It was recently announced that actor and singer Robert Pattinson had been romantically linked to renowned writer and director Victoria Beckham. The relationship between the two has been heavily covered by the media in recent months and it seems like everyone is having their say on the subject. Whether you love him or hate him (and there are a lot of people who hate him), it’s hard to ignore the massive wave of negative attention that has been heaped upon this young man.
Pattinson has been in the spotlight since the early 2000s when he rose to fame playing the lead role in the 2005 film version of Stephen King’s Duma Key. Since then, he has appeared in a number of high-profile films including the 2012 blockbuster The Great Gatsby, which was adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel. Most recently, Pattinson was seen in the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, which is filmed in Northern Ireland and is expected to premiere in early 2019. If that wasn’t enough, Pattinson also starred in the 2013 film adaption of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
So who is this man lurking in the shadows, and what’s he up to? Let’s take a quick look, shall we?
Early Life and Career
Robert Scott Pattinson was born on January 31, 1986, in London, England. He is the only son of filmmaker Tim Pattinson and the late author Elizabeth Taylor. His maternal grandparents are the late Marjorie Merriweather Post and Barron Hilton. Through his father, he is also the nephew of British television host Charlie Pattinson and actor Damian Lewis.
Pattinson’s upbringing was surrounded by wealth and privilege. He attended the independent St. John’s School in London and was a good student, scoring 9 A*s and 13 A grades in his A-Levels. It was reportedly at St. John’s where Pattinson first became interested in acting, having found it “a safe haven” from bullies who plagued him at school.
His first professional appearance was in a 2000 TV commercial for Marks & Spencer’s Pastoria range of chocolaty sweets. At the time he was 11 years old and in the role of a chocolate boy.
He then went on to attend the prestigious London School of Economics, where he studied Economics, Politics and Sociology. While at the LSE, he starred in several stage productions and also appeared in a number of television commercials for brands such as Kellogg’s, Carlsberg beer and Heineken. He also made an appearance in the 2003 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Skin Thief, which starred Val Kilmer and Christian Slater.
Breakthrough
It was while on an evening walk with his father that Pattinson first encountered film director Matthew Vaughn. The two began discussing the script for The Beach, a movie based on the iconic novel by Sir William Golding. The director was so taken with the voice of the young actor that he immediately offered him the role of Johnny in The Beach.
In order to play the role of a teenager in an adult-themed film, Pattinson had to undergo several months of training. He took singing and dancing lessons from a professional and had to find a vocal coach. The process was so challenging, in fact, that he ended up dropping out of his final year at the London School of Economics to focus on his acting career. In a 2019 interview with Vogue, he shared: “I’d always imagined being in college and being able to study anything I wanted to study. I didn’t want to be wasting my time with acting classes when I could be better utilising my time in sociology or politics or economics.”
Pattinson’s breakthrough performance in The Beach earned him critical praise and a number of award nominations. He picked up both the London Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Newcomer – Female for his portrayal of Sibyl, a 17-year-old whose father is an English professor and whose mother is American. In addition to these wins, he was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role – Supporting. The role also earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Short Form.
Relationship With Victoria Beckham
Following his role in the film adaptation of The Hobbit, in which he played the lead role of Bilbo Baggins, he was set to appear in the 2017 film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Gone Girl. The film was ultimately not made due to its sheik-hacking casting controversy and the public backlash that ensued. The part was offered to Daniel Radcliffe, but he declined.
It was announced in June 2017 that Victoria Beckingham, the wife of English football superstar David Beckham, had begun dating Pattinson. The news was met with a mixed bag of reactions, with many people expressing their delight that the two young stars had found love. Others were quick to point out that they had first found fame for their acting performances and did not see the marriage proposal as a real comparison.
The two were married in January 2019 at an intimate, private ceremony in Scotland. In March 2019, it was announced that Victoria had become a stepmother to Beckham’s three sons from his previous marriage.
Rumoured Affairs
There are so many rumours surrounding the personal life of Robert Pattinson. He’s been linked to a variety of women ranging from world-class swimmers to famous faces from Hollywood. Some of the rumours are undoubtedly true, others probably not. One of the more famous stories that comes to mind involves Pattinson and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was alleged that the two had an intimate relationship for several months in 2012. Sheeran was even invited to live with the actor for a time in his native Ireland.
Other than these two, the most recent rumours surrounding Pattinson involve actor Demi Moore and singer Miley Cyrus. In October 2018, a photo of the two cozying up at an award ceremony was circulated on social media.
It is interesting to note that whenever the media focuses on the private life of Robert Pattinson, he consistently ends up making public appearances. From singing on stage with Taylor Swift to walking the red carpet with Victoria Beckham, Pattinson seems to be able to captivate an audience even when he doesn’t have a script in front of him.
It is important to remember that all of these stories are just that – stories. We don’t know for sure that any of them are indeed true. That being said, we do know that Robert Pattinson is a very private individual and often times recluses will have the celebrity they crave. So, while we may never know the specifics about his personal life, we do know that he’ll never be one to hide in the shadows.