The same day Robert Pattinson and his Twilight co-stars were being peppered with questions regarding the next-to-last Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, the 25 British actor became a member of a very exclusive club. Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart left their handprints in cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, joining an elite group of celebrities that includes Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, and the stars of Harry Potter. That's just the latest event that's been part of the wild ride Pattinson's been on since being cast as Edward Cullen in the screen version of Stephenie Meyer's bestselling book series. And at the LA press junket for Summit Entertainment's Breaking Dawn Part 1, he talked about his personal journey throughout the course of the Twilight films.
"It's presented a whole variety of obstacles, in terms of trying to grow and figure out who you want to be. It's like having a very complicated maze to go through. You’re also being propelled by some kind of jet as well and trying to figure out how to go through a maze at the same time. I still feel like it hasn't really slowed down. I'm still trying to figure out where I'm at. But it's been fun. It’s totally bizarre to me. I said for years I didn't even know if I was going to continue acting before this happened, and now I have much more of a drive and passion for it than I ever did before."
Pattinson also talked about the wedding and childbirth scenes, his last days on set, and his career choices.
Robert Pattinson The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Press Conference
You've been playing Edward for four years now. Can you talk about the journey he's taken throughout the series?
Robert Pattinson: "I think in the broadest terms about Edward's journey, right from the beginning I took out, I just ignored the fact that he was a vampire and basically ignored the fact that he was 108, except for metaphorical purposes. You're just left with a kind of troubled teenager who has a really simple story of him getting content with himself. He gets content by finding a woman and having a child, which is, I guess, how a lot of troubled guys balance themselves out. At least that's the hope, anyway."
Director Bill Condon mentioned that you said Edward was self-loathing, and it was never presented in the plot of the first three films.
Robert Pattinson: "Yeah, I always thought that would be the key ingredient to Edward’s character. He’s a 108 year old guy who’s never achieved anything he’s wanted to achieve. He's been stuck in adolescence. When you’re an adolescent, nothing is given to you. You think everything's unfair, blah blah blah, and he's been living with that for 100 years. You eventually get to the point of desperation. It’s very difficult to portray that and to portray a love story at the same time, unless you want to make a very different movie. I was trying to push for that angle at the same time."
"It's funny, but Bill was the first person to say, 'I want to put this at the forefront,' because Breaking Dawn is probably the happiest Edward's been in the whole series. So perhaps it was the wrong moment to use that, but we did a couple of flashback scenes that kind of reflect his anger, I guess, when he first turned into a vampire."
Can you talk about the birth scene and your last moments of ever playing Edward? Kristen made a joke about running into the woods...
Robert Pattinson: "She made a great joke in the woods?"
She said she ran after Taylor Lautner telling him she'd made a mistake.
Robert Pattinson: [Laughing] "Oh yeah, she’s done that the whole series. The birth scene... I read the script before I read the book on this one, it was the first time I'd done that and so I read that scene being kind of astonished. I knew it was kind of crazy, the story, but I couldn't really believe that it was actually written down and we were going to do it. It was terrifying going into it. But it ended up being one of the most incredible scenes to do in this movie."
"There's definitely a kind of R-rated or maybe NC-17 rated version of a few scenes in this movie. But it was just incredible to do that. Because of the violence and stuff in it, it gave you a lot of freedom in the scene and having every character so desperate. It became suddenly something very, very different. I mean, especially for Edward who has always held back and is a pacifist and is very objective and logical about everything, to do this thing where you're suddenly playing Edward stuck between emaciated dummy's legs chewing through a placenta and getting cream cheese all over your face and strawberry jam and then pulling out the three week old baby afterwards with a wig on. It’s like something out of a Bunuel movie."
And your last moments of playing Edward?
Robert Pattinson: "The very last moments I was in St. Thomas in the Caribbean, on the beach. It was kind of incredible. It was the only time I did anything like that in a Twilight movie. The last scene with everyone, it was kind of horrible because it was freezing cold; it was after two weeks of night shoots. I think everyone just scattered after the scene. 'Yeah, that’s the end of Twilight,' and it was five in the morning. It was freezing cold, pouring rain. At least it was kind of symbolic of how all the movies were shot, just freezing cold and pouring rain all the time."
