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Actor Robert Pattinson made his debut as a popular heartthrob when he hit the screens in 2005 as Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire‘s Cedric Diggory. He solidified his place on teen magazine posters when he took the role of the mysterious and handsome Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga and led the movies alongside Kristen Stewart from 2008 to 2012. Similarly to many actors who start their careers as iconic characters in movie sagas, audiences wondered where Pattinson would go after the completion of his most popular projects.
Most actors who become canon as main characters in novel adaptions struggle to break into roles outside of their original genre. For example, Emma Watson, who played Harry Potter‘s Hermione Granger, initially struggled to acclimate to other Hollywood films post-production. But similar to Emma Watson, Robert Pattinson has broken the stereotype and gone on to lead in a variety of genres, including dramatic thrillers and psychological horrors.
Robert Pattinson’s success is indicative of his skill as an actor, as well as his transformation into one of Hollywood’s best-known method actors. Robert Pattinson deserves more credit than he is typically given. In his transformation from Edward Cullen to the much anticipated next Batman, Robert Pattinson has solidified himself as one of Hollywood’s most valuable actors.
Robert Pattinson’s Early Years
Audiences typically associate Robert Pattinson with his role as either Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter or Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga. In a recent interview, Pattinson mentioned how “important and protected” his first role in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire was. He specifically notes that he owes his entry into more popular films to his popular role as Cedric in the movie. While he has not maintained contact with many of his co-stars from the film, he tells a different story about his Twilight co-stars.
While Robert Pattinson has made amends with his relationship with Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga, he was originally known for hating his role in the movies. Pattinson was popular during the film in the mid-2000s for being the movie franchise’s biggest critic. He was quoted multiple times, saying he has never seen the movies — and doesn’t plan to. For years, Robert Pattinson harbored a large distaste for his beloved vampire lead role, but he has changed the script on his opinion towards the movies in recent years.
As he continues to dominate film genres outside of his original teenage romance genre, Pattinson has seemed to lighten up regarding his role as Edward Cullen. He has admitted he “mindlessly hated” the movie franchise and adds that now that it has been several years, Twilight has become “sort of retro.” While Pattinson will likely always be known for hating his role in the movies, he certainly owes a lot of his fame to the blockbuster young adult romance films.
Breaking His Stereotype
Initially, Robert Pattinson did not star in any blockbuster hits for several years. After his last role in the Twilight Saga in 2012, Pattinson was cast in various roles but never cast as the lead. Robert Pattinson had been a victim of typecasting: a phenomenon where actors are cast repeatedly as the same type of character they are initially made popular for.
Pattinson continued to be type cast as a heartthrob in movies like Water For Elephants and Remember Me, where he played romantic parts in movies geared towards younger audiences. These roles furthered Pattinson’s popularity, but they didn’t allow him to stray from his typical role as a handsome love interest. Typically, romantic movies are viewed as less serious than thrillers or independent films, so these roles did not help Pattinson move towards the serious roles he strived to be cast in.
Robert Pattinson’s first genre-breaking film was the 2017 crime movie Good Time. In the movie, Robert Pattinson stars as a bank robber named Connie, who will stop at nothing to break his brother out of prison. The film was a shocking change for fans of Pattinson, but those loyal to him carried on loving him. Ann Hornaday at The Washington Post wrote that Pattinson’s character in the film gave “the former teen screen idol the attention he deserves for serious-acting chops.”
While Pattinson starred in a few films between Twilight and the release of Good Time, the film’s gritty change from the stereotypical roles Pattinson usually played marked a change in his career. After Good Time‘s success, Pattinson moved on to bigger and more complex roles in Hollywood.
A Marked Change
After Good Time, Robert Pattinson took on some incredibly complicated and challenging movie roles. His most surprising recent leading role was his role as Ephraim Winslow in-studio A24’s 2019 film The Lighthouse. In this psychological thriller, Pattinson plays one of two characters trapped and driven into madness on an isolated island opposite Willem Dafoe. The movie is a period piece set in the late 19th century and was filmed entirely in black and white.
The film is best known for its controversial reviews revolving around its dark and gritty plot points and some gruesome imagery; however, praise for Robert Pattinson’s role does not go unmentioned. Robert Pattinson used method acting to get into character for the film, during which he made himself “vomit and piss himself” to get closer to the extreme role. Critics hailed his performance because of it, noting his mesmerizing performance and ability to capture the audience in the complexity of the character.
Pattinson has not only broken his romantic lead typecasting but also managed to transform himself into an alternative film star, taking leads in a variety of psychological thrillers. Great things began to be expected of Pattinson after this 2019 performance, and 2020 did not disappoint fans.
Recent Blockbuster Hits
Most recently, Robert Pattinson played the southern reverend in Netflix’s The Devil All The Time. The film stars Tom Holland, but Robert Pattinson’s iconic role did not go unnoticed. His accent in the film is marked as being surprising for the actor, so much so that it shocked Antonio Compos the first time he heard it. It was reported that Pattinson refused to reveal his accent until filming. This played into his method acting technique, in which he only reveals aspects of a character he is playing when he is ready to be filmed. After his incredible performance in The Lighthouse, the film’s production team did not mind Pattinson’s technique — and it did not disappoint.
Although he was not the lead role in the film, Robert Pattinson’s performances remained one of the movie’s best. The reverend’s character is known for sexually abusing young girls and becomes the enemy of Tom Holland’s character. His character in The Devil All The Time is a long way away from his roots playing Cedric Diggory or Edward Cullen and speaks to the true testament of how far Robert Pattinson’s talents and love of acting have brought him.
Where Will He Go Next?
At the moment, Robert Pattinson is scheduled to lead in another dramatic film, The Stars At Noon, and is also set to play the next Batman. While Pattinson’s filmography has not grown exponentially in quantity since his time in the Twilight saga, the quality of his roles and the films he has starred in have noted a marked change and incredible talent in him. Judging by his roles’ greatness in recent years, we can only expect wonderful things from Robert Pattinson in years to come.