Rob Pattinson Talks 'Twilight'.

Just days before Twilight pandemonium is unleashed at a theater near you, Robert Pattinson, who plays the dreamy vampire Edward in the film adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer bestseller, still manages to work the mellow Brit vibe. We caught up with the actor during a quiet moment on the whirlwind promo jaunt for the movie, which hits theaters Nov. 21, to chat about his music, those adoring (if bold) Twilighters, and being one of Perez's boys.
I've been hearing about the fans just going crazy at the promo events for Twilight. You're bearing the brunt of it, huh?It's been fun. It's weird, I get to a city and I always get told there was a riot earlier on. By the time I get there, it's always quieted down a bit. But it is pretty nuts. I thought it might happen in one city, but it's happening everywhere, in every single city we go to, around the world. It's pretty crazy.

What's the weirdest thing that's happened so far?

Well, this was in New York, at the Apple store. This really, really young girl came up on stage, and she asked me to bite her, but like in such a passionate way — it wasn't really fun and games, "Hey, will you bite me, haha, joking!" She'd made up her mind, she got on the stage, and she wanted it. Like a real vampire bite.

So did you bite her?

Yeah, I did!

You did?

No, I didn't, really. Of course not. But it was really funny. It's just so strange how I go to these events and a lot of the people who are there are just completely convinced that I'm Edward. I'm really the character from the book, there is no Robert Pattinson. It's so funny. And they react in that way, not as if I'm just an actor.

Do you get stalked when you're just walking down the street on your own? Do people recognize you?

I don't even know. I mean, I haven't really done anything normal for ages now. God, it's been so long since I've even just walked down the street by myself. Actually, in New York, it didn't really happen. I went off on my own a bit. But it's really strange just being in airports and there are people there waiting for you to get off the plane with their cameras, and you're just exhausted. It's so weird. That's the biggest change I've noticed.

Have you seen the movie yet?

I haven't. I don't really watch my stuff at all, so I don't think I will end up seeing it. Well, maybe I will. I think I'll end up seeing it at the premiere, but I really don't like watching myself on screen.

Did you guys use a lot of CGI in the infamous sparkling Edward scene?

As usual, in Oregon, there were incredibly unpredictable, bizarre weather conditions. There was no sunlight that day, as usual, and of course, we needed this big ray of sunlight, so we used a huge light and I turned around into it. There was no make-up or anything on the day. We had tried to do it with make-up, but it just didn't work so we had to do it with special effects. It was done by George Lucas' company, Industrial Light & Magic, and apparently it looks pretty cool but I haven't seen it yet. But the people at the junket said it looks pretty amazing.

What's going on with New Moon?

I think the script's done already, they just need to greenlight it. But I think it all depends on how well Twilight does, whether it's shot or not.

I read somewhere that Catherine Hardwicke, the director, estimated it needs to earn $150 million.

Oh wow! I don't think it's that much! Is it? We've got our work cut out for us then. But I think there's a lot more CGI needed in the second one, so I think it is a significant amount of money. The second book was my favorite book, so I'm quite looking forward to working on it.

Have you read the whole series now?

I haven't. I've read all of the books except for Breaking Dawn. I didn't want to know how it ended. I wanted to have the uncertainty of not knowing where it's going to go, so I just read the first three. I want to read the last one, but I'm determined to wait.

What was it like working with Kristen Stewart?

She's basically the reason I did the movie. When I read the book, and there are these moony descriptions of Edward as this God-like figure, I thought there was no way I could play him, really. But when I got into the room with Kristen, there was just a certain chemistry. And she's just very smart. She's really the best actress of her generation. I'd seen the run of movies she'd done. She's 18, but it just seemed unnecessary for her to do any of that silly teen movie stuff. Even the movies that are supposed to be aimed at teens, she gets out of it not looking like she's in a teen movie. I thought she'd fight to make Twilight as serious as possible. She's a very cool person to work with.

And you guys tried to elevate the characters to another level, huh?

Yeah, it was really funny, looking back on it. When you just read the book, it's deceptively simple. It's an easy read. But when you try to actually play it, it's a lot more difficult. There's got to be a reason why there are so many fans. There's something else to it that people are really connecting with. So we were trying to find what that something else was.

So you were trying to play Edward as a manic depressive, then?

[Laughs] Initially, yes. Not quite a manic, maybe just a depressive. But Catherine talked us down from that a bit.

How does it feel to be one of Perez Hilton's boys? You're on that list alongside Zac Efron and the Jonas Brothers.

[Laughs] It's good. I didn't really know about that site until my mom sent me an email about it. I can't remember what specifically it was about, but she just forwarded something from him. It's just so strange how it all comes at you, literally overnight, all of this stuff. It's funny.

You've dethroned Zac Efron as the teen heartthrob du jour.

I don't think I quite have yet, though it's funny to see my face on T-shirts. I don't really see it as me. But luckily, I don't have that much to live up to because I'm playing a broody vampire. I don't have to be sweet and clean-cut. But it's cool, I guess. It's complimentary. I am grateful about being part of this huge phenomenon. I mean, there are only so many times something like this is going to happen in your life. And I thought I'd had my run with Harry Potter. It is quite insane.

Yeah, what do you do for a topper after doing Harry Potter and Twilight?

I don't know! What else is there? [Laughs] It's crazy, I've kind of cornered the young adult franchise market. But I'm doing this movie called Parts Per Billion in January, with Dennis Hopper and Rosario Dawson. It's a love story set against the end of the world, but none of the three couples it focuses on know it's the end of the world. It's a very poetic, philosophical script, so I think it should be fun. I'm paired up with Olivia Thirlby. She's cool.

I heard you've thrown your name out for the Jeff Buckley biopic that might happen?

I'd love to do it, but I don't think there's even a script out there yet. I don't look anything like him, so I don't know if I could play him. They'd probably go with James Franco — he looks just like him. But I just love his music. I love the idea of it. I don't know too much about his life, though.

Speaking of biopics, you're playing a young Salvador Dalí in Little Ashes. Are you into art?

It's not that much racier than Twilight, actually, despite the gay love aspect. I shot it before Twilight, and it's about Dalí's relationship with the writer Federico García Lorca, when they were in college together and up till about when Dalí was 26. It's about how their relationship affected their art and also how it formed Dalí into who he was in later life, that caricature. But I myself was never really very good at art. I haven't got a very good sense of perspective, in any element of my life, really. [Laughs] One of my best friends is a very, very good sculptor, and he's always annoyed with me because I don't know enough about art. I'm much more interested in film and music.

And you've got two songs featured in Twilight. So is music next?

I don't know. I used to play open mikes a lot before the stuff got leaked on the Web. But then everyone made such a big deal about it, it was a turn off. It just makes it a very different thing when people know who you are. It's like you go to an open mike, but the vibe has completely changed. It has to be an actual performance, whereas before it was just fun. It's just a lot more pressure, so it's different.

Is the audience completely different too now, when you do those? All teenage girls in Twilight T-shirts?

I haven't done one in a while actually, so I don't know. I used to just turn up at places and just do it, I'd never announce it. But then, I don't know how, word just got out so I stopped for a while. But I'm going back to London in December, so maybe I'll do some then.

Uh oh, I'm sure you've got fans booking flights to England now. Here's the last, infamous question. Team Jacob or Team Edward?

I can't really say I was either team, really. How do you decide? Oh, why not. I guess I'm Team Edward. That's the obvious answer. But I'll be Team Jacob in the third one.

FUENTE.