Early life
Pattinson was born in London, England. His mother, Clare, worked for a modeling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S. Pattinson became involved in amateur theatre through the Barnes Theatre Company. After some backstage experience there, he took on acting roles. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and began looking for professional roles. Since then he has performed in an amateur version of Macbeth at the Old Sorting Office Arts Centre, as well as trying his hand at modeling. Career
Modeling
He began his modeling career when he was twelve years old, but it wound down only four years later. He has blamed his lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance. Pattinson explained in December of 2008, "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 modeling career."Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's Autumn 2007 collection.
Acting 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. He has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the film Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel of the same name, which was released on 21 November 2008 in North America. 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. He reprised his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight sequels The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which will be released 30 June 2010.
Pattinson had lead roles in the feature films Little Ashes (in which he plays Salvador Dalí), How To Be (a British comedy) and the short film The Summer House.
In 2009, Pattinson presented at the 81st Academy Awards.
On 10 November, Revolver Entertainment released the DVD Robsessed, a documentary which details Pattinson's life and popularity
In 2010, Pattinson executively produced and starred in the film Remember Me, which was released on 12 March 2010. He will play Georges Duroy in a film adaption of the 1885 novel, Bel Ami, with Uma Therman, which will be released in 2011. He will also star in a film adaption of the Sara Gruen novel, Water for Elephants, with Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon.
On 13 May 2010, Pattinson appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show for his upcoming film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and also made an appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show on 18 May, which aired the following day. Pattinson attended the official red carpet premiere for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on 24 June, 2010 at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre
Musical Career
Pattinson 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." Us Magazine reported that the soundtrack for the upcoming film "How to Be" features three original songs performed by Pattinson and written by composer Joe HastingsAside from recording for the soundtrack, 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 2008, he also performed with his first girlfriend's current boyfriend's band, called "Bad Girls".
Twilight
Prior to the role of Edward being cast for the 2008 Twilight film, Meyer opined that, although Edward was "Indisputably the most difficult character to cast, [he] is also the one that I'm most passionately decided upon. The only actor I've ever seen who I think could come close to pulling off Edward Cullen is....(drumroll)....Henry Cavill." When the film was optioned by Summit Entertainment in July 2007, Meyer stated that; "The most disappointing thing for me is losing my perfect Edward", as Cavill was by then 24 years old, and thus too old to realistically fill the role. Meyer reported on her website that the four most popular fan suggestions for actors to play Edward were Hayden Christensen, Robert Pattinson, Orlando Bloom and Gerard Way. On 11 December 2007, it was announced that Pattinson, known for his portrayal of Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter films had been cast in the role. Erik Feig, Summit Entertainment’s President of Production, stated: "It is always a challenge to find the right actor for a part that has lived so vividly in the imaginations of readers but we took the responsibility seriously and are confident, with Rob Pattinson, that we have found the perfect Edward for our Bella in Twilight." Meyer stated that; "I am ecstatic with Summit's choice for Edward. There are very few actors who can look both dangerous and beautiful at the same time, and even fewer who I can picture in my head as Edward. Robert Pattinson is going to be amazing."
Twilight's director, Catherine Hardwicke, said of the casting process that "[e]verybody has such an idealized vision of Edward. They were rabid [about who I was going to cast]. Like, old ladies saying, 'You better get it right." She revealed that she was initially underwhelmed by a photo of Pattinson, but said of his audition, which was a love scene with co-star Kristen Stewart: "It was electric. The room shorted out, the sky opened up, and I was like, 'This is going to be good.' Pattinson has admitted; "I had no idea how to play the part when I went in, and it was a good thing to find during the audition. I really wanted it after that, but I didn’t really even know what it was. I hadn’t really read any of the books.
And just from that, ‘I want this job.’ It was pretty much because of Kristen. In early 2008, Pattinson spoke of a fan backlash against his casting, disclosing Entertainment Weekly that "I stopped reading [fansites and blogs] after I saw the signatures saying 'Please, anyone else. He revealed to the Evening Standard that; "The books have a huge following, and I’ve already got bags of letters from angry fans, telling me that I can’t possibly play Edward, because I’m Diggory. I hope I can prove them wrong."
Source: Wiki
