Michigan Journal

Issue date: 11/4/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Google.com

Suave, sexy and British, Robert Pattinson is fresh on the Hollywood block and stealing girls' hearts. In his upcoming film, "Twilight," the 22-year old will take on the role of Edward Cullen, the impossibly beautiful vampire who falls in love with a human.

The film, an adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name, focuses on the relationship between Cullen and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).

Pattinson is no stranger to the supernatural. His first trip to fantasy lay in the role of the wizard Cedric Diggory from the Harry Potter films.

"I do eventually want to play a normal person," said Pattinson with a slight chuckle. "Anything I do after this will be so different."

But the role of Edward Cullen jumps leaps and bounds over the portrayal of Diggory, not only in the size of the role but also in the complexity of the character.

The general essence of Cullen's character can be a difficult one to pinpoint.

"It's his fundamental effect on people," said Pattinson. "It's constantly talked about in the book how when he walks into a room there's this kind of silence. There's such an elemental attraction and fear which he emanates all the time. It's almost impossible to think of how to actually do it and that's why I was initially reluctant to do the part."

Cullen has a certain essence about him, said Pattison. "The good thing about his character is the kind of enigmatic mystery. No one really knows what he's thinking or doing, and that's much more fun to play than making it explicitly clear."

"The hardest thing was to be scary, because he's supposed to be scary in a lot of places during the book and when you're trying to be pretty and scary at the same time, it's quite tough."

The love between Cullen and Swan is epic and deep, and completely essential to both characters.

"I definitely tried to think about why the relationship would work in reality," said Pattison. "It's a guy who has nothing going for him. He's denying his basic instincts and he's living in this kind of purgatory where he just wants to be human again or die. And he meets this girl who makes him feel alive again and gives him a reason to live.

"It's very obvious where his desperate need and love for her comes from."

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