If you’re anything like us, you’ve been wondering when exactly Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were dating and when their breakup was all about fame and careers. Well, we have some exciting news for you: they were in a committed relationship from 2010 to 2014 and it was incredibly intense. But as much as we’d like to tell you when they broke up, we can’t really confirm the rumors because they’re such big secrets.
Thankfully, Life & Style has you covered. So, we’ve got the lowdown on everything from when they started dating to how their relationship evolved. Let’s dive in.
The Early Stages
While we don’t have exact dates for when these two famous heartsaches the band were together, we do know they met during the filming of the 2010 movie Water for Elephants. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Thomas H. Maugham and was released in 2014. It’s an adaptation of the 1957 movie of the same name and was directed by Lasse Cholander-Hansen. The movie is about a European prince who travels to America to seek revenge on the family who murdered his father so he can restore his family’s honor. While in America, he falls in love with an American girl. In the book, the couple’s relationship starts as an engagement but then breaks down when Stewart refuses to return to Europe to be with him. We’ll get to that in a bit.
The Book Ends And The Movie Begins
After the movie was released, Kristen Stewart took to her social media accounts to address the rumors she and Robert Pattinson were never actually a couple.
“Not even close,” she tweeted in April 2014. “I’ve never even been to Europe.”
Well…we couldn’t agree more. While the book and film are mostly set in Europe, in the real world, the couple actually dated in New York City. According to the New York Post, they began dating in 2010 after meeting on a movie set. They made headlines when they were spotted holding hands on a movie set in 2012 and again in 2014. It was only a matter of time before the press jumped on the hand-holding story. So, it looks like the book and movie got the story mostly right.
The Breakup
In the book, Stewart breaks up with Pattinson after he humiliates her at a party by flirting with another woman. She later writes in her journal how she can’t live with the shame of being used. In the movie, her character returns to Europe thinking the prince will forgive her, but instead he coldly rejects her apology. She leaves America for good and goes back to her previous life in a London hotel. The movie was released in 2014 and the couple’s breakup was officially announced the following year.
For their part, Pattinson didn’t exactly shut the door on future romance, either. While he and Stewart were never actually married, they remained committed to each other throughout their relationship. However, once their movie relationship ended, he dated a number of other women. The most high-profile of these relationships was with the actress Emma Watson. They were together from 2014 to 2018 and recently ended their engagement. In fact, Pattinson received a marriage proposal from Watson during a break from on set of the movie The Commuter. He turned down the proposal, but according to a source, the couple are still close friends.
Post-Breakup (Odd Couple Phase)
The year 2014 saw a lot of heartache for Stewart. Not only did she go through a rough patch after the breakup, but her career took a nosedive as well. She had a cameo in the movie Mommy and Me (2015) and went on to appear in four more comedies. While her film schedule wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t exactly what she had dreamed about as a child actor. In 2016, she made headlines for her appearance in Marc Jacobs’ underwear line’s Pics or It Didn’t Happen Campaign. She was featured in both a print and digital version of the campaign and her likeness was used without her permission. Despite the fact that she didn’t sign any deal regarding her appearance in the campaign, she filed a lawsuit against the company in 2018.
The Comeback
As we mentioned, Stewart’s career took a bit of a hit after the breakup. Her most recent films have been a series of cameos, including 2019’s Wedding Guest and upcoming Holiday Happens. She’s also set to appear in the 2020 Tom Hanks-helmed film Midlife Crisis. So, while it’s true that she hasn’t exactly rebuilt her career from the ground up, it hasn’t hurt her nearly as much as one would think.
Pattinson, on the other hand, emerged unscathed from the break up. He went on to appear in the 2015 horror movie Ghosted as well as the drama series The Game. Most notably, he starred as the lead in the 2017 Netflix series The King. According to Netflix, the show follows a cursed king who must break an ancient pact to save his people. The show was an immediate hit and was followed by two seasons. In 2019, Pattinson was also featured in the music video for the song “Make It Bitch” from the album Honeycomb by Ayo.
While it’s great that Pattinson managed to retain some of his audience from before his breakup, it’s also a testament to his acting skills. It would have been easy for him to disappear into his role in The King, but instead he showed the world an engaging, complex character. We can only hope that this trend continues and that he takes on some serious dramatic roles in the future. It would be great to see him tackle some real challenges. The world definitely needs more Shakespearean villains like Richard III and King Claudius.
As we mentioned, the two started dating in 2010. While they didn’t always see eye to eye regarding their relationship, they remained committed to each other throughout it all. But as much as we’d like to think that their breakup was all about professional jealousy and bad behavior, it’s a bit more complicated than that. According to Daily Mail, Stewart had been feeling neglected since she began filming The Twilight Saga in early 2010. Despite being a bankable star, she felt like a has-been and never expected to be treated with the same respect as her more established co-stars. When she finally got the chance to be the leading lady in a drama series, she took it and was determined to prove that she was more than capable of handling dramatic material.
This is a common theme amongst many famous breakups. While it’s usually about professional jealousy and mistrust, it’s also about the stars’ wanting to make sure they’re still attractive to the public after the years of filming and promoting. They don’t always handle these situations well and it can lead to years of hurt feelings. But as much as we’d like to think otherwise, these types of breakups are rarely about cheating and amicable splits.
Thanks for reading! We hope this article has answered all of your questions about when Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson were dating. As we mentioned, their breakup was messy, but it wasn’t all about bad behavior. It was actually a case of the stars figuring out what they wanted and needed from their relationship. While it’s true that they were never actually married, they remained committed to each other through thick and thin and now they’re going to be okay.