Robert Pattinson
Robert Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of
Cedric Diggory in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Later, he landed the leading role of
Edward Cullen in the
film adaptations of the
Twilight novels by
Stephenie Meyer, and came to worldwide fame,thus establishing himself among the highest paid and most bankable actors in Hollywood. In 2010, Pattinson was named one of
TIME magazine's
100 Most Influential People in The World, and also in the same year
Forbes ranked him as one of the most powerful celebrities in the world in the
Forbes Celebrity 100.
Early CareerPattinson was born in London, England. His mother, Clare, worked for a modelling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S. Pattinson has two elder sisters, singer
Lizzy Pattinson, and Victoria Pattinson. Growing up in the
Barnes suburb of London, he attended
Tower House School until he was 12, and then
The Harrodian School. He became involved in amateur theatre at the Barnes Theatre Company. He auditioned and was cast in a small role in
Guys and Dolls. He next auditioned for
Thornton Wilder's
Our Town and was cast as George Gibbs. He also played in
Anything Goes and
Macbeth. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of
Tess of the d'Urbervilles and began looking for professional roles.
Career
Modelling
Pattinson began modelling when he was twelve years old, but the number of jobs began to decrease only four years later. In December 2008 he blamed the lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance: "When I first started I was quite tall and looked like a girl, so I got lots of jobs, because it was during that period where the
androgynous look was cool. Then, I guess, I became too much of a guy, so I never got any more jobs. I had the most unsuccessful modelling career." Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for
Hackett's autumn 2007 collection.
Acting
Early Career
Pattinson had supporting roles in the made for television film
Ring of the Nibelungs in 2004 and in director
Mira Nair’s
Vanity Fair, although his scenes in the latter were deleted and only appear on the DVD version. In May 2005, he was slated to appear in the UK premiere of The Woman Before at the
Royal Court Theatre, but was fired shortly before the opening night and was replaced by
Tom Riley. Later that year he played
Cedric Diggory in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For this role he was named that year's British Star of Tomorrow by
The Times and had more than once been touted as the next
Jude Law.
2008-PresentIn 2008 Pattinson landed the coveted role of
Edward Cullen in the film
Twilight, based on
Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel of the same name. According to
TV Guide, Pattinson was initially apprehensive about auditioning for the role of Edward Cullen, fearful that he would not be able to live up to the "perfection" expected from the character. The film was released on November 21, 2008 and turned Pattinson into an instant overnight moviestar. Though the film received mixed reviews, critics praised his and co-star
Kristen Stewart's chemisty in the film. The
New York Times called Pattinson a "capable and exotically beautiful" actor and Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times said he was "well-chosen" for the role.
After Twilight Pattinson starred in the independent films
Little Ashes (in which he plays
Salvador Dalí),
How to Be (a British comedy), andThe Summer House.
He reprised his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight sequel
The Twilight Saga: New Moon which was released on November 20, 2009. The film earned a record-breaking $142,839,137 opening weekend and an overall run of $709,827,462 worldwide. Though the film received negative reviews, film critic Michael Phillips from the
Chicago Tribune said Pattinson was still "interesting to watch" despite the bad makeup. Bill GoodyKoontz from the
Arizona Republic said, "Pattinson's actually not in the film that much, but he does his best when he's around" and Michael O'Sullivan of the
Washington Post noted that his acting was "uniformly strong".Pattinson at the 2009
Academy AwardsIn 2009 Pattinson presented at the
81st Academy Awards. On November 10,
Revolver Entertainment released the DVD Robsessed, a documentary which details Pattinson's life and popularity.
On May 13, 2010, Pattinson appeared on
The Oprah Winfrey Show and on May 18,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show for his film,
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
[39] He attended the official worldwide red carpet premiere for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on June 24, 2010, at the
Los Angeles Nokia Theatre and the film was released on June 30, 2010, earning $698,491,347 worldwide.
In 2010, Pattinson
executively produced and starred in the film
Remember Me, which was released on March 12, 2010.
In 2011, he starred as Jacob Jankowski in
Water for Elephants, a film adaptation of the
Sara Gruen novel of the
same name, with
Christoph Waltz and
Reese Witherspoon. The film received mixed reviews but Pattinson's performance was praised. Film critic Richard Corliss from
Time praised Pattinson for being "shy and watchful" and said he "radiates a slow magnetism that locks the viewer’s eyes on him", ultimately calling him "star quality". Mick LaSalle from the
San Francisco Chronicle stated that Pattinson succeeded at holding his own at the center of a major feature and was "endlessly watchable". Peter Travers of the
Rolling Stone said he "smolders" in the film and Todd McCarthy of
The Hollywood Reporter said, "Pattinson is entirely convincing as Jacob".
Pattinson reappeared as Edward Cullen in
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which was released on November 18, 2011, and earned $705,058,657 at the box office.
He played Georges Duroy in a
film adaptation of the 1885 novel
Bel Ami, with
Uma Thurman,
Christina Ricci, and
Kristin Scott Thomas. The film had a world premiere at the
62nd Berlin International Film Festival and was released on February 12, 2012.
Pattinson will be starring in the upcoming film adaptation of
Don Delillo's
Cosmopolis, directed by
David Cronenberg in 2012. The film has been selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or at the
2012 Cannes Film Festival.
In May 2012, Pattinson was cast alongside
Guy Pierce to star in
David Michod's The Rover. He was also cast to star in the psychological thriller, Mission: Black List, based on the novel of the same name by military interrogator, Eric Maddox.
MusicPattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music.He also appears as the singer of two songs on the
Twilight soundtrack: "Never Think", which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and "Let Me Sign", which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long. The songs were included in the film after director
Catherine Hardwicke added Pattinson's recordings into an early cut without his knowledge, and he agreed that "one of them specifically, it really made the scene better. It was like it was supposed to be there." The soundtrack for the film
How to Be features three original songs performed by Pattinson and written by composer Joe Hastings.
Aside from recording for the soundtracks, Pattinson has said, "I've never really recorded anything – I just played in pubs and stuff", and when asked about a professional music career, he said, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails." In 2010, Pattinson was awarded the 'Hollywood's Most Influential Top Unexpected Musicians' award.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pattinson
