.”