Robert Pattinson translation interview from TU magazine.

Robert Pattinson, The New King

We’re at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons talking with Ron about what it’s like to be in the middle of a fenomenon. He told us a few secrets. That he’s really bad at baseball, that he wrote a song for the Twilight soundtrack, what was it like playing Dali and working in New Moon.

You worked in the soundtrack for Twilight…
Last year I was writing songs and I think Nikki Reed gave Catherine Hardwicke a cd. She called me and said “Check this out!”, and she showed me some random scenes in the movie with my music. I thought it was so bizarre but it was ok. I didn’t think anything of it, I never thought it would be on the soundtrack but when they were I agreed to it. Now this has blown up and it looks as though I’m all ready to sign a record deal but I’m not even sure. They were just a couple of songs that I wrote some years ago and that have nothing to do with Twilight. I thought I should have recorded them under a different name, but everybody told me that this could be a really good thing, marketing wise.

Did you ever think you could dedicate completely to your music after this?
Not as a career, because that’s too hard. I think that if you start to write music profesionally it can be very stressful. Especially when you’re performing in front of thousands.
But if you only have the desire to write, then there’s nothing wrong with it. Unless you’re thinking about making money out of it.Was it easy for you to get involved with the whole idea of vampires?

Not really. Actually, I was trying to play Edward as human as possible, instead of playing him as a fantastic creature. I thought about being bitten by one of them and becoming a vampire and living forever, of course, and everything that comes with immortality but I think that knowing everything about the vampires’ existence made me understand them better. I know Edward was an average 17 year old who got bitten by someone and three days later he woke up with insatiable need to drink human blood. After seeing all of that and realizing that his life has changed, that he can’t sleep anymore, that he’s increadibly fast and strong, that he’s going to live forever was something that it was hard to imagine as a human being. But I decided not to play him thinking as a vampire, I just added up everything he was, including him being a vampire. That was on the top of the list of things he is.

You look very handsome in the movie, do you feel any pressure about living up to that image?
I don’t like to see myself because I start feeling weird, like I’m going to be sick. But there’s also the thing that playing a vampiure is not something that it’s within my range. I always try to bring something positive in any character that I’m playing. Although I think people love the bad boy who doesn’t care about anything, and the more worse he is, the more appealing he is to people.

Do you think fame is fun, or does it bother you?
I really don’t think about it too much. I mean, we’ve visited great cities promoting the movie and people are so excited about it everywhere, they scream. But when you leave the press room, nobody knows about you anymore. And everything separates itself. Like, you’re living two different lives.
This might be different when the sequel comes out. I’m still so immersed in the Twilight phase since the movie came out and then I’m shooting the new movie which will have its own promotion. So I know what to expect when people approach me on the street now because some fans call me Edward, so I don’t think fame will affect me.

What do you think about so many girls having your poster on their bedrooms now?
When I first signed up for it I didn’t realize it would target so many teenagers. I thought it woulkd be just and indie movie that would take on vampires with an actress doing sweet and intelligent things. I never thought it would become something so big.

What was more difficult? Filming Twilight or promoting it?
(laughs) Acting is perhaps more sincere. Promoting is sort of easy, you just talk all day. But I know that for some actors it can be very stressful and it can be a very annoying thing to say yes all the time. But it all comes down to what kind of movie you’re doing. If it’s a drama, you have to be very serious about it, unlike with comedies, for example.

Tell us about the baseball scene. We’re told you were not very good at it.
Who told you that?! I suck at baseball. For some reason, Catherine wanted me to be like a pro, and I thought, Why? Edward is a vampire, why would he have to play baseball perfectly? I never understood it, and I always questioned it. He doesn’t need to want to play, know the rules or need a bat, but Catherine said this scene was more about representing the union of a team, the union of a little community ready to defend and support each other. But yeah, I’m terrible at it. Don’t be surprised if one day you see people dressed as vampires playing baseball (laughs) that would be weird. That what be weird. But for me that was the hardest scene to shoot.

Some time ago you played Salvador Dali. Is that movie coming out soon?
I filmed that before Twilight. It was such a small movie that I don’t know what would’ve become of it if I hadn’t been in Twilight. It was a fun and interesting job.

It must’ve been a very interesting world to explore…
Of course! It was the first work I ever did in which I became completely obsessed with. Then I adapted that same mentality for Twilight. But the difference is that during all this time in Spain I as the only person on the set who didn’t speak English, so I spent all the time reading about Dali and rehearsing my lines. I think that’s why I dove in so deep inside the character, in his personality and his life. And I feel that and actor has the power to change, even if it’s just a little bit, the story of a character. Whether it’s by changing the voice, the attitude, the way you move, because you not only have to follow the instructions of a director. You have to put a lot of effort on your own. I think it would be so stresfful for directors to have actors who ask them What do you want me to do? I think it’s ridiculous, an actor shouldn’t act like a puppet, especially if he’s being paid so much to do his work.

Catherine seems to be one of the most human directors out there.
Definitely. Eventhough I did argue with her over certain scenes, most of the times I agreed with her. There’s even some thing about the way she directs that are so new to me, that I couldn’t disagree with them. For instance, in the script or in the way we would structure a scene. The point is that when you’re an actor you should merge your suggestions with the original ideas, and realizing who your director is, otherwise the job becomes stressful and it’s horrible arguing against everything.

The Dali you played was the Dali he was before the world met him.
Yes, that’s exactly what the story was about. In a way the plot is a lot like Twilight. It’s the story of two characters who because of fears and insecurities can’t consumate their love.

Are you looking forward to New Moon?
Definitely. I filmed Twilight not thinking it would become a trilogy, so if the first movie captured people, the sequel will immortalize the characters and their stories.

Thanks to Twilight Poison for the translation!