Robert Pattinson, 22, inspires so many squeals that he could be the lost Jonas brother. The one with translucent skin and extra-sharp teeth.
Pattinson's teen vampire movie "Twilight" doesn't open until Friday, yet he created a frenzy last week during a mall tour to promote the movie. Just knowing Pattinson plays (OMG!) Edward Cullen, the supernaturally handsome and perpetually 17-year-old hero of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling 2005 novel, drew fans in droves.
It's been a heady experience for the young British actor, previously best known for playing ill-fated Quidditch star and BMOC Cedric in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Good thing Pattinson has the hair to handle it.
Reached by telephone in San Francisco, where a scheduled mall appearance drew a crowd so large and boisterous the event briefly was called off before being called back on, Pattinson is self-effacing about his role as the dreamiest bloodsucker ever to romance a shy teenage girl (played by Kristen Stewart).
The book "Twilight" offers what might be the most enthusiastic testament to male beauty in literary history. Edward's looks are mentioned on nearly every page. Was this aspect of the role daunting at all?
Yeah, initially it just completely put me off the whole thing. They sent me the book about five months before they did the audition, and I had exactly the same impression you had. I thought, "This is just kind of pointless even going in for the meeting." ... I was just imagining, on the way to the audition, that I would be knocking on the door: "Hey, I'm here for the perfect (man) role."
How are you handling all the attention? Are you surprised by the fans' response?
Well, people just really love the book – obsessively love the book – and they just kind of switched their attentions and affections onto the film. It's literally like a direct transfer. I wasn't expecting it at all, but at the same time, I get it.
Why do girls go for vampires?
I don't know. It's kind of like – especially in "Twilight" – he is (his girlfriend's) protector, but also, because she is the only human he can be around, you can kind of guarantee a commitment. (laughs)
How did you get into the mind-set of a teenage vampire?
I mean, he's like 108 years old, so I definitely wanted to have that aspect of it. ... I just thought he might have a kind of chronic loneliness and also, having to be in the mind-set of a 17-year-old for 80 or 90 years, it would kind of have to drive you a little bit nuts. (Edward) is just a very self-loathing character at the beginning, and then he meets Bella (Stewart's character), and like any self-loathing person, thinks he is not good enough for the thing he loves, and it becomes massively stressful.
Did you do anything physically to prepare for the role? I mean, apart from staying out of the sun ...
Um, well, I'm from England, so I am kind of pasty anyway, and it's not really sunny in Oregon, where we were shooting. I (also) worked out with a boxing trainer, just to get, you know, a body. (laughs)
Call Bee movie critic Carla Meyer, (916) 321-1118. Hear her discuss the week's movies at 4:40 p.m. on Fridays on NewsTalk 1530 (KFBK).
