Robert Pattinson keeps a safe distance from the hype in a quest to prove his post-vampire cred, writes David Michael.
'I don't really know how I would want to be remembered,” Robert Pattinson says of an underlining theme to his new film, Remember Me. “In a lot of ways, I'd prefer to not be remembered and just completely wiped clean from memory.”
Pattinson's reticence about being remembered is understandable, given the past 12 months of media coverage of the actor has been limited to the celebration of his good looks and the stardom afforded to him due to his portrayal of the lovelorn vampire Edward Cullen in the phenomenally successful Twilight film series.
For Pattinson, such adulation would fall short of a fitting epitaph. For him, fame is not the name of the game.
When S meets the 23-year-old in London, the shy-natured actor sports the distinct incognito combo of baseball cap and bushy beard. If it's a little overkill in terms of diffusing his sex-symbol image, the practicality of being less recognisable to the rabid legions of teenage subscribers to the cult of "R-Patz" is understandable.
Despite turning his back on the prospect of university at the age of 17 to take up acting after dabbling at his local theatre group near the family home in Barnes, greater London, there's no doubting Pattinson's level-headed smarts in trying to dampen the inferno of attention that engulfs him.
He turns down constant advertising endorsement offers, front-row invitations to fashion shows and reportedly even the offer of a record contract by music mogul Simon Cowell, to cash-in on his lesser known musical talent. Pattinson is keen to temper the fickle nature of success rearing its head, signs of which he's already seen with the release of the second Twilight film.
“I didn't like the way New Moon was reviewed,” reflects the actor. “When something is so hyped, it's inevitable there's a backlash against it.”
Now, the actor has little to fear in terms of any personal backlash from fans. It's something he hopes to avoid by placing increasing importance on the films he manages to squeeze in between shooting the vampire franchise. "Most independent films are never going to get made," he says. “But if you have the financial cachet behind you, you can get it made just off your own back.”
Shot between New Moon and the forthcoming The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the tragic family drama of Remember Me is a prime example of that. Taking place in New York on the eve of 9/11, Pattinson plays the rebellious Tyler, who – haunted by the suicide of his older brother and emotionally frustrated by his distant workaholic father (Pierce Brosnan) – finds kinship with Ally (Australian actress Emilie de Ravin), who herself has suffered the loss of her mother.
“My main attraction was to play a role close to myself and because I've never played a normal guy,” says Pattinson, who was hands-on in the development of the film from beginning to end.
“I tried to make it about the point in your adolescence when you're so focused on being an individual and you don't want to accept just being part of the world.”
Despite Pattinson's best intentions, the romance at the heart of the piece, although pleasing his fan base, hardly offers a departure for the actor.
However, things will be notably different in his next film, Bel Ami, which is being made in London. He plays the social-climbing philanderer Georges Durey of Guy de Maupassant's 19th-century novel.
“He's a guy who hates the entire world and just uses women to get money,” Pattinson says of his character, who enjoys romps between the sheets with women played by Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci.
“I thought it was quite a funny little story after doing all these romantic things.”
The hard yards for Pattinson have just begun but rather than believing his own hype, a guilt complex about his good fortune has given him sobriety beyond his years.
“You have to earn your luck,” he says. “I am pretty sure in the next 10 years I'll be working every single day to kind of make up for this.”
Remember Me is released on Thursday.
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