‘Twilight’: Robert Pattinson Never Understood This About Edward’s ‘Attractiveness’
When it comes to the Twilight cast, almost nobody was as skeptical about their character as Robert Pattinson. Though playing the sparkly vampire, Edward Cullen, made Pattinson a household name, the actor had no qualms about passing judgment about the immortal. For example, Pattinson has personally questioned why Edward, someone who has lived more than 10 decades, would choose to repeat high school again and again.
But Edward’s schooling was the least of Pattinson’s concerns about his character. The Twilight alum has also shared that he found it hard to understand why so many people were attracted to such a mopey character. Since Edward is almost always brooding and/or agonizing, Pattinson wondered what Bella might see in him. Of course, Bella wasn’t the only one attracted to Edward. Most of the girls at Forks High School were also interested in him, which is something that Pattinson found odd.
Robert Pattinson never understood this about his ‘Twilight’ character’s attractiveness
In an interview with Vanity Fair from 2008, Pattinson revealed that he didn’t understand why Edward’s old-fashioned nature made him so incredibly alluring. The Batman star shared that, in his experience, teenage girls were attracted to the bad boys who exuded danger.
“What I never really understood about his attractiveness, especially to young girls, is his gentlemanliness,” the former Twilight cast member shared about his character. “I thought that teenage girls like the dangerous aspect of males, and so I tried to emphasize the danger and make the more gentlemanly side of this character a veil to something else underneath. I really tried to make him an incredibly strong and powerful character, but at the same time self-loathing and extremely vulnerable.”
Why ‘The Batman’ cast member leaned into Edward’s vulnerability
But why was it so important for Pattinson to lean into Edward’s vulnerability? According to the actor, it helps raise the stakes for his character. Furthermore, it helps justify why Edward feels so incredibly protective over Bella and how she makes his feel weak, in some aspects, because for all his strength and power, he can’t guarantee her protection.
“When his life is put into basic terms, he has nothing to live for and all he wants to do is either become a human or die,” the Twilight cast member shared about his character. “The only reason that he hasn’t died is because he is too scared; he doesn’t think that he has a soul. Then he meets Bella, who makes him feel like a human and feel alive again. At the same time, her human vulnerability makes him incredibly vulnerable, because even with his super speed and his super strength, he still can’t fully protect her. Whenever she is in danger, he is in danger. If she dies or goes anywhere, then he is gone, too.”
It’s interesting that Pattison felt that vulnerability was such an important trait for his Twilight character to have. While we don’t necessarily agree that some teenage girls aren’t attracted to a gentleman, we believe that Pattinson’s decision to make his character well-rounded and multifaceted likely contributed to why fans were so enamored with him.
