Robert Pattinson Biography: 32 Facts on the Reluctant Star of 'Tenet', 'Batman' & 'Twilight' Series

Robert Pattinson Biography: 32 Facts on the Reluctant Star of ‘Tenet’, ‘Batman’ & ‘Twilight’ Series

Rebecca is a writer with a passion for all things entertainment. With a heavy emphasis on pop culture, Rebecca touches on how contemporary mediums are shaping the way in which we present ourselves to the world. She often focuses her writing on how deeply affected younger generations are by Hollywood. Determined to deliver the fan perspective, as she is a fan herself, Rebecca hopes to highlight the ways in which our forms of entertainment can unite us which is exactly why she writes for Hollywood Insider. Rebecca writes reviews and feature stories that take a deeper look into the stories that have shaped us all.

Sep 8, 2020

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Hollywood Insider Robert Pattinson Biography 32 Facts, Tenet, Batman

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Photo/Video: Robert Pattinson/Entertainment One/Hollywood Insider Youtube Channel

Robert Pattinson is quite the character. Since his Twilight days, though, he has always been a tough one to crack. He is well known for having a dry and witty sense of humor, and his launch into teen stardom gained him amazing traction in Hollywood. From playing a vampire to now starring as the newest Batman, Pattinson has proven to be quite a diverse actor. Never one to shy away from a challenge, there is so much that this star has to offer.

Robert Pattinson Biography: Here are 32 facts you may not have known about the brand new Bruce Wayne!

#1 The Role That Never Was

Pattinson’s first role was set to be as Reese Witherspoon’s son in Vanity Fair (2004), but sadly Pattinson learned at the premiere that his scene had been cut, and he was not shown in the movie. While his scene ended up on the cutting room floor, it still served a great purpose for his future (more on that later). The scenes were added back to the DVD version later.

#2 A True Cinephile

Not only is he an insanely talented actor, but Pattinson also has an intense love and appreciation for a great film. Before he was the famous Edward Cullen, Pattinson says he was obsessed with French cinema.

#3 Musical Abilities

Pattinson can be seen playing the piano in the Twilight franchise, but is that him? It is! Pattinson grew up playing the piano, among other instruments. Back in 2011 at the height of Twilight’s success, Pattinson told MTV, “I hadn’t played piano in years, and I learned it in about ten seconds.”

#4 Playing Dress Up

Edward Cullen is probably one of the coolest characters ever. Robert Pattinson brings incredible energy to the part, exuding that cool energy with ease. However, he wasn’t always so mysteriously cool. Pattinson has said that up until age 12, his two older sisters would dress him up as a girl and introduce their brother as ‘Claudia’. Got to love sisters, right?

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#5 Meant To Be in Harry Potter

Though he was ultimately cut from Vanity Fair, it turned out to be for the best. Like we mentioned, when arriving at the premiere, Pattinson learned he was no longer in the movie, however it all worked out for him in the end. Pattinson told W the wild, serendipitous story of getting cut. “I went to the screening, and no one had informed me that I was cut,” he explained. “The casting director…felt so guilty…that she gave me first run at the part in Harry Potter, so I was quite glad I got cut, in the end.” Thank goodness for the casting director! We can’t imagine anyone else as Cedric Diggory.

#6 Robert Pattinson trained as a scuba diver for Harry Potter

In the fantasy world of witches and wizards, it’s no surprise that an actor might have to learn a new skill to make the magic come to life for the films. The Harry Potter franchise properly introduced Cedric Diggory in the fourth film (he can briefly be seen as the Hufflepuff Seeker during the Quidditch match in the third film, The Prisoner of Azkaban), and to give a realistic portrayal of a wizard in the Triwizard cup (casual), Robert Pattinson had to learn how to scuba dive. Talk about dedication to your role.

#7 Not Necessarily The Best Pupil

While on The Howard Stern Show, Pattinson revealed that he wasn’t always the best student before he was launched into stardom. He got expelled from school after getting caught stealing racy magazines from a corner store. Pattinson would steal the magazine from the store and then sell them to his friends for a profit. We’re not saying stealing is okay, but that’s a pretty insightful business plan for a 12-year-old!

#8 The Email to Safdie Brothers

In 2017, Pattinson starred in the film Good Time directed by the Safdie brothers. When Pattinson was the guy everyone was talking about during his Twilight days, he unexpectedly sent the Safdie brothers an email, telling them he would like to be in any of their future projects if possible. The brothers were extremely shocked by the email, considering Robert Pattinson was all anyone could talk about. While it took a while, that email eventually turned into a role made for Pattinson in the brothers’ film, Good Time.

