Even though the most recent installment in the Twilight Saga wasn’t released
in theaters until November 18, the media blitz that surrounded it began
earlier than that. For several months, news articles, interviews, and blog
posts have been dissecting the latest cinematic masterpiece. Many of these
articles have focused on the intense media pressure that surrounded the
making of the film and its surprising box office performance. Little has been
said about the physical toll that the constant hype took on Pattinson’s
face.
It’s well-known that filming The Twilight Saga was difficult for
Pattinson. He spent most of his time on set looking like someone had just
beaten him up, and he wasn’t shy about talking about how difficult filming was
going to be. In an interview with Esquire, he even joked about the physical
changes that all of the stress and pressure were going to bring about:
“I’m going to be in so much pain,” he said. “I’m going to have a five o’clock shadow. I’m going to look like Bojack Horseman.”
Despite Pattinson’s jovial attitude, it’s clear that he took the
criticism his character Bella faces in the movie very personally, and it’s
also clear that he was disappointed by the film’s lackluster box office
performance. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Pattinson admitted that
even though he’s proud of the trilogy as a whole, he’s still sad about the way
events played out:
“If I’m being honest, I did get a bit teary-eyed at the end when I saw the
crowd. It had been a very long haul, and it felt good to close the book on
that character. But then I thought about all the people who didn’t get to
see it, […] and I felt sad. I’ve never felt as much sadness as I did over
That Which Shall Not Be Named. It was strange. I kept thinking about how much
pressure the studio had been under to make the next installment a big hit, and
how they finally made the right choice and passed on the part.”
To everyone who has been following the Twilight Saga since the first
movie debuted in 2012 (and even some of those who haven’t been following the
Saga closely), Pattinson’s appearance in That Which Shall Not Be Named should come as no great surprise. From the very beginning, the actor was always going to be tied to the role of Edward Cullen, the conflicted and gorgeous vampire who has a special connection with Bella (portrayed by Kristen Stewart). While there have been rumors that Pattinson is at least considering parting ways with Stewart, the actor has repeatedly denied them, telling Parade magazine last year that he and Stewart have “never even been through that type of a relationship, where one of us is dating someone else.”
Pattinson’s frustration with the Twilight Saga is understandable. It’s been
a nine-year journey, and although he’s appeared in several smaller projects
along the way, he’s now playing a bigger role than ever before. While he was
used to playing bit roles in indie flicks and commercials, his role as
Charlie Swan in the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange will place him in the
center-stage for Marvel’s prestigious superhero movie. Most importantly,
however, is that he’ll be playing the lead in the highly anticipated Pattinson
verse, the next installment in the Twilight Saga.
In the past year, news coverage of Robert Pattinson has been
non-existent. He hasn’t done any interviews, he hasn’t attended any award
ceremonies, and he hasn’t given any press conferences. The only interviews that
he has done have been with online media outlets like Reddit and Twitter, where
he’s answered questions from fans about the Twilight Saga and his upcoming
movie projects. While it’s strange that the media has largely ignored him, it
would be a great disservice to the actor to label this as being typical
‘hypecraft.’ The press has largely ignored him because he’s been so good at
keeping a low profile.
When Rolling Stone asked Pattinson about rumors that he was engaged to
Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs’ biological daughter, Laurene Powell
MacLeman, the actor laughed it off as “so ridiculous.” He was also tight-lipped
when asked about his role in the upcoming Ocean’s 8, but he did admit to
loving the ensemble nature of the film: “I think it’s funny, the way they’re
all involved in each other’s stories. It’s nice to play people you feel you
know.”
Pattinson has never been one to talk about himself or his personal life in
public. Even in his short time as an established actor, he’s always remained
relatively private. However, in recent years, he’s opened up more about his
choices than ever before, telling Vanity Fair that he decided to become an
actor because he “enjoyed the attention” and “didn’t want to be tied down to…
[anything] traditional.” He later told GQ that he got into acting because he
thought it would be “a lot of fun.”
With all of this in mind, it’s time to examine exactly what happened to
Robert Pattinson’s face while he was starring in The Twilight Saga. It’s been
a long time since we last saw Pattinson in a movie, and although he has
previously discussed some of the physical effects that the trilogy have had on
him, he’s never really gone into detail about what exactly transpired on set.
While it’s always interesting to hear about the mental and physical toll that
a grueling schedule takes on an actor, it’s important to remember that the
person before us is still a man and, as such, he still has his insecurities. It
is, therefore, only fitting that we should examine his physical appearance
closely, looking at the myriad ways in which the constant stress and pressure
have impacted his appearance.
The Facelift And ‘X-Ray Vision’
Since the beginning, one of the things that has stuck out about
Pattinson is his lack of facial hair. In nearly every interview that he’s done
in the past few years, he’s been strikingly clean-shaven. In fact, in an
interview with Rolling Stone last year, he even joked about how he goes through
men’s razors to maintain his five o’clock shadow:
“I don’t think I’ll ever grow any facial hair. […] I have so much hair
already, I don’t need any more. I’m very lucky, you know? I don’t have any
acne or anything like that. So my skin looks good.”
This comment from Pattinson probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise. As
veteran fans of the Twilight Saga know, Edward Cullen is famous for not
believing in ‘facial hair masks,’ deeming them to be “just a fashion
statement.” While it is true that the actor does have a very symmetrical
face and a well-defined jawline, it’s clear that this is the result of
meticulous training and very careful facial hair sculpting:
In addition to his clean-shaven look, another thing that has always
gained Pattinson a lot of attention is his piercing blue eyes. It’s probably
not a coincidence that the character that he is most closely associated with is
a vampire, given that vampires are often described as having ‘X-ray vision.’ In
an interview with Rolling Stone last year, he discussed how he uses
contacting lenses to play with the bluish tones in his eyes:
“I use the lenses for that. I find them really cool. You put them on and
then you look through them. And then they’re just tinted glasses. […] All the
light comes through, but it’s tinted blue, so it’s almost like you’re wearing
blinders.”
The similarity between the phrase ‘X-ray vision’ and Pattinson’s description
of these lenses is almost eerie. Although this might just be a coincidence, it’s
also possible that the actor used this analogy on purpose, using a phrase that
is closely associated with visionaries. Regardless, it’s clear that the
constant media attention that surrounds him has led to quite a few practical
jokes from the actor.