Cedric Robert Pattinson (born October 6th, 1984) is an English actor, screenwriter, and musician. He is most well known for playing a dual role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga, which earned him multiple awards and critical acclaim, including a BAFTA and MTV Movie Award. He has also appeared in significant supporting roles in House of Gucci (2013), The Great Gatsby (2013), Mud (2013), Out of the Woods (2015), and The Lost City of Z (2016).
Pattinson began his acting career in theatre, where he spent several years performing in London before making his English movie debut in 2012’s The Lost City of Z. He soon after landed the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight, a cinematic adaption of the bestselling novel by Stephenie Meyer. For his performance in the film, Pattinson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won a BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He has also received critical acclaim for his work in the HBO television series The Night Of. He will next star as Sherlock Holmes in the upcoming film Sherlock Holmes: Return of the Living Dead.
Pattinson’s Unique Style
Actors can put many different spins on their roles, but Pattinson’s approach to acting is completely unique. He frequently delves into different areas of culture and history, often drawing on his experience as a musician, and uses this to color his performance. It is difficult to pinpoint a single moment when a character in a Pattinson film truly comes alive; rather, his unique style infuses all of his characters with a vibrant spirit that keeps the viewer interested and entertained.
One area where Pattinson excels is in creating memorable characters. While he does not necessarily set out to do so, the talented actor frequently ends up with remarkable creations. Take Scott Alexander, the lead singer in the band Driveby, who Pattinson played in the 2014 musical film Beatriz at Dinner. When asked about the character, Alexander responded: “He’s a singer, in a band… I think that’s an interesting combination. You rarely see that in films. It’s not like he has a guitar in one hand and a sausage in the other. He’s a normal guy, with a past, and with a story to tell. What more could you ask for?”
Director Michael Cuesta also praised Pattinson’s nuanced performance, describing him as “an actor’s actor, who always brings it,” and “one of the nicest guys I’ve ever worked with.”
Pattinson’s style is one of a kind, but it is not all bad. On the contrary, his performances have garnered praise from many different media outlets. Rolling Stone ravingly described Pattinson as “one of the greatest actors of our time,” while The New York Times lauded him as “one of the best young actors in British cinema.”
We can also look at the other side of the coin and see where some of Pattinson’s less savory qualities come from. His characters are frequently portrayed as selfish and amoral, and this, in part, comes from Pattinson himself. In a 2012 interview, he dismissed the idea of good and evil, instead describing his approach to acting as “grey area ethics.”
“Ethics?” Pattinson replied. “There’s no such thing as good or evil. There’s just very good acting and very bad acting… When you’re acting, you’re just acting; you’re not being yourself. You have a character. It’s very freeing. My characters are very much my own creation, and they are very complex. They’ve got their good and bad aspects. It all depends on the role and how I feel at the time. Sometimes I want to show people a more charming side to myself, and sometimes I just want to show them the ugly side.”
Pattinson’s Early Life
Pattinson was born in London and grew up in Oxfordshire, England, the son of actress Vanessa Jayne (née Hill) and director/producer Bryan Robert Pattinson. He has two older brothers, Luke and Toby. As a child, he was a fan of Sherlock Holmes and spent much of his time playing with his brothers, acting in amateur stage shows, or reading. He developed an interest in acting from an early age and was recognized for his performances at school. In 1996, he began studying English Literature at Cambridge University, where he also joined the Conservative Association and worked on the Conservative student newspaper The Stirring. While at the university, he appeared in a number of plays, including a title role in a production of Anthony Neilson’s Inheritance which focused on the Boer War. After graduating in 2001, he moved to London and began working in theatre, initially joining the National Youth Theatre and then training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. In the city, he became a member of the Royal Society of Musicians, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Donmar Warehouse’s Dramatic Society. He also appeared in several short films and worked on an episode of the popular CBBC show Jack & Co. In addition to his stage work, Pattinson has also made several short films, including three comedies as well as the 2005 cult classic The Fountain. He briefly returned to university to study English Literature, but left after a year to focus on his career. He is currently a member of the UK Acting Academy and is represented by the prominent UK acting agency JMW Management.
The Twilight Saga: Film and Novel
The Twilight Saga is a series of five young adult novels by American author Stephenie Meyer, first published in 2002. The novels were made into films, with the first, Twilight, released in 2012 and the most recent, New Moon, released in 2013. It is the first major cinematic adaption of a young adult novel, and has become a phenomena, successfully launching a film franchise, setting social trends, and inspiring many cross-generational groups of fans.
The first film, Twilight, originally began as a short story called “Twilight” in Kirkus Reviews. In the film, a young woman named Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) moves to a new town with her mother after her father leaves. There, she develops a romance with a local boy named Edward, played by Robert Pattinson. On their first date, Edward proposes to Bella and she accepts. She later gives birth to a daughter, Renesmee, but struggles with her new motherhood. When Edward’s family descends on the couple for what would have been Edward’s grandfather’s birthday, Bella breaks the news to the pack that she is expecting again. While the family members are overjoyed, her mother is less than supportive and forces Bella to choose between her family and her new husband. The film version of this scene was ranked number one on Top Ten Movies on Netflix Canada in 2018.
“Twilight” was a massive international success, attracting audiences in excess of 300 million online views worldwide. The New York Times called it “the biggest, most ambitious adaptation yet seen on the large screen,” while MTV declared it the greatest romantic comedy of all time. Many critics consider the film’s success to be due to its fresh take on an age-old narrative, its star-studded cast, and the way the story draws on both the classic Sherlock Holmes character and the vampire mythos.
When it comes to adapting a literary work for the big screen, there are many tricks that Hollywood has up its sleeve. One of the most effective ones is delving into the details of the book’s creation, including its characters, setting, and style. The Twilight Saga is unique in this respect as the film largely sticks to the original text, while expanding on a few select areas. Most notably, director Stephenie Meyer did not write the screenplay, but rather based it on the original novel. In an interview with The Guardian, she explained that she did this to keep things “personal and natural,” and to counter the “formulaic nature” of most scripts: “I didn’t want anyone to come along and simply tell the story as I wrote it. So in a way, I was cheating.” She also cited the importance of drawing on her own life experiences in the story, explaining that it was not meant to simply be a retelling of the classic Sherlock Holmes tale. “In the end, I think that’s what saved it,” she said. “If it’s just been lifted, this film would not have worked.”