"It doesn't feel like the end of it yet. Also, because the press tours have become so huge and you’re always being asked about it all the time, this feels like part of the process of making the movies. Until the last one's released, I don't feel like I've finalized anything."
You've done big franchise films. What do you like doing really? The independent film? Big studio movies? What's next for you?
Robert Pattinson: "I don't know. I really approach things almost the exact same way, until you’re actually on the set. Smaller movies are great because you don't have to argue with so many people all the time. But, really, I kind of like arguing so there's a balance either way."
"With independent movies it's nice to see a director who’s so pleased with it. It’s so rare when someone’s giving someone the money to do something and they let them do it. I just worked with David Cronenberg and just to see him, he’s left alone by everyone because obviously he's proved himself time and time again. It’s really strange. I've never worked with someone with absolutely no pressure from anyone else apart from themselves and from the environment they’ve chosen to work in. It's kind of nice to know that the pressure is not caused by compromises or anything like that. They’ve taken responsibility on themselves and it’s really up to them to make it what they want, and people get a lot more pleasure out of it than having to sometimes give up a lot just because there’s so much money involved, or you’re working on a franchise when you have to think about the audience and you have to think about the previous movies. It’s a different thing in some ways."
You've talked about wanting to get back into music. Is that still a priority?
Robert Pattinson: "Yeah. I record stuff a lot but I don’t know, there's something about doing movies - I can handle the criticism because you can always blame it on someone else. There’s hundreds of people to blame it on but with music, as soon as you put something out there, you're basically, really, because everyone judges it if you’re an actor and you’ve made some money and stuff, you’re basically only putting an album out for people to judge it. I don't necessarily want people to judge it or care what they say, but also I know if I put an album out, the day it comes out I know I'm going to be on the internet looking at stuff and I’ll probably shoot myself. So I don’t know if it’s worth shooting myself over."
Could you put it out under an alias?
Robert Pattinson: "I kind of like the idea of that, but it’s also very embarrassing if you get caught."
You, Kristen and Taylor were immortalized earlier today at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. How do you feel about that? Can you remember your first experience in Hollywood?
Robert Pattinson: "It’s kind of incredible. I stayed at the Magic Castle the first few times I came to LA when I was like 17. I used to walk down there all the time and had no idea that Hollywood Blvd. looked the way that it does. I was totally unemployable. It wasn’t even in the realm of any kind of understanding, and it still isn’t at all. I don't really feel like I've even done it. I feel like there’s just this wave has happened and I'm just on it. I've never really had any kind of... It’s difficult; I feel like I’m going to feel the personal connection in 20 years from now. I feel like now it’s just all part of the same thing."
"I was kind of embarrassed when I did it because I messed it up and stood on my own handprints. The one handprint which is messed up. But it's incredible. It represents something amazing. I think it’s totally ridiculous. I don’t even know how to feel about it. It's juts kind of mind-blowing."
Edward and Bella experienced an extravagant wedding. Would you want one of those in your own life?
Robert Pattinson: "It does seem like a bit of a hassle. I was just doing an interview with Kristen, she kind of got all annoyed with me for saying the groom's role in a wedding is basically just as a prop. Even playing the part, you kind of realize it's a clear indication of whose day it is when you're standing at one end of the aisle and the entire congregation is looking at the girl; you’re in the same suit as every other guy just kind of waiting and she’s in a princess dress walking down. It's really just any guy who tries to get involved in organizing a wedding, or has an opinion of what the wedding should be, then they’re kind of ridiculous. It’s really whatever your wife decides to do."
So that's a no?
Robert Pattinson: "What? Doing a fancy one? I really don’t mind. I just don’t want to have to wear a silly outfit. That’s the thing you have to think about."
Would you and Kristen work together after this franchise is over?
Robert Pattinson: "I don’t know."
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Additional Breaking Dawn Part 1 Interviews: Kristen Stewart / Taylor Lautner / Peter Facinelli / Jackson Rathbone / Stephenie Meyer / Bill Condon / The Cullens