Though he may be renowned for turning hordes of squealing teenage girls to a slobbery mess with one single, angst-ridden stare, Robert Pattinson is just like any other bumbling teenager. However, with his portrayal of Edward Cullen, the hero of the “Twilight” trilogy, his normal life is sure to change.

Previously known for his role as Cedric Diggory, which attracted more than its fair share of fandom, Pattinson remains unfazed by the treatment he receives. “It’s just so surreal that my brain doesn’t really absorb it.”

Cadenza spoke with Pattinson about the stigma of playing Edward, scary music, and that pesky wirework.

Though he was initially drawn to the “melodramatic” and “operatic” nature of the story, Pattinson said, “I really didn’t want to make a cheesy movie.”

“I abandoned the idea of looking at other [portrayals of] vampires. I really wanted to humanize the character…I went thinking about the vampires as a disease or a kind of parasite with eternal life and the thirst for human blood as symptoms,” he said. “I couldn’t understand how he could be anything but a complete manic depressive. I was just questioning why, why would he care about anything?”

Aside from possible manic tendencies, Pattinson did find the character of Edward appealing. “I like his singularity, how he takes his emotions very seriously. He’s not frivolous in his wants, which I think is a good thing. If you’re like that in reality, I think people can trust you. He’s also very humble as well, which I think is a good trait.”
Among “Twilight’s” enormous fan base, however, Edward has certainly built up a reputation as the ideal man. Just check out any fan site and you can spend hours sifting through pages of unadulterated adoration.

Pattinson doesn’t get it. “He doesn’t really do anything that’s completely unattainable. He’s just a good guy who just happens to be living forever and is really strong and fast. I have yet to understand why he’s such an attractive character to people.”

However, Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, certainly gets it.  Their “epic” love for one another was a main point for Pattinson. “My method of thinking about it was very simple: it’s a guy who has nothing going for him and he’s denying his basic instincts and living in this purgatory where all he wants to do is be human or die… Also after 80 years of absolute loneliness and isolation, it’s very obvious where his desperate love and need for her comes from.”

In regards to claims that Bella’s unwavering dedication to Edward is a poor example for young, empowered girls, Pattinson said, “I think Kristen is very strong. She has a hardness to her and a sort of fierce intelligence. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to do the movie…Kristen seems to have just as much hidden depth as Edward does…I don’t think Stephanie Meyer intended the book to serve as a role model for anyone. She’s a very Sapphic character.”

Pattinson admits that he thought about Edward as a character under the context of a trilogy. That said, Stephanie Meyer’s “Midnight Sun,” a partially released version of the book from Edward’s perspective, doesn’t appeal to Pattinson.

“I like the idea of Edward as enigmatic and a mystery—no one really knows what he’s thinking or doing,” he said. “That’s much more fun to play than making it explicitly clear.”
Pattinson also stretches himself through his musical talents in the movie, an experience which he termed “really bizarre.” Though some of his songs are included on the “Twilight” soundtrack, Pattinson has no plans to abandon acting for music.

Overall, music played a strong role in the creative process. “This is probably the job I was most influenced by music,” Pattinson said.

During filming, Pattinson listened to British folk singer Laura Marling (“she has that desperate thing about her which is quite good”) and György Ligeti, the modernist composer for “2001: A Space Odyssey” for “the scary stuff.”

“There was one scene where I had to give a look that was primal and terrifying and I was listening to that, trying to think of a really scary face,” he said.

Indeed, Pattinson claims that one of his greatest challenges was distinguishing the border between Edward’s vulnerability and his very real power. “There’s such elemental attraction and fear which he emanates all the time. That’s why I was reluctant to take the part. When you’re trying to be pretty and scary, that’s tough.”

Pattinson also had difficulty with the stuntwork involved in “Twilight.” “I did a lot of wirework on HP, but that was me just getting hit” he said. “But on this, I had to be agile and look like [I’m] controlling the movements…just keeping [my] body in the right shape was very very hard. It’s also incredibly painful as well, to have two little wire straps in your crotch. It’s a hard, hard experience.”

So in the future, will he risk life and limb to continue his propensity for supernatural films? No, says Pattinson, “I definitely want to eventually play a normal person.”