Robert Pattinson is a 27-year-old English actor and musician. He first rose to fame after appearing in the films Twilight and Burlesque, the latter of which he also wrote and composed the music for. After the success of those two films, he began taking on more serious dramatic roles, earning him a Razzie award nomination for Worst Actor for his performance in The Bel Ami Series. He has also frequently collaborated with musician and producer Benji Worrell on production music for his movies. In 2020, he will be seen in The Last Gangster, directed by Jonathan Mannion.
If you’re unfamiliar, a Razzie is an American award presented annually to the movie that the voters deem the worst of the year. The nominees are revealed at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards in which the winner is voted on by the audience – complete with presenters Pamela Anderson and Jenny McCarthy. He has also received widespread acclaim for his acting, with many gushing over his performance in the 2010 film The Social Network as well as his turn as a heroin addict in the drama High Life. Though he’s never been nominated for an Academy Award, he has been named one of the most promising new talents of 2010 by the Los Angeles Times. In the words of one critic, “If there’s a future for actors, it belongs to Robert Pattinson.”
Hotel Rooms and Holiday Paddles
In January 2021, Pattinson returned to the big screen in a manner that was both unexpected and highly publicized – with the premiere of his directorial debut, The Locker Room, an adaptation of the French novel Le Souper by Jean-Claude Rivière. The film, which explores male friendship through the lens of grooming and athletic clothes, was shot entirely in black and white and features an ensemble cast that includes Harvey Keitel, Anthony Mackie, and Chris Pratt. The following month, he returned to Netflix for the second season of Sex Education, this time portraying Adam, a regular guy who begins to question his sexuality after a fatal car accident shatters his world. The show’s creator, the late Laurie Korshak, described the character as follows: “He’s the kind of guy that people relate to. And it’s funny, because he has all these fantasies that he can’t act on, and that’s what makes him interesting. It’s not about the role; it’s about the fact that he can’t act on all his fantasies.”
Pattinson’s upcoming projects include the thriller The Locker Room, which will premiere in theaters on May 15th; the biopic A Life Ahead, about architect and urban planner Rudolph O’Kelly; and the music video for ‘I’m Not Gonna Play The Blame Game’, the first single from Pattinson’s upcoming album, which is being produced by Steve Aoki. He has also been rumored to be developing a TV show with Anna Wintours and Jimmy Choo for the company Eyewonderful! In the words of one journalist, “Pattinson is an actor who can do anything and be anything, and that’s precisely what makes him so interesting.”
Famous For Being Famous
Pattinson has always been known for being in the public eye, having graced the pages of magazines such as Vanity Fair and been featured on the front covers of Dazed – most recently as part of their 2021 “Celebrity Issue” alongside the likes of Lily Collins, Isla Fisher, and Emma Stone. And while his transition from musician to actor has been largely successful, he has had to accept that his work will always be associated with his famous surname. In a 2016 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, he reflected: “I always feel like an imposter when I walk down the street. There are people who wave at me as I go by, and I feel like I don’t belong there. It would be nice if they stopped and said, ‘Excuse me, you must be Robert Pattinson.’ But they probably don’t even know who I am. In another interview, he added: “[People ask] If you’re never going to do anything other than Twilight and Burlesque, why did you do those two? Because those are the only two roles I’ve ever been offered. As an actor, you get typecast. But being a musician or film-maker is a whole different ballgame. You can explore so many more areas.”
High And Low Lights
In terms of success as an actor, Pattinson has had mixed results. While his performance in The Social Network garnered him widespread acclaim, his subsequent filmography has been decidedly more uneven. His 2014 film Mad Monster Party, starring John Cleese, was panned by critics, and the same year saw the premiere of Burlesque, his only collaboration with director Jay Roach. The film was a critical and commercial flop, though it did earn him a Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actor. In 2016, his performance in the critically acclaimed drama The King was hailed as one of the greatest performances of the year, and his portrayal of British writer George Orwell was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor. The following year, he voiced Frootapism, a supporting character in the animated film Arthur and the Invisibles, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released to theaters in July 2021. In the words of one critic, “Pattinson gives one of the best performances of the year as a washed-up novelist who decides to rediscover his talent for writing.”
A Bit Of A Jumbled Timeline
Pattinson’s career began in music. After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in economics, he moved to London in 2010 and formed a band, Pattinson, with his sister, Emily. They released one album, Youth, in 2011 and played many gigs around the city, including support slots for the Arctic Monkeys and the Rolling Stones. In the following years, he developed a reputation for being one of the city’s “most exciting, enlivening, and versatile young musicians,” and in 2020 he reunited with his bandmates for a one-off performance at London’s iconic Hyde Park. After releasing a series of critically acclaimed EPs, they now play bass, guitar, and drums in the band Godless, along with drummer Matt Healy, who also plays in British rock bands such as the 1975 and Muse.
As a teen actor, Pattinson appeared in the 2006 film Paddington, which was followed by 2007’s Superbad and 2010’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. All three films featured prominently in many “Best of” lists for that year, with Eclipse scoring highest on many critics’ lists of the greatest films of the decade. He took a break from film in 2013, returning in 2018 with the Sundance premiere of the documentary Pattinson, about his life and career. And while he’s never been nominated for an Academy Award, he has been nominated for a Razzie for Worst Actor.
It’s safe to say that few actors have had a life as eventful and varied as that of Robert Pattinson. Though he may be best known for his role in the Twilight films, he has appeared in a variety of critically acclaimed movies, from drama to comedy, and even played a fictionalized version of himself in the highly acclaimed Great British Bakeoff series. He’s acted in over 20 movies and won a Razzie Award for Worst Actor, but he’s still considered one of the most promising new talents in Hollywood. And to think, all this started with a front-row seat at a Rolling Stones concert…