If you follow the acting world at all, you’ll know that almost everyone has been waiting for one actor to emerge as a potential replacement for Leonardo DiCaprio as the world’s top-earning leading man. That actor is Robert Pattinson. The British-born actor burst onto the scene in the Twilight franchise, earning him praise for his portrayal of Edward Cullen and also, to a lesser extent, for his acting skills. Since then, he’s become established as a Hollywood heavyweight, picking up numerous major film roles (including one in which he plays a vampire) and garnering many award nominations and accolades along the way.
Here, we’ll explore the intriguing life of Robert Pattinson.
Early Life And Family
The youngest of three children, Robert Pattinson was born on Sept. 25, 1984 in Great Britain. His mother, Deborah, is a make-up artist and his father, David, is an interior designer. While growing up, he’d visit the set of the Twilight films, spending time with the film’s co-stars and learning about the industry.
In addition to acting, he was also passionate about music. He spent most of his time in high school playing guitar and singing in a band, The Rainbows. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in Modern Languages, he moved to New York City to pursue a music career. There, he worked with famed producer Sean “Diddy” Combs (who was then affiliated with the record label Combs Company) and became a prominent figure in the city’s music scene.
Career In Music
In 2010, Pattinson officially changed his focus to acting, having considered a career in music in the past. He made his Broadway debut in a 2011 production of David Mamet’s Crime And Punishment. He played the role of Vladimir Nabokov’s son, which he describes as “one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of [his] life”. While on the subject of acting, it’s important to note that he is British and therefore legally barred from performing on American soil.
He began to appear in a number of films in 2013, including the thriller The Light Between the Lamps and the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar! that same year. In 2014, he had a supporting role in the war film American Sniper and went on to appear in the science fiction film, Annabelle: Creation. Also that year, he was named Entertainment Weekly’s Sexiest Man Alive.
That same year, he also started his own production company, Royal Court Productions, and launched an apparel line, Ropetherson, which is named after the character he played in The Light Between the Lamps, Thomas Robinson. He also serves on the board of the human rights organization Game Change, which focuses on advocating for the protection of wildlife and biodiversity.
Life In Hollywood
Pattinson continues to be one of Hollywood’s most in-demand leading men, playing an array of compelling characters. Most notably, he played the lead in the 2015 biopic The Birth of a Nation, which is based on the life of director and writer, Francis Ford Coppola. He had a small role in the 2016 film War for the Planet of the Apes as well as the 2017 film Beauty and the Beast. In 2018, he played the role of a pianist in the film Judy, which marked his second collaboration with director Stephen Frears.
Pattinson also had a prominent role in the 2019 Netflix series, The Irishman, based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa. The actor is seen in a scene from the series (top left), playing Hoffa.
It’s fair to say that at this point, he isn’t just an actor, he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest names, earning him major movie roles and a decent amount of money. It’s also fair to say that he’s still relatively young, however, as he’ll be turning 33 in 2021. Given the long hours and heavy demands of an actor’s schedule, it’s not hard to see how he might not feel as inclined to settle down with just one partner.
Nevertheless, finding the perfect match is one of Hollywood’s most difficult tasks. The actor is already father to a six-year-old son, Cosmo Pattinson, with his partner, Australian photographer and activist, Sophie Widdicomb. In an effort to raise awareness about the perils of climate change, she founded a nonprofit organization, The Waterbank Project, which raises money for freshwater conservation projects in impoverished communities.
Widdicomb is also the founder of the Love From Sophie foundation, dedicated to raising funds for cancer research. As a result of these foundations, along with his busy acting schedule, he has been able to remain relatively unencumbered by personal wealth. This is in contrast to many of Hollywood’s older leading men, who have amassed large amounts of money during their careers, only to see their money dwindle in their later years. This is largely thanks to the efforts of their wives, who manage their finances in the event of their untimely demise. In other words, it is likely that Robert Pattinson’s career will not be defined by his personal life, but by his work, which is perhaps the most fitting way for an actor to be remembered.