Robert Pattinson: From Twilight Vampire to Shining Villain in a 3,000-Year-Old Story

Why Famous Grown-Ups Can’t Forget Their Silly Beginnings

When someone becomes a star as a teenager, they often did cheesy or tacky projects. Today, because of the internet and social media, they can’t pretend those never happened. Even serious movies are advertised with fun clips of actors eating chicken wings fast or hugging puppies. So if an actor is asked about a silly early role, they have to smile and say they loved it, thank the fans, and say they’re grateful for the chance.

Important: Big actors who want to win big awards (like Oscars) usually do not bring up those embarrassing old roles themselves.

How Other Famous Actors Stay Quiet

• Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for The Revenant but never talked about his old sitcom Growing Pains from the late 80s.
• Joaquin Phoenix rarely mentions his early movie SpaceCamp (note: a correction at the end of the original article clarified it was SpaceCamp, not Spaceballs).
• Jacob Elordi doesn’t chat much about The Kissing Booth 3.

Robert Pattinson Is Different

Robert Pattinson (British, age 40) is now being called the best part of Christopher Nolan’s movie The Odyssey. This film:

• Costs $250 million (a huge amount).
• Is the most awaited movie of the year.
• Is already seen as the likely winner of the 2027 Best Picture Oscar.

He plays Antinous, a bad guy who tries to marry Penelope (played by Anne Hathaway) while her husband Odysseus (Matt Damon) is away.

Before the review embargo (a rule stopping critics from publishing full reviews until next Wednesday), early thoughts were shared. US critic Erik Davis wrote: “He absolutely stole the show for me,” calling him “so conniving, manipulative and endlessly entertaining to watch.” People already whisper he might get a Supporting Actor Oscar nod. This is part of a career full of surprise choices that show he is a brave artist, not just a pretty face from his teen days.

He Compares a Serious Epic to Twilight

At the movie’s world premiere on Monday, Pattinson went out of his way to compare Homer’s 3,000-year-old poem (and the heavy movie version) to Twilight, the teen vampire series he starred in almost 20 years ago.

He said: “I keep comparing it. [Antinous] is kind of like Jacob in Twilight. What The Odyssey is about – Penelope just can’t make her mind up between the two guys. And I’m just trying to, like, help her make a decision. It’s like, ‘It’s fine. He’s dead, get over it.’”

Important: Most stars would never link a respected ancient story to their cheesy teen vampire film, but Robert does it gladly.

Robert’s Twilight Days Explained

In the four Twilight movies, Robert played Edward Cullen, a pale vampire in a love triangle with Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner).

How He Got the Role (Numbered Steps)

1. Robert was born in Barnes, London, in 1986.
2. He had almost no training and little experience.
3. He first appeared on screen as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (his first cinema credit).
4. Because fans liked him, he scored high on IMDb’s “starmeter” (a list of popular actors).
5. Twilight producers asked for Harry Potter actors with high starmeter; Robert was called.
6. He did a chemistry test with 17-year-old Kristen Stewart at director Catherine Hardwicke’s home.
7. He acted so hard he fell off the bed during a kiss scene; the director had to remind him about California’s age of consent law.

Veteran journalist Steven Gaydos says: “He’s a real movie star, and that was clear the minute he appears in the first Twilight.” The series made $3.36 billion. Both Robert and Kristen later dated for four years and took unusual career paths.

Critic Guy Lodge says they were “poster children for the teen idol turned serious actor.” After Twilight, Robert worked with daring directors like Cronenberg, Herzog, Safdie brothers, James Gray, Claire Denis.

The Weird and Brave Roles He Chose

Robert’s later movies are anything but normal:

• In Cosmopolis, he gets a prostate exam in a limo.
• In Mickey 17, he is cloned over and over.
• In The Lighthouse, he sadly touches himself to a wooden mermaid and is pecked by birds.
• In The Drama (a comedy-drama with Zendaya this year), Lodge calls it possibly his best: funny but full of deep pain.
• He also made Die My Love with Jennifer Lawrence about postnatal depression.

Gaydos says Robert never just does easy crowd-pleasing work; he is “an accomplished and fearless actor with tremendous range.”

His Life at Home

After dating Stewart and FKA twigs, Robert now has a young daughter with his girlfriend Suki Waterhouse. This makes him seem like a normal, nice guy even when his movie roles are wild.

He also likes:

• Making pottery (like Brad Pitt and others).
• Inventing things: a pasta dish called piccolini cuscino (“little pillow”) that he almost sold frozen, and a 9-foot sofa with super wide armrests that weighs a ton and hasn’t sold.

What’s Coming Next

• Dune 3 with Zendaya (Christmas big opener, Oscar rival to The Odyssey).
• Primetime: low-budget drama about TV show To Catch a Predator.
• The Batman Part II (early 2027) where he wears the cape again.

Lodge notes Robert returned to big movies but is now a looser, more interesting actor because of his artistic films. In Nolan’s Tenet and The Odyssey, he adds humor to serious scripts.

Why His Charm Works

Robert told GQ he wanted “leopard underpants” under his skirt for The Odyssey – a sparkly fur peek. Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw says his performance is “saturnine, faintly reptilian and odious” (meaning dark, sneaky, and happily bad). Gaydos compares his looks to old Hollywood stars; Bradshaw compares his fun side to Alan Rickman.

Two of his films this year are hits; three more are coming. His place as a top unpredictable star is safe. Gaydos jokes that Hitchcock would have loved him.

Important: An earlier version of this article mistakenly said Joaquin Phoenix was in Spaceballs. It was corrected on 11 July 2026: he was in SpaceCamp (1986).

Summary

Robert Pattinson, once a teen vampire heartthrob, now stars in the huge movie The Odyssey as a scene-stealing villain. Unlike other actors who hide early cheesy work, he cheerfully compares the ancient epic to Twilight. From strange indie films to Batman, he shows fearless range while staying a down-to-earth family man. With more movies on the way, his future is bright.

FAQ

Q1: What is The Odyssey and who does Robert play?
A: It’s a movie based on a 3,000-year-old poem by Homer. Robert plays Antinous, a mean suitor to Penelope while her husband is missing.

Q2: Why is Robert’s comparison to Twilight unusual?
A: Most serious actors avoid mentioning silly early roles, but he says his character is like Jacob from the vampire series, helping Penelope move on.

Q3: How did Robert get famous originally?
A: He played Cedric in Harry Potter, then was picked for Twilight as Edward the vampire after a clumsy audition with Kristen Stewart.

Q4: What weird hobbies does he have?
A: He makes ceramics, invented a pasta pillow dish, and built a giant heavy sofa.

Q5: What was the article’s correction about?
A: It fixed a mistake saying Joaquin Phoenix was in Spaceballs; he was actually in SpaceCamp.