#9 Harry Potter Over Everything Else

When Pattinson was cast in Harry Potter, he was just 17. At this point, he would’ve been gearing up to attend University, but instead, he chose acting, and we’re pretty glad he did so. Pattinson told Time Out London, “It went so far over schedule, I couldn’t go. It was supposed to be four months, but it ended up being 10 or 11,” he said. “I was 17 and I was the only person who wasn’t in school. I’d just hang about.”

#10 Nearly Fired From Twilight

Robert revealed in a Howard Stern interview that the role of Edward Cullen was nearly back up for grabs. Pattinson’s take on the character of Edward was a little different from what the producers had in mind. He thought Edward was a much more serious being than they were going for. “I remember the producers giving me a copy of the book,” Rob explained to Howard. “Every single instance where my character smiled and stuff, they’d highlighted.”

Robert Pattinson’s Every Role & Performance – 2004-2021

#11 An asteroid has been named after Robert Pattinson

In 2014, a Russian astronomer named an asteroid after Robert Pattinson, calling it the 246789 Pattinson. Astronomer Timur Kryacho explained that the idea to name the astrological find after a teen heart-throb came from his wife.

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#12 Always A Joker – He said he didn’t know the plot of ‘Tenet’ after filming was completed

Pattinson is pretty well known for his extra-dry sarcasm. It can be a little difficult to tell when he is messing around or is being completely serious. In a recent interview with GQ, even the journalist was very unsure as to how to interpret some information. He had to call the director of Tenet, Christopher Nolan, to ask for further clarification after Pattinson told him he didn’t know the plot of the movie he had shot. “The interesting thing with Rob is, he’s slightly f—ing with you,” Nolan explained. “But he’s also being disarmingly honest. It’s sort of both things at once. When you see the film, you’ll understand. Rob’s read on the script was extremely acute. But he also understood the ambiguities of the film and the possibilities that spin-off in the mind around the story.”

#13 Bad With Time

While he is without a doubt an amazing performer, he isn’t always the best teller of time. According to the GQ interview, those who know him best get quite annoyed with how bad his sense of time is. He told the magazine, “It’s a complaint which a lot of people have about me. This total… I don’t have a sense of time. I think something two years ago could actually be a week ago. It’s definitely been a complaint about my personality.”

#14 His Views On Dating

While interviewing on The Howard Stern Show, Rob and Howard got into the topic of dating in Hollywood. Being a celebrity, people being obsessed with who you date just comes with the territory. Stern inferred that dating in the public eye must be incredibly annoying, but to his surprise, Pattinson reasoned with him by explaining that in a way, being in the spotlight kind of limits the people you date. It weeds out anyone who isn’t serious about dating him because if they were to date him, they would find out how crazy his schedule is, and that it’s not all a fairytale!

#15 Zoe Kravitz Has Him Beat

When it comes to working out, Pattinson is not as into it as he is for say, prepping for a big role. Cast as the newest Bruce Wayne, Pattinson is expected to be in pretty good shape to gain that ‘Batman’ muscle that will allow him to shoot fight scenes. He told GQ that co-star Zoe Kravitz is doing a much better job than him at staying in shape. He called her during quarantine, and she revealed she was working out five times a week. Pattinson said, “Literally, I’m just barely doing anything,”

#16 Robert Pattinson Made Fans Nervous

When casting Twilight, director Catherine Hardwicke had no reservations about choosing Pattinson for the role of Edward. When the announcement of the cast came along, however, fans were not too keen on Pattinson. They had built up a different version of what Edward would look like, and Pattinson didn’t hit the mark. Regardless, Pattinson stayed on the project and it didn’t take long at all for everyone to fall completely in love with him.

#17 Never Has He Ever Acted in a Television Series

Being so talented, it’s hard to think of what Pattinson hasn’t been able to accomplish. But the one thing the star hasn’t done in his long-running career is an appearance or star in a television series. He has appeared in TV movies, but not a show. We think he’d make a great recurring character in any series!

#18 The Smallest Vacation

While in between filming The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Pattinson had just three days to book it to another set. Those three days were his only time off before production began on his 2010 romance film, Remember Me.

#19 R-Patz

Mr. Pattinson has become well-known all over the world to many by the name of ‘R-Patz’. It’s a pretty cool nickname, but Pattinson himself isn’t all that into it. He told The Guardian, “I don’t understand who invented that thing, ‘R-Patz,’ I want to strangle them.”

#20 In The Fast Lane…Well Sort Of

In his first interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Pattinson admitted that he isn’t the best driver out there. He told Ellen, “Technically I am driving, but I don’t actually know how to drive,” he said. “It’s absolutely terrifying. Plus I don’t know how to use the little wipey thing on the windscreen, so I can’t actually see.”

