By Nicola Moyne
ROBERT Pattinson is a name you’ll no doubt be familiar with. Best known for playing heartthrob Edward Cullen in the hugely popular Twilight series, Robert – or Rob Pattz as he’s been dubbed – is tall, dark and undeniably handsome. And he also happens to be a pretty great actor.
As his deep blue eyes would suggest, there’s always been something more to Robert than fangs and fighting, and his new film Remember Me is set to unveil a more emotional side to his character that will no doubt only confirm his status as every teenage girl’s crush du jour.
Starring as Tyler – a rebellious twentysomething in New York who has a turbulent relationship with his father – Robert takes this romantic drama by the reigns and avoids all the usual clichés. He’s strong, yet soft; hard yet vulnerable, and it’s these qualities that have already got critics talking about Robert’s next reinvention.
Indeed, variety seems to be important to the 23-year-old and as he told In2 at the premiere for Remember Me, it’s always good to lead the way.
“I read tonnes of scripts over the summer after I did Twilight and everything just seemed exactly the same. But this one… initially just about the way the dialogue was written, it just seemed much more naturalistic, and also Tyler as a character was [different].
“Most movies that have a young male protagonist have to learn everything during the movie and end up a completely different person. But Tyler starts off with a lot of baggage and a very full and developed character, and ends up being developed in a slightly different way – but you never see that in films very much, especially for young people.”
Also starring Pierce Brosnan (who plays Tyler’s dad, Charles) and Lost’s Emilie de Ravin (love interest Ally), Remember Me is a film about the strength of love, family unity and the importance of treasuring each day - a far cry from warring vampires. However, while Edward and Tyler are different in many ways, they’re both confused about the future, and come from troubled backgrounds. So what attracts Robert to these particular roles?
“I guess I like to play sort of broken, troubled characters because it seems more interesting, especially as I’m not particularly broken and troubled myself,” he says.
“Tyler isn’t so fractured though – he’s someone that’s incredibly focussed and has a lot of confidence in himself, and nothing can really shake that.”
And while on set, it seems Robert looked to Pierce Brosnan for tips on confidence.
“He’s very, very charming,” the London-born actor laughs. “When they first talked about Pierce, I never thought he would be playing Charles, but he brought something.
“I think he has an innate likeability to him and he’s very charismatic.”
Yet despite the impressive cast, Robert is quite clearly the star of the film – the driving force behind the narrative and promotion. He is in a position where he has his pick of the roles in Hollywood, and I wondered if this has added a certain amount of pressure to Robert’s decision making process. Does he look for independent, or blockbuster projects now?
“I’ve never felt pressure to do anything particularly. I never like anything, so it’s always quite easy to decide what to do, which is lucky,” he laughs. “Even when we were filming, I never thought about the box office or anything.”
But is he worried future projects will always be compared to the success of Twilight?
“With Remember Me, it’s an original screenplay and it doesn’t fit into any genre,” Roberts explains. “They don’t make movies like that anymore and I think that’s how I kind of choose stuff. That’s the only criteria I have. If there seems to be a gap in the market for something then I just try and do that, and I’m trying to do that with all the things I’m doing afterwards.”
It seems Robert has kept his feet on the ground, and that, he insists, is down to his friends and family.
“I’ve grown up with the same friends since I was 12; I have a very, very close-knit set of them. And my parents are great parents and they’ve brought me up very well. They’re my heroes.”
And, despite the hysteria that surrounds the actor, Robert has managed to keep perspective, adding: “Obviously you hope people like [your films] but if you start doing stuff to please a certain audience then you’re going in the wrong direction, because you can never please by deciding… I mean, you don’t even know the people you’re trying to please!”
All in all, it seems that Robert really is the perfect man: handsome, intelligent, and popular. Now, is that someone you’re likely to forget?
Remember Me is out in cinemas across the country now.