Robert Pattinson felt that fighting against his ‘Twilight’ fame would be a fruitless endeavor. Here’s why.
Robert Pattinson has had quite the career, and he certainly has the net worth to prove it. At 36, he is worth a cool $100 million and has been involved in some of the biggest film franchises in history. His recent work as Bruce Wayne in The Batman managed to impress fans and critics alike. Now, the English actor is currently filming an upcoming science-fiction movie. Still, one of his most famous roles to date remains Edward Cullen in The Twilight Saga.
Robert Pattinson was in danger of being typecast after the success of the ‘Twilight’ movies
For four years, Pattinson brought the melancholy vampire to the big screen. Throughout the five Twilight movies, The Lighthouse alum reached staggering levels of fame. He was quickly labeled as a heartthrob and for some time became quite synonymous with his character, Edward. But rather than put his effort into fighting against his association with Twilight, Pattinson took a more strategic approach. In between shooting Twilight, and after the films wrapped, he took on projects that were unexpected and drastic different from Twilight.
‘The Batman’ actor had no interest in fighting against how people view him
One thing Pattinson didn’t waste time doing was talking about how he was nothing like his character or challenging his “heartthrob” status. In an interview with TIME, he explained why he made that important decision. “I think the big fear is just fighting too hard against it,” he explained. “Most people who have a fall from a like situation is when they do try to fight, and fight and fight: I’m not this teenybopper person, blah, blah, blah. Even if a lot of people see me and the franchise like that, I never have, at any point. But I don’t feel the need to fight against it.”
Continuing on, Pattinson said he always tried to focus on doing his job as well as he could and put fans’ opinions aside. “I’ve never tried to pander to any kind of audience,” he declared. “I’ve tried to make the films as intelligent and uncheesy as you could. And I’ve tried to make them the best they can be. I’ve never thought about it any other way.”
Kristen Stewart wasn’t fighting against being pigeonholed either
surprisingly enough, Pattinson’s Twilight co-star, Kristen Stewart, was also unafraid of being typecast based on the films. In fact, the Happiest Season star felt it was a way of praising her performance. “It’s the hugest compliment, especially if fans of the book pigeonhole you,” Stewart explained to Collider. “Please pigeonhole me! That means I did it right. If someone who is fanatically obsessed with this book and these movies always says, ‘It’s weird for me to watch you in other stuff,’ that’s great. That’s perfect! That’s a compliment.”
Clearly, Pattinson and Stewart were never interested in outrunning their Twilight pasts. Instead, they’ve steadily built their resumes with interesting projects that help fans see them in a new light. And considering the careers that both of them have today, their approach seems to have paid off in a big way.
