The red rope was bursting to capacity at San Diego’s Comic-Con yesterday when the Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 panel hit the stage. Front and center was not Robert Pattinson himself but his strange new haircut, which was for his role in that David Cronenberg movie, Cosmopolis, that he’s currently shooting. So Sparkles is doing it for the art, but it still looks like he pulled out the scissors himself, since his movie character apparently goes nuts mid-buzzcut and flees a barber shop. Weird but not surprising for Cronenberg. Anyway, let’s appreciate this from all angles:

Meanwhile, Deadline has a correspondent at Comic-Con who is clearly not a fan of the franchise and describes Sparkles as looking like Gizmo from Gremlins and Taylor Lautner’s neck to Stretch Armstrong. That last one makes sense since Lautner has been rumored for the role for quite some time now, but this writer obviously does not want to be there. Anyway, the panel answered some questions and showed a few clips, one of which was not taken from the book. SPOILER ALERT and SHIRTLESS PATTINSON ALERT:

Now we get to see a clip – a scene Condon says isn’t in the book.

Jacob is getting a medical blood packet from Carlisle Cullen. It won’t be enough, so Carlisle has to get more. Jacob warns him that Sam will kill them. Carlisle and Esme say it’s worth the risk, Bella is family now. Jacob says he can see that; “This really is a family, as strong as the one I was born into.”

Cut to Jacob, with Leah and Seth, in the woods. He’s confronted by Paul and other hostile werewolves. Paul: “This isn’t your territory any more!” Jacob demands that Sam take back Leah and Seth into the clan. Adds: “Tell Sam that when the moment comes, I’ll be the one to destroy it. I’m the only one who can. They trust me.”

End of clip.

Lautner says Jacob in this movie gets his heart crushed and has to mature/take a stand.

New clip: the honeymoon.

Edward carries Bella over the threshold through a rotating glass door. She actually looks slightly tan, and is barefoot. Edward: “I’m nothing if not traditional.”

She sees the four-poster bed, and is clearly excited. He brings in the luggage, kinda embarrassed-looking.

Edward: “You tired?”
She shakes head.
“You wanna go for a swim?”
She nods. “I could use a few human minutes.”
“Don’t take too long, Mrs. Cullen.”

He goes outside to the water and takes his shirt off [Con crowd goes wild]

She goes into the bathroom, and a pop song comes on as she brushes her teeth, hair, shaves legs, picks out underwear, looks all tense. Then she says, to herself, “Don’t be a coward.” She runs outside in just a towel, drops it (seen from behind; sorry, boys!) and goes in the water, where Edward’s bare back awaits. End clip.

What was the cast’s reaction to the birth scene when they read it? Stewart: “I thought it was so cool; we really tried to go as hardcore as we could.” Bella has “always been able to fight harder than other humans because of a little bit of that [indicates Rob] in her – literally!” She realizes double entendre, laughs.

What’s it like for Rob and Taylor to work with beautiful women?

Rob: “I always get asked this, every year.”
Taylor: “And what do you say?”
Rob: “Any answer could be inappropriate.”
Taylor: “There could be worse jobs. It is weird.”
Kristen: “It’s so weird that we’re so hot.”

All cast members say how much they’ll miss it. Taylor says the third book was one he loved but this movie is his fave. Kristen’s favorite book was New Moon, but movie-wise she still loves the first one. “I am so godd-mn nostalgic!” Immediately covers her mouth in horror realizing there are kids in the room.

[From Deadline

Poor Kristen just couldn’t help herself there, I think. She’s like a surly sailor in a miniskirt, but I’m the same way and really have to watch my mouth in public, not to mention around my own kid. For what it’s worth, Movieline live-Tweeted Kristen’s dirty talk in a slightly flattering light: “Kristen Stewart accidentally swears, catches herself, apologizes adorably for ‘the tiny ones in the audience.’ #sdcc” Meanwhile, Twitter has presented a not-so-adorable picture of Kristen refusing to indulge fans with autographs outside their San Diego hotel:

[W]hile Rob was more than happy to sign autographs for fans, Kristen surprised everyone by allegedly gave them the cold shoulder.

“Robsten spotted in San Diego!” fan Levi Dailey tweeted. “Fan asked Rob and Kristen for photo with. He said yes, Kristen said No! … I have no idea what they were doing, all I know they came into the hotel. … Rob also signed autographs before going into the hotel. They did come out a stretch limo though.”

“I guess she doesn’t like to be bothered with Rob,” Levi speculates. “Rob doesn’t care as long as he’s not mobbed.”

[From Hollywood Life]

Kristen also reportedly was very crowd-shy when she paid a visit to Rob on the the Cosmopolis set, preferring to stay in her vehicle while Sparkles signed autographs for his fans. Yes, she’s got an attitude, but Kristen doesn’t usually pretend to be anyone but herself unless the studio makes her do so. In fact, she probably received a stern talking-to after her potty mouth on the Comic-Con stage, but at least I can understand why she might not want to interact with the Comic-Con crowd itself, which (according to some) is the very definition of “unwashed masses.” I think it was Eli Roth who once said that after the yearly event, he gleefully indulged in a Silkwood shower.

Still, Kristen can get away with not loving her public as long as this Twilight madness carries her less than ideal behavior. Afterwards, she’ll really have to prove herself as an actress, and part of that process is endearing herself to the public. It’ll be semi-interesting to watch all of that shake out in the future.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News and WENN