Robert Pattinson very nearly lost his iconic role of Edward Cullen.
The actor starred as the vampire in all five Twilight movies, opposite Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan. As it turns out, his performance was leaning too much on the dark side for the studio.
"I was 21 and kind of wanted to make it as arty as possible," Pattinson told GQ. "We had this strange tension where the studio was kind of a little bit scared to make things a little bit too emo and stuff, and I thought that was the only way to play it.
"It just seems so ridiculous talking about it now because I was literally – I spent so much time just infuriated. That's definitely something about being 21 as well, because I can't believe the way I was acting half the time when I think back on it."
The tension broke when Pattinson's team intervened. "The scene when Edward introduces Bella to his family the first time, I remember that being the day, because my agent and my manager came up as a surprise visit," the actor explained. "And I was like, 'Oh, hey,' and just thought everything was fine, and then at lunch, they were like, 'Okay, so whatever you're doing right now, after lunch, just do the opposite, or you'll be fired by the end of the day.' And I was like, 'Okay,' and so, that was the only thing that got me to sort of smile a little bit."
Pattinson is taking on another brooding character in The Batman, which sees him play the titular vigilante. No word yet on if Bruce Wayne will be smiling in the movie.
The Batman arrives this March 4. In the meantime, check out our complete guide to all of 2022's major upcoming movie release dates to get planning those theater trips.
