ROBERT PATTINSON AND EWEAN MCGREGOR’S RELATIONSHIP
Robert Pattinson and Ewan McGregor’s Relationship has been the talk of the town recently, and not just because the Scottish actor is wearing something stunning while filming scenes from the upcoming movie, Eclipse.
The 29 year-old English actor currently stars in the blockbuster Twilight films as the iconic vampire, Edward Cullen. But it was the release of his film Befocking in early June that truly put his relationship with McGregor, 42, on blast.
The film, which follows the trials and tribulations of a young inventor, played by McGregor, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in late May. From the moment the lights went down in the cinema and the trailer for the film began, the audience was hooked. The film received rave reviews and has been added to the BFI (The British Film Institute) archive, one of the British Film Institute’s (BFI) world renowned film catalogues.
But, although the trailers for Twilight and Befocking may have piqued our interest in the relationship between the two leads, it’s the finished product that truly reveals the nature of their bond. While the Twilight universe is undeniably obsessive on the subject of vampires, it’s safe to say that McGregor’s character, Ken, is rather more focussed on inventing technology that creates harmony.
“It’s a really interesting mix of Star Wars and The Jetsons, all rolled into one,” says Peter Sciretta, Film critic for Broadway Business News. “We have iconic images of the British aristocracy but also of space colonization, which is something that really resonated with audiences.”
So, what exactly is their relationship? Is it a romance? A friendship? Or is it something more? We decided to investigate.
EDWARD CULLEN’S HUSBAND VOICE
On screen, McGregor plays Ken and is accompanied by an entirely English voice-over. In the film, he refers to himself in the third person as “he,” which is how we as English speakers refer to him. So, it would seem that although the main character is Scottish, the entire film takes place in England.
But it’s not as simple as that. Edward Cullen’s (played by Chris) Scottish accent comes and goes, as does his ability to control other vampires. At one point in the film, he even drops the accent altogether, speaking in an almost flawless American accent.
So, while most of the action in Eclipse takes place in England, Edward Cullen’s nationality is actually ambiguous. Was he born in Scotland or was he birthed in the U.S.? While this may seem like a digression, it’s important to understand the way Robert Pattinson’s Twilight films function within the larger cinematic context of The Twilight Saga. In order to fully appreciate the significance of Stephenie Meyer’s novels and the blockbuster films that have been inspired by them, it’s important to examine how they fit within the larger saga that is The Twilight Saga.
EDWARD CULLEN’S ROLE IN THE SERIES
One of the central figures in The Twilight Saga is, of course, Edward Cullen. The vampire is the catalyst for the series and the figurehead around which all of the other books and films revolve. In the first installment of the saga, Twilight (2008), the titular character is a young woman who becomes enamored of a mysterious stranger who turns out to be a 400-year-old vampire. Edward is the vampire’s grandson, and it is he who wields the fearsome blood-sucking stinger in the film.
From the very beginning, we see that Edward is not your typical teenage vampire. He exhibits a maturity well beyond his years, a trait that will serve him well as he tries to navigate the treacherous world of humans and their reactions to his extraordinary bloodthirst.
“In some respects, he’s the most interesting character in the whole series,” says Sciretta. “Not only does he have this amazing character arc, but he also has this interesting backstory, which is quite different from the other vampires’ in the series.”
In Eclipse, the second film of the Twilight series, director Chris Weitz makes the bold choice to have Stephenie Meyer’s most popular vampire not turn up until nearly halfway through the movie. This is significant, as it implies that, far from being the central figure in the saga, Edward is actually the last of the main characters to show up. In fact, if you watch the first half of the film without having read a single novel in the series, you might be confused as to what is going on. The film opens with a scene that seems out of place, as a bespectacled man in a gray suit walks down a New York City street. It soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary man; he’s carrying within him extraordinary powers, as he vanquishes a group of thugs in an instant. It’s Edward Cullen, and he is on a mission to find a woman he is destined to save.
The audience is then treated to a romantic comedy scene between Edward and Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) as they fall in love while sorting through Edward’s extensive collection of vintage clothing. As the camera pans across the neatly arranged racks and piles of beautiful suits, it feels like we’ve been transported back in time to the 1950s — in a good way.
EDWARD CULLEN’S LITERARY BACKGROUND
In addition to being the face of the vampire franchise, Robert Pattinson is also the creator and star of the literary phenomenon that is the Twilight Saga. As the son of an English father and a Scottish mother, it’s no wonder that the books and films revolve around a character who is, at least in part, English. In the case of Twilight, this is explicitly stated in the first novel, where Bella describes herself as “a mousy little office assistant” who meets Edward on a train and is immediately smitten.
“I love your accent,” he says, taking a swig of his drink. “It’s so… sexy.”
Bella, having recently broken up with her fiancé, is more than eager to give her affections to this older, more experienced man. The two fall in love while she is still stuck in her old ways, longing to be a “mousy little office assistant.” He sees her as the perfect woman to be with, leading her to muse: “If only I could find a way to make him see me as I am — the brilliant, beautiful, witty, independent woman that I am.”
It’s not long before we are transported to a different decade as Edward takes Bella to see his lavish, sprawling mansion in Esbjerg, Denmark. Here, she meets his entire family, as well as his friends and colleagues — all of whom are undead. Despite her best efforts to fit in with Edward’s elite, undead society, Bella finds that she is unable to cope with life in the fast lane, and she longs to go home. This is reflected in Bella’s writings, where she laments that she has “failed as a human” and wishes to be with mere mortals again. In the end, she finds that the family she’s yearned for — alongside her new human friends — are all too human after all.
IS EDWARD CULLEN A VAMPIRE?
Is Edward Cullen a vampire? You may well ask yourselves this question, as the role was famously touted as being among the most prominent of its kind — following in the footsteps of iconic characters from the likes of Titanic and Changeling — and he plays a crucial part in the narrative of The Twilight Saga. While he nominally turns out to be a vampire in the final installment of the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2, the character has already been established as a vampire in the first film of the franchise, Twilight (2008). Moreover, the character is frequently referred to as a vampire and wears a necklace that is frequently identified as a vampire’s tooth.