11 Mind-Blowing Facts You Might Have Missed About Our Teenage Vampire Sensation – Robert Pattinson
Best known for his role as the cool and charming vampire Edward Cullen in the romantic Twilight Saga, Robert Pattinson knows how to steal the hearts of every teenage girl all over the world without sucking a drop of blood. Before his first big breakthrough with Cullen, the London native also starred in the popular franchise Harry Potter as the charismatic Hufflepuff leader Cedric Diggory, and since then become a household name in Hollywood. After Twilight, the actor landed some rather peculiar roles in smaller movies, before making his comeback to the blockbuster genre with The Batman, where he portrays the billionaire superhero.
In real life, Pattinson is nothing like his vampire self in the movie. He is quirky, funny, and very humble, sometimes to the point of self-deprecating. There are many interesting facts about the British’s private life and background, which shows us a more endearing side about him, and that he has more to offer than just his looks.
#1. He was once expelled from school.
Opposite to the role model Cedric in Harry Potter, Pattinson was quite a rebellious one during his teenage years. He revealed in 2017 to have been expelled from a private school for a very unexpected reason: stealing and selling adult magazines.
“I used to go in and take, like, one or two, and then put them in my bag. I was in my school uniform when I was doing it, and it was kind of risky. In the end, I got so cocky that I would take the entire rack.” The actor recalled.
#2. He got his role in Harry Potter after getting cut from another movie.
In 2004, Pattinson initially starred in Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair, playing the son of Reese Witherspoon in the movie, only to realize that his scene was completely cut out of the movie later on during a screening. Apparently, no one told the actor that his role was cut, which hurt his feelings a lot.
However, the movie’s casting director, Mary Selway, felt guilty that no one had informed Pattinson about the cut, and had decided to give him a role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And the rest, as we say, is history.
#3. He hates his role as Cedric Diggory.
While Cedric is a role model of the Hufflepuff and is well-respected by others, Pattinson himself once confessed that he didn’t like this character one bit. To play the handsome wizard was a “challenging experience” for the Batman star, which he said: “I was never a leader, and the idea of my being made head boy would have been a complete joke. I wasn’t involved in much at school, and I was never picked for any of the teams.”
“In the book, it’s like ‘an absurdly handsome 17-year old, when you’re trying to act, and you’re trying to get good angles to look good-looking and stuff. It’s really stupid; you’d think I’m really egotistical.” He continued. Pattinson even describe his experience playing Cedric as “much scarier than meeting Lord Voldemort” himself.
#4. He also hates playing Edward Cullen, apparently.
It’s kind of ironic how two of Pattinson’s most well-known characters are also the two roles that he despises the most. During his interview with Idiva, the actor described Edward as “a manic and depressive character” and that the two of them had nothing in common.
And while he’s at it, Pattinson hates the series Twilight as a whole as well. There is more than one time when he publicly roasted the franchise, saying it’s “uncomfortable to watch” and “a nightmare of a movie”. At one time, he even stormed out of the theater when a film was being premiered, and he finally got his dignity back when the franchise was over.
#5. He got nominated for multiple Golden Razzie Awards.
While Pattinson is a capable actor, he hasn’t been nominated for any Academy Award so far, and on the contrary, he got a bunch of Razzies coming his way, all thanks to his vampire role in Twilight. This doesn’t come as a surprise to many, since the teenage sensation romance received mostly negative reviews from critics. Pattinson was nominated twice for Worst Actor, and shared another with his on-screen partner Kristen Stewart for Worst Screen Couple three times.
No wonder he hates the role and the film so much.
#6. He used to have really bad hygiene habits.
Robert Pattinson is an absolute heartthrob, but few would remember that the ex-vampire used to have a really dirty and unkempt lifestyle which completely contradicts his gorgeous looks. During his early 20s, the actor refused to take a bath and wash his head for days, sometimes even weeks. At one point, the film crew even had issues with his body odor, and his dandruff was everywhere on the set.
Thankfully, Pattinson got rid of these bad hygiene habits early with his campaign with Dior Homme in 2012. Since then, the actor finally cares about his outlooks more, or at least, doesn’t smell like a 108-year-old vampire in the wild anymore.
#7. He also got a knack for music.
Besides being an actor, Pattinson is also a talented musician. He learned how to play the instrument at the age of 4, and records several songs in his adulthood. The London native even sings for movie soundtracks, such as in Damsel, High Life, or even the Twilight Saga. Give his music videos a try, and you won’t be disappointed.
#8. He was named the “Most Handsome Man in the World.”
No Academy or Golden Globe Award so far, but Pattinson is widely considered one of the most handsome men on Earth, and even got an award to boot. However, he got to wait for a while until 2020 to grab the prize, scoring a whopping 92.15% score on Dr. Julian De Silva’s Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi.
#9. He’s anxious to a fault.
Despite his good-looking stature and the fact that he starred as an immortal being in one of the most popular teenage romance franchises ever, Pattinson is just a human just like any of us. He’s humble, sometimes very critical of himself, to the point of self-deprecating. At one point, the actor even admitted to The Guardian that he didn’t know how to act, and how he’d get extremely anxious on stage that he’d throw up.
“I’m nervous on, like, every single movie,” Pattinson professed. However, the act of admitting one’s own anxiety in public also takes a lot of courage itself, so props to that, Robert.
#10. He has an asteroid named after him.
This is quite an achievement for Pattinson, since not every actor in Hollywood has such an honor. Back in 2014, the Russian astronomer Timur Kryachko, who’s also a big fan of the actor, decided to name his idol to the 1.4-mile wide meteorite he just found back then, and registered it in the International Astronomical Union. The asteroid is named 246789 Pattinson, by the way.
#11. He’s a huge Batman and Star Wars enthusiast.
It’s no secret that Pattinson is a die-hard DC fan, and the Dark Knight is his childhood superhero. That’s why he kept pleading with director Matt Reeves to take the Batman role in the titular film in 2022. It was a long process, but the actor’s patience finally paid off as Reeves agreed to let him take the role, which he absolutely nails.
Besides Batman, Pattinson is also a big Star Wars enthusiast, and while he hasn’t starred in any movie just yet, the actor is open to any Jedi-related offer in the future. The Lighthouse star even noted that he’d play Jar Jar Binks if he needed to and that the Gungan warrior is actually one of his favorites in the franchise.
Which fact above do you like the most about Robert Pattinson? What would you like to add to the list? Let us know in the comments.