I know what you’re thinking right now. You’re wondering if Robert Pattinson is really that nice. Or, at least, that’s what I was thinking when I first heard the news that he’d been snubbed by the Academy Awards.
Yes, the BFFs (Best Friend’s Famousfans) are out in force, and they’re expressing their disappointment that the Twilight star wasn’t recognized with a Best Actor nomination for his performance in The Lost City of Z. But, as much as I love my BFFs, I have to disagree with them. I think Robert Pattinson is an amazing actor, and I’m not at all surprised he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. With good reason.
So let’s take a look at why I think Robert Pattinson is so deserving of a Best Actor nomination, and, more importantly, why he’ll win if he does end up getting one.
First off, let’s discuss the man himself. Robert Pattinson is a true Renaissance man, being equally at home in front of the camera and behind it. He studied English literature and philosophy at Yale, then went on to make his mark in Hollywood. Before we knew it, our boy was starring in big-budget blockbusters like The Hobbit and the Twilight Saga, winning over audiences and critics alike with his charismatic on-screen presence.
Since his breakthrough role in The Twilight Saga, Robert Pattinson has been Hollywood’s darling. Most recently, he won rave reviews for his performance as the tragic poet John Keats in the drama film The Lost City of Z. So it’s no wonder he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in Good Will Hunting.
An incredible talent with a bright future ahead of him, it’s almost hard to believe that Robert Pattinson is only 29 years old. What an amazing decade this has been for him.
And now, for my third point.
The role of Edward Cullen in The Twilight Saga is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating and multi-layered parts of the entire series. We are first introduced to Edward as he lies dying, consumed by regrets and a life of selfishness. He’s a tragic figure, and, at times, a heartbreaking one. When we first meet him, he seems like a complete stranger, someone we’re not sure we should trust.
This is a man who cheats on his wife Bella (BFFs are forever, right?), isolating himself from the people he loves most. But, even more remarkably, Edward also teaches us something about humanity’s potential, about the beauty of compassion and about the triumph of love. In other words, he’s a complex, multi-layered character who’s both likable and memorable. One who, I think, deserves to be nominated for an Oscar.
Good Will Hunting
Like I said, I think Robert Pattinson is an incredible talent, and he continues to prove it to us with each new role he takes on. One of the best things about him is that he seems to be constantly reinventing himself, growing and maturing as an actor as he goes along.
This is most evident in his performance as John Keats in the film adaptation of The Lost City of Z. As someone who’s studied English literature for a long time, I can say that I cried like a baby several times while watching this film. It’s a story about the romance between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, and about Keats’s eventual suicide. The film is very different from the novel it’s based on. In the book, Keats is a much more sympathetic character, a flawed but lovable man who just wants to be happy. The adaptation, however, makes him into a tragic figure, undone by his own ambition.
The scene I found myself pausing in, and pausing often, was when Keats injects himself with morphine. The actor playing Keats, Chris Evans, actually passed away from an overdose of morphine, which he said was his fault. But, in the end, the director of the film, Gus Van Sant, said that Evans’s performance was so amazing that he wouldn’t change a thing about it.
That’s some pretty heavy stuff for an opening scene, but it’s what sets the stage for the rest of the film, which deals with some pretty heavy themes. To me, it shows that, even at the height of his career, Chris Evans was still striving to be better, still working hard to learn. This, to me, is the mark of a true artist.
Complex Man
It’s no secret that, since the first draft of this article, the Academy Awards have gone ahead and given Robert Pattinson the Best Actor nomination. But, as much as I’d love to see him win, I have to disagree with them, because there’s so much more to this story. It’s been a tough year for Edward, and for many of our favorite actors and actresses.
Last year was a banner year for thespian-kind. From Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch, to John and Peter O’Donnell and more, we saw an all-time high in terms of quality and diversity. But, unfortunately, this didn’t translate into Oscar gold. In fact, it was probably the opposite – in terms of quality, this was the worst year in recent memory.
In 2020, however, things are looking up. The Academy has nominated an incredible amount of films, and, in many cases, these are the films that are changing the game. Let’s take a look at some of the best and most deserving of these Best Actor nominees.
Firstly, there’s Tom Hiddleston. The charismatic English actor took the internet by storm last year with his stunning portrayal of Marvel villain Loki. While the character was decidedly villainous, Hiddleston portrayed him with such relish that audiences started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, Loki was a good guy after all. Turns out, he was. And it was Hiddleston’s deep understanding of Loki’s character that made it so easy for the fans to buy into his act, and convinced the Academy that he was, in fact, one of the best actors in Hollywood.
Next, let’s discuss Robert Pattinson. I’ve already covered a lot of ground about our boy, and I don’t think it would be wrong to say that, since the beginning of the year, he’s been one of the biggest talking points in Hollywood. First off, he received rave reviews for his portrayal of the tragic poet John Keats in the adaptation of The Lost City of Z. Then, as I mentioned, he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Good Will Hunting. And, most recently, he starred in a major motion picture with Noah Sanders, an independent film called The Sea. It was a drama about two teenagers who fall in love, only to have it tragically interrupted by a rising sea.
You get the point. This is a busy year for Robert Pattinson.
But, even more impressively, Robert Pattinson has continued to evolve as an actor. In previous years, he’s played mostly one-dimensional characters. This year, however, he’s taken on various roles, some bigger than life, some smaller, but all of them nuanced and demonstrating a depth that makes me believe that, more than anything else, he’s actually gotten better as an actor.
So while I’d love to see him win for Best Actor, I think the recognition that he deserves is most definitely for the role that he’s played this year. John Keats. Beautiful, talented, complex and, most importantly, inspirational. The perfect role for our boy. I can’t wait to see what he does with the part next year.
The Importance Of Compassion
If you’ve been following my articles for any length of time, then you know that I’ve been a big proponent of mental hygiene and emotional self-care, and specifically how important it is to practice kindness and compassion towards oneself. As much as we’d all like to think otherwise, the world is a pretty harsh place, especially when you’re struggling financially or emotionally, and it can be hard to know how to cure yourself or where to turn for help. This is something that our boy Edward Cullen has struggled with, and it’s something that he’s dedicated himself to overcoming. Or, at least, trying to.