There are some actors who just seem made for the big screen. Take Austin Power for example, the hero of the 1965 film “The Italian Job” who went on to appear in many other films, both before and after. With his dark good looks and swaggering manner, it’s no wonder Hollywood often turns to him. Similarly, there’s Ribert Pattinson, whose acting career was launched by a brief appearance in the Harry Potter movies and whose acting talent and looks have made him an instant film icon.
Here’s a quick guide to show you how Ribert Pattinson became the Harry Potter actor we all know and love.
Early Life
Born in Sydney, Australia, Pattinson spent most of his childhood in New York City, where his father worked as a designer. His mother worked in public relations and he attended Bard College in the city, majoring in English literature and minoring in art history. He subsequently moved to London to study at the London School of Economics.
His first job in the city was as an assistant stage manager for the production company Working Title. He subsequently worked on several film sets, including the 2005 remake of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and the 2010 comedy “Easy-Peasy”, as an assistant director. Pattinson began his acting career with a small role in the television soap opera “Family Affairs” in 1999 and quickly worked his way up through the ranks, landing his first starring role in “The Lazarus Effect” (2008).
Richemont & Harry Potter
Pattinson is an indirect descendant of the famous James Bond 007 through his mother, who is German. In the years after World War II, the German nobility became quite wealthy, thanks to the large number of cars and bicycles they imported from the United States. As a result, many German families decided to cash in on their connections to the Third Reich by creating their own version of James Bond, known as Agent 007. The role was modeled after the late British actor Peter Graves, whose performances in the James Bond films were highly praised by critics.
One of the companies that made use of Graves’ talents was Transamerica, a Swiss firm that acquired the rights to produce car and bike accessories, stationery, and more, based on products used by James Bond’s secret agent.
To this day, if you look for Ribert Pattinson on Google, you’ll find a link to this company’s website. It’s quite a treasure trove of information about all things 007, with an especially large section devoted to the “Peter Graves” brand. One might assume that Transamerica is the firm that helped launch Pattinson’s acting career, as so much of his early work in film and television was for this particular company. However, Transamerica later became a brand name brand of its own and now it’s one of the biggest companies in the Swiss automotive and tire industry. While it’s great to see that the company is still connected to one of the greatest fictional heroes of all time, it’s interesting how things turned out. Perhaps one day, Peter Graves will return to claim his rightful place in this industry once more.
A Brief Appearance In Harry Potter
Pattinson’s first major role was in Harry Potter, the boy wizard series based on the popular Harry Potter novels by British author J.K. Rowling. We won’t pretend to know much about film or television acting – we’re not even sure if these are separate categories – but we do know that Potter creators J.K. Rowling and Steve Kloves watched several of Pattinson’s early television episodes and were impressed by what they saw. In an interview with Screen Crush, Kloves said that when they decided to cast Pattinson in the role of Harry Potter, it was “a no-brainer”.
Kloves went on to say that they looked at different actors in [the] race for the role of Harry Potter. They narrowed it down to eight or nine choices, and then they watched all of the actors’ episodes. “One by one, we watched them all and narrowed it down to Ribert,” Kloves said. “We just knew. It was a no-brainer.”
Rowling went on to confirm Kloves’ statement, adding that she and her writing partner had given the matter “a lot of thought,” before deciding on Pattinson. “We knew we needed someone young and who could handle English accents, particularly a hard one,” she said. “We also needed someone who could pull off a wand – or crayons! – and be able to grow facial hair! We knew from the beginning that we wanted to see a grown-up Harry Potter.”
While we’re guessing that Potter producers didn’t see eight or nine different actors perform, there really is only one Ribert Pattinson. The rest are just models, or in the case of Michael Caine, just a lucky coincidence.
Breaking Into Hollywood
Pattinson’s big break came shortly after he was cast as Harry Potter. He immediately went on to land other major acting roles, including the young detective Luke McLean in the 2012 film adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic “Murder on the Nile”, and the young lawyer Emmet Myles in the legal drama series “Rookie Blue”. While he’s definitely reached peak Harry Potter now that he’s played the character in two blockbusters, one of the most interesting things about the actor’s career is how quickly and unexpectedly he broke into Hollywood. The Australian actor previously had no major films or television series in which to boast, but with his unexpected success in Harry Potter, he was quickly able to parlay his popularity in England as well as Australia into major roles in American films.
It’s a testament to Ribert Pattinson’s acting talent that he was able to leave such a recognizable mark on the world of film and television simply through his good looks and charm. While we await his next project, let’s all remember that there is only one Harry Potter and we all love him for it.