‘Harry Potter’: Why Robert Pattinson Held Cedric’s Wand ‘Like a Gun’

The trajectory of Robert Pattinson’s career has certainly been a fascinating one. In the first few years of his professional career, he managed to star in two of the biggest film franchises of all time. The actor first starred in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, beating out countless other actors for the role of Cedric Diggory.

Cedric’s role in the film is pivotal. As he is the other Hogwarts Champion, he competes in dangerous tasks alongside Harry Potter for a chance to claim the Triwizard Cup. Furthermore, he enters the graveyard with Harry before reaching his untimely death. The role required a lot of action sequences from Pattinson, something that the actor wasn’t exactly sure how to approach.

Robert Pattinson explains why he held Cedric Diggory’s wand like a gun

But just because Pattinson didn’t have experience shooting action sequences didn’t mean he didn’t give it his all. In an interview with GQ, the Harry Potter alum revealed that he read a book about method acting and tried his best to apply what he learned. Furthermore, he approached his scenes very seriously, even wielding his gun in a fashion that felt like a true weapon.

“I remember holding a wand and thinking that it felt so dorky to hold it like a magic wand, so I’m holding it like a gun with two hands, thinking I’m in, like, a Die Hard movie,” Pattinson revealed. “I think I even have one eye closed when I’m looking down like it’s got a viewfinder.”

Pattinson lived off of his ‘Harry Potter’ money for years

Funnily enough, the way Pattinson held Cedric’s gun seemed to work, especially in the graveyard scene where he’s trying to defend himself. It gives the scene a heightened emotional feeling. And while Pattinson may have been unsure of himself while filming Harry Potter, he still managed to enjoy his time on set. It also didn’t hurt that the gig paid exceptionally well and was able to fund Pattinson’s lifestyle for a couple of years.

“I spent a lot of time living off the Harry Potter money,” Pattinson revealed. “I moved to an apartment in Soho in London.” But even though Pattinson enjoyed his time on set, he actually had another career in mind. It wasn’t until the talented musician was out of money that he considered going back to acting. Soon thereafter, he booked Twilight, and the rest is history.

Pattinson was pursuing a career in music post ‘Harry Potter’

“I really thought I was gonna do music at that point,” the Harry Potter alum shared. “I don’t know where I had the kind of belief in that, cause there was absolutely no one saying that there’s any kind of music career on the table, but I was doing a lot of gigs all the time. I was just constantly doing open mics all the time, and then I ran out of money basically. I was definitely going the wrong direction in terms of a career, up until Twilight.”