Robert Pattinson has been Edward Cullen for over five years now, so you can forgive the actor if he’s a little bewildered as to what comes next now that Breaking Dawn Part 2 is about to hit theaters. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt more completely bewildered,” Pattinson told Movie Fanatic. “It’s going to take 10 years to really settle in my brain.”
Even more confusing for Pattinson is if one were to dissect the Twilight phenomenon to get to the heart of why this thing is even so popular in the first place. “I don’t think anyone knows why people like it. I don’t think even the fans know why they connect with it the way they do. It’s a visceral thing,” Pattinson said.
The actor believes that the series' creator could not answer that riddle. “I don’t even know if Stephenie [Meyer] could tell you why she was so fixated on this very, very contained story about these very obsessive characters. It’s just an anomaly.”
Now that it is over, Pattinson must say goodbye to a character in Edward Cullen who has not only inhabited his life for half a decade, but also launched his career into the stratosphere of popular culture. “It was very, very strange,” he admitted.
“I still had the same frustration with trying to play it, the entire way through, right up until the last shot. It’s a strange part because, on one hand, a lot of the audience projects their idea of Edward onto him. It doesn’t matter what he is. They want him to be a certain way. You’re trying to play someone who’s seen by a lot of people as this perfect thing, but what is that? That doesn’t mean anything. So, you’re trying to play an archetype on one hand and a character on the other, so I felt insanely frustrated, right up until the last shot, and then it ended.”
The conclusion of being Edward in Breaking Dawn Part 2 came in the most unusual of ways, given the series’ long shooting locale of the freezing Pacific Northwest.
“It was hilarious, considering we’d spent the entire series filming in the most miserable conditions, and then we ended on the beach in the Caribbean, filming for two days in the sea. We literally did the last shot, as the sun was coming up in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. It was a nice way to end it because they were considering shooting it in the sea in Vancouver, which would not have worked at all,” Pattinson recalled, laughing.
Now that he’s revealed his impressions on the end, Movie Fanatic was curious as to the beginning. “The whole first movie was pretty fun. I had never really done a movie like it, when there’s such a big cast of people that are around about the same age. Everyone didn’t really know what was going to happen with the movie, but there was a good energy,” Pattinson said.
“There was something which people were fighting for, in a way. They wanted it to be something special. It felt like a big deal.”
And his first thoughts of the two cast members that he will forever be linked to, thanks to Twilight -- Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart?
“I met Taylor on the movie, I think, when he was wearing his wig and stuff. I met Kristen at the audition. I’m still just trying to come to terms with acknowledging being an actor, at all. When I did Harry Potter, I remember looking at Dan [Radcliffe], Rupert [Grint] and Emma [Watson] and being like, ‘Those guys are actors.’ I was star struck by them. And I was star struck by these guys. It’s funny to see people get humanized,” Pattinson admitted.
“With Dan, Rupert and Emma, I still see them as that. I was with them for 11 months and I still see them as massively famous people. It’s strange to have gone through the same experience with Taylor and Kristen, as well, and to see people retain their sanity, as much as possible. I’ve seen a lot of people have minor amounts of fame and just lose their minds completely, after a casting announcement, let alone having done a movie. It’s amazing to see that people manage to maintain.”
When it comes to the future, Pattinson has a fantastic attitude towards the next chapter of the U.K. actor’s life. “It’s not necessarily that satisfying getting monetary success, but sometimes it keeps the door open to make what you want to make. Other times, you can make five massive hits in a row and still not get cast by the directors you want to work with,” Pattinson said.
His work in between Twilight movies proves his passion for smaller films with roles in Cosmopolis, Remember Me and Bel Ami. “There are no guarantees. I’m trying to sign up and do movies that I’ll be proud of, if it’s my last one. That’s how I think about it.”
When it comes to vampire movies, Pattinson’s favorite and his opinion over those who adore the genre is quite hilarious. “I really like Blade. I wish people would make hard R-rated fantasy movies again. I haven’t seen that many vampire things,” Pattinson said.
“It’s always been strange to me that someone can say they’re a vampire fan. I’m not a non-fan, but it’s such an unusual thing to be a fan of. That’s like saying, ‘I love zombie movies! I just love ‘em!’ That’s more of a psychological problem than being an actual fan.”