When we think of popular culture and celebrity, usually we think of TV shows and films. Big events that make news stories. But every day, people with far more celebrity than anyone else’s headlines. People who simply live their lives and do what they want to do. Celebrities who make their own stories instead of following the pack.
Robert Pattinson is one of those celebrities. He doesn’t need movies to tell his story. In fact, he’s done more than most people can to tell his story and show the world who he is and what he does.
Pattinson Family Ties
In an interview with Vogue, the actor opened up about his roots. “I’m very proud of being part of the British heritage,” he said. “My dad is Scottish, and my mum is English. They met while studying art history in Rome.””My parents split up when I was very young, and my mum emigrated to Australia with me and my brother when I was eight years old. We spent some of our formative years growing up in different cities around Australia, surrounded by a mix of cultures. That definitely helped create a strong character in me.”
Creator Of His Own Myth
What’s great about Pattinson is not just that he’s managed to carve out his own, unique path in life. It’s that he’s completely aware of and embraced the fact that he is a creator of his own myth. In the Vogue interview, he discussed how he developed the character of Edward Cullen, who he plays in the Twilight film series. In the process of creating a character, he wanted to find out what it was like to be a young, aspiring actor in London in the early 2000s. It was during this time that he was first cast in the role of Edward Cullen.
Pattinson said that he created a character that “a lot of people can identify with.” In an interview with Esquire, he elaborated, saying he wanted to put a human face on a fantasy that’s widely followed by anyone who’s watched movies in the last 10 years. He wanted the character to be someone people could see themselves in. “I never let the character’s story dictate my story,” he said. “I always find myself in the situation of the character, but it’s never really been about Twilight for me. It’s about me figuring out who I am, where I’m going, and what I want out of life.”
A Balanced Life
This self-awareness and humility is one of the things that make Pattinson so appealing. It’s rare to find someone who is both successful and grounded. In an interview with The Guardian, Pattinson discussed how he handles the spotlight. “I like to keep my private life and daily routine as normal as possible,” he said. “I don’t want to be defined by my career, and I don’t want to be seen as Hollywood’s sweetheart. I just want to be considered someone who happens to be in a popular culture industry job.”
In the same interview, Pattinson discussed his approach to his craft. “I studied English and linguistics literature at university, and it really opened my mind to different ways of telling stories,” he said. “In class we’d read the work of authors like William Shakespeare and Evelyn Waugh, and it was something completely different to what I’d usually been exposed to. It made me realize that it’s okay for there to be more than one way to tell a story, and that each medium has its advantages.”
Creator Of Memorable Moments
Pattinson’s career includes several memorable moments. Some of the more notable ones include his turn as the tortured artist in the 2005 film, Breakfast on Pluto, and as Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. But it’s not just big-budget movies that have made a lasting impression on people. On the set of David Eyre’s 2006 film, The Hoax, Pattinson played a British tabloid journalist who is tricked into reporting a fake story about the royals. Even now, eight years later, people who saw the movie quote lines from it. “A few weeks after filming, someone told me that a news article they’d read about the royal wedding had gotten the details of the plot wrong, and they were particularly incensed that they’d believed it,” Pattinson said. “I found it strange that someone had recognized the story when nobody else had, especially as I’d kept the details of the setup a secret.”
Global Star
While much of the world knows him from film, it’s not just his acting that has made an impression on people. With a distinctive look that has been recognized across social media platforms, it’s not hard to see why. In an interview with Hello! Magazine, Pattinson discussed how he handles fame. “I think the secret to not caring about [fame] is to not let people know you care about it,” he said. “You have to be really careful about how you present yourself to the world. I’ve always felt that if you put too much focus on what people think of you, then they’ll start thinking more about you than about the things that you actually care about. At the end of the day, you have to take responsibility for your own decisions and actions, and you can’t blame others for the way you are.”
Pattinson’s publicist has confirmed to Refinery 29 that the actor is indeed dating Gigi Hadid. For more on this story, check out the article on their website here.