Robert Pattinson fought 'Twilight' producers to save us from Smiling Edward Cullen
Well, nine years later, and we finally have an explanation for Robert Pattinson's looks of permanent constipation throughout the entirety of the Twilight movie franchise.
A recent interview with Howard Stern revealed that RPattz's unforgettable smolder came down to an epic battle to between his artistic vision for the teen vampire Edward Cullen, and the producers telling to him to just smile a little more:
Pattinson saw Cullen as “incredibly serious all of the time,” but the crew wanted the character to be “happy and having fun” in his romance with Bella Swan (the actor’s real life ex, Kristen Stewart).
“I remember the producers giving me the copy of the book, and every single instance where my character smiled and stuff they’d highlighted everything,” Pattinson told Stern.
“I got a different color highlighter and highlighted every time he frowned.”
Pattinson’s management team intervened, telling Pattinson he had to follow directions.
“I thought I was pretty safe,” he explained, adding, “And [the producers] were like you’ve got to do the opposite of what you’re doing now or you’re going to get fired today.”
To you, Twilight might've been just a teen vampire rom-com we'd all rather forget ever existed. To Robert Pattison, portraying Edward Cullen was the hill his career nearly died upon.
Sparkles and all.
As Twilight scholars know, Pattison's interpretation could not have been more accurate to the canon. Edward Cullen is presented in the books as less of a character, and more like a pair of floating Topaz eyes attached to a frowny face.
Don't believe us? Here is further photographic evidence:
Take a moment out of your busy day to picture this man literally taking out a copy of Twilight -- with its pornographic image of an apple on the cover -- and showing his producers pages soaked in neon highlighter, documenting every single instance of Edward Cullen being a complete sourpuss killjoy.
I'm not even sure how they managed to argue with him at all.
And honestly, it sure feels like Pattison ultimately won this battle. I mean, have you seen the percentage of smolder in his performance?
But it appears there was at least some level of compromise. Here we can see several instances of Cullen's unwilling, pained attempts at being "happy and having fun" -- only to immediately reset to Smolder Mode:
Honestly, RPattz, never change. I know you were looking out for fans or just trying to do your job well, regardless of this dumb movie. It's not your fault Twilight is a literal poison to society. If anything, your insistence on speaking to the truth of the character might've actually saved a few women from pining over a centuries-old, toxic, abusive pedophile.
So, bless you.
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
