For Robert Pattinson, maintaining a vampiric six-pack in the “Twilight” movies is harder than it looks. “I think I’ve probably reached the peak of my conditioning,” the British actor says. “I’ve had to stop going to the gym now.”

It’s not the ab crunches that are getting him down these days – it’s the nonstop fight sequences during the Canadian filming of “Eclipse,” the third movie in the series based on Stephenie Meyer’s uber-popular book series. But before that comes out next year, Twilighters, twi-hards and everybody in between will be able to see Pattinson, as Edward Cullen, come to undead life on screen in “Twilight: New Moon,” in theaters Nov. 20.

Last year’s “Twilight” set up the love affair of vampire Edward and his human muse, the shy Bella (Kristen Stewart), while in “New Moon,” they become part of a love triangle with the hunky werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner).Pattinson says he’s tried to reinvent Edward, he of the golden eyes and James Dean charisma, each time around. Dracula he’s not. For one, Edward has no problem taking a walk during daylight hours – the sunlight actually makes his skin sparkle, a fact that has vampire purists baring their fangs.

Pattinson doesn’t see the big deal. “They’re fictional creations. They can be pretty much whatever,” he explains. “I don’t really feel like I’m part of the vampire tradition, really. It almost abandons every convention, especially image-wise. They’re a little pale – it’s kind of the whole point in the movie where they don’t look spectacularly different from everyday humans.”

The millions of “Twilight” fans haven’t had a problem with it either. Pattinson, 23, has had to roll with massive media attention in the last year and a half, when teenage girls started putting posters of him on their walls and gossip magazine editors began showcasing him on their covers. When he was filming “New Moon” earlier this year, he says, “I was pretty comfortable with everything. And then the level of fame and fervency of the fans, it exponentially increased over the last four months.”

Today, Pattinson says there are fans and paparazzi buzzing around the set constantly, and there are tours that take people to restaurants that cast members frequent.

Being on the frontlines has given Pattinson some perspective on the “Twilight” phenomenon. “A lot of people like the fact that it’s OK to obsess over something,” he figures. “It’s like, Oh, you’re obsessed with Twilight?! Oh yeah, me too!’ From a lot of people I’ve met who are really really mega-fans, it’s kind of like a lifestyle, and I can understand. It’s like being part of a club.”

As for his own personal obsessions, currently music is at the top of his list. Pattinson had one of his songs appear on the “Twilight” soundtrack, and during his downtime, he’s been writing a bunch of tunes he hopes to record – possibly during a month off when he returns to his home in London. “I haven’t seen anyone I know for like a year,” Pattinson says. “I’ve got to see what remains of the wreckage of my life.”

Source: AZ Central