Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson (also known as Spunk Ransom and R-pattz ) is the British actor who played Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of Twilight, New Moon, and the upcoming Eclipse. He is also likely to return as Edward in Breaking Dawn. Prior to his lead role in the Twilight Saga films, he was known for his role as Cedric Diggory in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Twilight
Summit Entertainment announced on December 11, 2007 that they had cast Pattinson in the role of Edward Cullen. On her website, Stephenie Meyer endorsed the choice, saying, "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."

According to Pattinson, he had little knowledge of the books when he auditioned. He says, "I went into it thinking it was a vampire film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, who does like gritty sort of realistic indie films. If you're doing a vampire fantasy shot like Thirteen, then that would be interesting. That's why I went into it really, and it ended up being something totally and utterly different." He says that he came to hate the "perfect" character of Edward, and so he decided to play him as a manic-depressive who hates himself. He also claims he felt voyeuristic while reading the novels, as if he were peeping in on the author's fantasies. He notes, "I was just convinced that this woman is mad, she's completely mad, and she's in love with her own fictional creation."

Pattinson plays the piano during one scene in the movie. During the original takes, the actor played his own improvisations; the scene was later re-shot with him playing the "Bella's Lullaby" composed by soundtrack writer Carter Burwell for the film. Catherine Hardwicke had asked Pattinson to compose "Bella's Lullaby" and he refused, saying it wasn't really his thing. However, two of his original songs, written before Twilight was made, appear on the soundtrack album.

The actor admits that he is not athletic, and did not enjoy filming the baseball game. He also had difficulty putting in contact lenses to change the color of his eyes.

Fan tour
In November 2008, Hot Topic scheduled meet-and-greets for Pattinson, where the first 500 fans would get to meet him and receive a Twilight tour t-shirt. At one tour spot at The Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco, over 3,000 fans showed up and several girls were injured in the mass crowd. With only one security guard to handle the crowd, it was deemed unsafe for Pattinson to do the meet-and-greet and the event was cancelled.

Personal life
Robert Pattinson was born on May 13, 1986 (Taurus) in London, England. Besides acting, his interests include reading, playing guitar and keyboard. He composes his own music and enjoys live performances. He has said that he misses being able to perform live at open mic nights now that he is readily recognized as "Edward", but he did not like having videos of his performances appear on YouTube.

He has stated in multiple interviews that he is currently single. In school he wanted to be a political speechwriter, before deciding to try acting instead. He denies using any hair products to get his hair to stand on end, saying that "I'm just always grabbing my hair and stuff."

He received a Hollywood Award at the Hollywood Film Festival Awards on October 29, 2008. Pattinson claims that he never watches himself in movies, "because it makes me feel like I'll never want to do a job again."

Relatives
Pattinson has two sisters; the youngest, Lizzy, is twenty-five years old and had a top ten hit with the punk band Aurora. The other, Victoria, is twenty-seven and works in advertising.

''"Up until I was twelve my sisters used to dress me up as a girl and introduce me as 'Claudia'. Twelve was the turning point as I moved to a mixed school and then became cool and discovered hair gel." ''- Robert Pattinson.

His parents, Richard and Clare Pattinson, currently live in Richmond.