Robert Pattinson continues to insist that ‘Twilight’ was an ‘arthouse movie’

Robert Pattinson at the Go Campaign's 13th Annual Go Gala at NeueHouse Hollywood

I love Robert Pattinson. I just own it at this point. He’s a big dumb Englishman. He’s sweet and silly and he laughs at his own jokes and he’s awkward and yet… he’s organically grown into the kind of 30-something actor who takes on the role of Batman, and agrees to a “24 Hours With” Vogue video. I love this big dumb video:

Bobby Sparkles is a pencil eater and he doesn’t mind hustling for his Dior contract. I love all of this. Also… showing up to a fancy dinner in Paris wearing a backwards baseball cap is garbage, but I love him. Anyway, he was there for the Dior Homme fragrance, his latest campaign for the label:

Hot and silly. I love it. Anyway, I think Robert is promoting The Lighthouse in England, where it just came out. Which is why we have a million little interviews with him where he says all the same stuff, over and over. Some highlights from his BBC interview:

He doesn’t think his move to independent film was that big of a deal: His bold post-Twilight choices, he insists, weren’t so bold, after all: attempting to trek to the top of the Hollywood A-list would have been “much more dangerous” than going down the independent road. “You can see quite a lot of examples of it not really working out for people,” he says, naming no names, “so I just thought it would be a silly idea to try to do a massive action movie or something.” He was also aware that his stratospheric celebrity status might plummet down to Earth at any moment. “I always think that whatever movie you’re doing, there’s a potential that it’s the last movie you’re ever going to get, and so I don’t want to end my career on a ‘transitional’ movie.”

He’s very pro-indie film: “I definitely am on the side of trying to get independent movies into theatres and getting somebody to see them. I think if every single obscure filmmaker was just completely drowned out by conglomerates then that would be an awful thing.”

He thought he might have gotten too indie: “I literally started this year [2019] with no job. I remember my agent saying, ‘You’re not really on anybody’s list. The movies are well reviewed, but they aren’t big hits.’ And then a week later I got another call out of the blue: ‘Do you want to be in a Chris Nolan movie?’ I was like: ‘Wait – how did that happen?’”

Twilight was an art house movie: “That’s because no one realised that Twilight was an arthouse movie. It’s part of the same thing. In a few years, people will suddenly realise – ah, it was arthouse! I totally missed it!”

[From BBC]

The first Twilight movie IS an art-house movie, made with a small budget, directed by an art-house director and starring a young cast which was largely unknown. It’s also art-house because it’s about a vampire falling in love with a mortal he met in high school. I mean… it’s a bizarre f–king concept. Anyway, I love him.

Robert Pattinson at the Go Campaign's 13th Annual Go Gala at NeueHouse Hollywood

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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43 Responses to “Robert Pattinson continues to insist that ‘Twilight’ was an ‘arthouse movie’”

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  1. Eliza_ says:

    Sure tell yourself that.

    A badly acted, badly directed film series based on a badly written YA trilogy where a 100 year old man is toxically involved with a 17yo girl (no age gap concerns), then later when she’s over 18 she has to decide between the 100yo and the 15yo.

  2. Esmom says:

    Agree that its execution was very art house compared to the rest of the series. But the source material, despite the fact that the first book was better than the subsequent ones, was still trash.

    He’s joking, though, maybe?

    • Anname says:

      He always said how weird the story was, so I can see why he didn’t consider it an average teen romance. But yeah, not exactly art house quality like he has been doing since!

      I can acknowledge its ridiculousness and still have fond memories of that whole craze. It touched on something, as bizarre as that is to think about looking back now.

    • Bread and Circuses says:

      He has said he didn’t really have any idea of what a phenomenon Twilight, the book, was when he took the role. He wanted to work with Catherine Hardwicke (the director) and he wanted to work with Kirsten Stewart, and that was about it for his thought processes.

      So he’s probably not joking. It was an underfunded indie film with a female director, and she made an art house film. It got blown up into a franchise only after the money started rolling in.

  3. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Lmao. Twilight. Arthouse. Roflmao. Actually I’m not rolling on the floor. Twilight series has never given me the energy to do anything other than wear a blank face. Alright alright. Occasional eyerolls.

  4. LegallyBrunette says:

    I don’t find him dumb, actually. He does act silly, awkward and ridiculous when it comes to press and promotion, but I think he knows exactly what he’s doing! It’s worked for him and made a unique brand to go with his unique filmography and now he’s Batman. Even better if these traits are genuine, because he was smart enough to capitalize on them.

  5. VS says:

    Twilight was designed to make money and it did…no need to pretend it was more than that! It made all people in the movies quite famous and I actually appreciate that he doesn’t trash the movies that made him a household name or at least made him recognizable to the masses.

    • Resi says:

      He has trashed Twilight all the time. He even did while promoting it.

      • VS says:

        I wasn’t aware of him doing it! he is a white attractive man, so he can get away with it

      • Anname says:

        Twilight has an exclusively female fan base for the most part. There were virtually no men in their young 20s who were fans. Rob was no different, and he found the humor in acknowledging just how weird he found the whole thing. He couldn’t understand why everyone went nuts for this oddball love story. His charm and humor, along with his admitting utter disbelief in the craziness, was hugely popular. I never saw it as mean spirited or angry, nor do I think he meant it to be.

        Twilight is a blessing and a curse for him, but I do think Rob has a healthy perspective on it. He has expressed his gratitude many times, and has acknowledged the tangible downsides as well (one small example- this site is still calling him sparkly, an entire decade later).

      • Another Anne says:

        He didn’t trash Twilight. He did joke about it, and have fun with some of the goofy story bits. Anyone who’s followed him at all knows that he jokes about everything, himself included. If he had truly trashed Twilight, he would not have been as popular as he was with the fans.