Robert Pattinson: A Genius Actor’s Masterful 15-Year Strategy From ‘Twilight’ To ‘Tenet’ & ‘Batman’

#21 Musical Beginnings of the Actor Robert Pattinson

When he was younger, Pattinson was very musically inclined. He gravitated towards piano and guitar, and even sang a little bit! In his teens, Pattinson could be seen performing in local pubs around London, performing songs for the crowds. Oh, how I wish someone had that on video.

#22 His Idol

Being a huge lover of all things cinema, it comes as no surprise that one of Pattinson’s biggest acting idols growing up was Jack Nicholson. They both bring the same kind of quirky passion for their roles and have both proved to have a wide range when it comes to the characters they can play.

#23 Besties

After being in school together at age 12, Pattinson and fellow actor Tom Sturridge became fast friends. They lived together in London for a while when Pattinson was fresh off of the Harry Potter set. Now, the two remain best friends, and Pattinson is even the godfather to Tom’s sister’s child.

#24 A Strange Dinner Date

While Pattinson was staying in Spain to film a project, one female found out where he was staying, and lingered outside his place almost every night. Finally, Pattinson decided to offer to take the woman out to dinner. On this dinner date, Pattinson just complained about essentially everything, and after that night the woman never returned. Looks like his plan worked!

#25 The Funny Injury

Before showing up to play the hunky vampire that is Edward Cullen, Robert Pattinson dedicated a strong three months to training his body and getting in shape for the film. His hard work didn’t go unnoticed, but unfortunately, he did end up pulling a muscle in his butt on the very first day of shooting the film.

#26 Robert Pattinson is Not a Fan of the Photography

As teen fame fell into his lap when he entered the world of Twilight, Pattinson gained so much attention that he couldn’t go anywhere. He got photographed everywhere he went, and he never enjoyed it (I mean who would?!) He has become smarter about knowing where he can and cannot go out, and as he gets older he learned to escape the annoyance of paparazzi.

#27 Before Acting

Like we’ve said, Pattinson has so many talents! One thing he took up before getting into acting was modeling. He had a very interesting look and was able to book a few jobs before he had to go away for Harry Potter.

#28 The Twilight Soundtrack

Pattinson always said Twilight was a little weird. He especially has always admired the soundtrack. This makes total sense seeing as how Pattinson was into music before his acting career took off, and just the fact that the Twilight soundtrack is amazing!

#29 His Ties To Spider-Man

Pattinson might be playing a DC superhero, but he does have a connection to Spider-Man himself. Pattinson is set to star in the Netflix film The Devil All The Time alongside Spider-Man star Tom Holland. The film is set to hit the streaming platform on September 16th.

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#30 Nolan Times Two

Not only will Pattinson headline as the newest face of Batman, but he also stars in the newest film from Christopher Nolan, the director of the renowned Dark Knight trilogy in which Christian Bale took on the role. Nolan’s film Tenet, in which Pattinson stars alongside John David Washington, was supposed to premiere in theaters this summer but was pushed back due to COVID.

#31 Auditions Aren’t His Favorite

With acting, comes auditions. Most people have to audition hundreds of times before they can secure anything great. Robert Pattinson has admitted that when it comes to auditions, well, let’s just say he could think of about a million other things he would rather be doing. Pattinson has said that he doesn’t find himself to be very good at auditioning, for any role really. He may not think he does that great, but I think his IMDB page would beg to differ.

#32 Robert Pattinson’s Innovative Idea for a Fast-Food Chain

The internet could not get enough of Pattinson’s interview with GQ in the May issue. Pattinson talked about a variety of things, but one of the best topics of conversation came when Pattinson explained to the interviewer his idea for a fast-food pasta chain. He posed the question of what if, “pasta really had the same kind of fast-food credentials as burgers and pizzas?” I mean it’s a very valid question…really not a bad idea at all!

We, at Hollywood Insider, will continue to root for the star who loves being an actor more than he loves being a star. We know the best is yet to come, we look forward to your future movies as much as we root for the success of ‘Tenet’ and ‘Batman’. You are only just beginning the innings that you are actually liking. You are a reluctant star, as evident by your admission and lack of ease at usual star fares, but you are a passionate actor who thrives in roles that lets that star in you lose itself for the sake of the character. We admire you, the talented actor Robert Pattinson.

By Rebecca Breitfeller

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Rebecca Breitfeller

Rebecca is a writer with a passion for all things entertainment. With a heavy emphasis on pop culture, Rebecca touches on how contemporary mediums are shaping the way in which we present ourselves to the world. She often focuses her writing on how deeply affected younger generations are by Hollywood. Determined to deliver the fan perspective, as she is a fan herself, Rebecca hopes to highlight the ways in which our forms of entertainment can unite us which is exactly why she writes for Hollywood Insider. Rebecca writes reviews and feature stories that take a deeper look into the stories that have shaped us all.

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