  6. Slacker says:

    Omg i love him so much!!!! Sparkles is gorgeous and adorable and giggly. Please cover him more. I love any Sparkles stories and pics

  7. Insomniac says:

    I like him too, especially his dry sense of humor. A lot of people were predicting total obscurity for him once Twilight wrapped, and I couldn’t be more delighted that they were wrong.

  8. Rae says:

    As if. It was just bad. The blue tinge, the terrible make up…you can polish a turd, but it will still be a turd.

  9. BrickyardUte says:

    I’m 36 years old, happily married with two kids and I fantasize about Bobby Sparkles putting on some fangs and chasing me around the house. Judge away, I’m not ashamed.

  10. mia girl says:

    I’ve always really liked him as a person & celebrity and more so as actor once I saw him in The Rover. He was crazy good in The Lighthouse.

    While Twilight success kinda happened upon him in, seems like he’s worked steadily since to find the type of film success he wanted. He’s made a lot of believers along the way. It’s still wild to me to see the massive shift among film boys/film Twitter to becoming stans.

    Oh and that Dior ad, yeah, I’m into it.

  11. Neners says:

    I’m pretty sure he was joking. Dry humor doesn’t translate lol

  12. minx says:

    It made him rich, I don’t know why he cares.

  13. Midnightatthemuseum says:

    Yeah he’s goofy and silly and funny but he’s also extremely bright. He’s planned his career carefully and patiently, he knew it would take ten years to get past the T-word so-called ‘stigma’, and he’s put up with dry spells (ugh, 2013, not a single film) while he’s sought out the established auteurs and new talent that he’s wanted to work with. Now we’ve got big studio films, Tenet and The Batman, and it’s a bit like the old days, what goes around comes around and he’s back in fashion. Older, wiser, talented as heck and hot as….yeah that. Loving it, and enjoying seeing Kaiser come back on board too!

    • Sass says:

      Big agree, I’ve been a Pattinson fan since HP4 and despite Twilight. I had to stifle a delighted squee in the theater when the trailer for Tenet came up and he was cast as John David Washington’s partner. I also love the Nolan brothers so that also made me excited to see a new Nolan film.

  14. Sass says:

    As you pointed out, yep. It was art house.

    It sucked but it was art house.

  15. BeanieBean says:

    Was that him ‘singing’ in the Dior ad? He looked like he was trying for a Brando imitation. Or somebody was. Maybe James Dean.

  16. YaGotMe says:

    Cedric is a full grown man now and I’m here for it. I still done find him handsome , but I certainly get the appeal and he’s perfect for Dior.

  17. Claudia says:

    I really like him as a person. I should watch his movies…

  18. Kkat says:

    He’s got a good sense of dry humor, he was joking

  19. Starkille says:

    Morón. Will never understand how it was decided that this creature is attractive, looks like he was hit in the face with a shovel and a very nasty personality to boot.

  20. SJR says:

    Bobby Sparkles…..hahaha 🙂 Thanks, mate. I needed a laugh today.

    I like him, more than once I’ve heard him give an interview in which he said he is/was grateful for his success, for the Twilight movies, etc.

    No harm, no foul. Carry on, RPatz

  21. Red Dog says:

    So are we going to see Sparkles in that glorious sparkly runway number at the Tenet premiere?

    • Midnightatthemuseum says:

      With the long washing-up gloves I hope…..I loved the sparkly raincoat in the Dior show!

  22. songbirds_thrive says:

    Oh, I’m totally with you @Kaiser about loving RPatz, and also about the fact that the first Twilight movie by female director, Catherine Hardwicke, was indeed an art house film. Okay, it was based on a rather juvenile book. Still, the plot and characters had an interesting twist and Hardwicke had a particular vision which she was able to realize effectively. That’s why the first film was so successful.

    Unfortunately, the first film’s success led to a bunch of bigwig studio honchos wanting to take over because of seeing dollar signs and therefore wanting to go franchise with men directors. Pushing Hardwicke aside abruptly and unceremoniously was not a good idea. She had the vision, passion, and chutzpah for telling the story in a unique way and believing in the characters. The men directors just messed things up with laughable ‘special effects’ and confused story lines.

    Everyone involved went along for the money, job status, popularity of the Twilight franchise in book form, and probably the hope something good would happen. It really didn’t in the long run.

    That said, RPatz has managed to make some good choices overall as his career has progressed. Plus, he’s charismatic and likeable. And he’s really focused on improving as an actor and taking up challenges, without vanity and self-importance. Good luck to RPatz as the next and future Batman! I can hardly wait.

  23. SpankFD says:

    His comments about his agent’ assessment if his future movie prospects – “…you’re not really on anyone’s list…” – followed by the serendipitous offer – “Do you want to be in a Chris Nolan movie?” – screams Set Up to me. As in, RPs agent set him up to take the Batman role by making him feel just insecure enough to sgree. Big, dumb Englishman, indeed.

  24. Gaby says:

    I love that you unapologetically love him Kaiser! I do too! I really enjoy his personality and his acting has gotten better and better. The Lighthouse was amazing.

  25. Kimberly says:

    worked at a bookstore coffee shop near the area they filmed at. The whole cast would come in and order drinks and stay til closing on occasion. I never read the books, but my coworker did. She would flip out and grab the drink tags with the names of her favorite book characters….she would stare at them and say they have the names of characters from twilight!! hahahahaha still remember robert Patterson’s first 4 digits of his
    mastercard…and his orange beanie hahaha I would have to kick them out because I had places to go after closing and they WOULD NOT LEAVE…..lol