Robert Pattinson on New Moon
“It wasn’t just the director that made this one different,” Pattinson said. “It was so different as well because we kind of knew what type of animal that we were dealing. I was much more of a supporting role, in this one. It was actually one of the most relaxing jobs that I’ve ever done. Chris has a really peaceful presence and I got on really well with him.”
Even before any footage was completed to screen, Pattinson could tell New Moon would differ from Twilight. “ Aesthetically, it looks very different. The script was very different. It’s a completely different mood. So, I’m really interested to see how it works out.”
As for the vampire craze that continues to fuel his franchise, Pattinson can’t comment. “I think we’re the worst people to ask about it. The problem is that, when I looked at it, I never looked at it as a vampire story, right from the beginning. When I try to play it, I try to eliminate the vampire element, as much as I can, and just see it as a tool to make their relationship a little more fraught. Right after the audition, I found myself bizarrely invested in the story and I hadn’t even read the books, at that point. I’ve gotten more and more attached to it. I’ve been talking about the script for Eclipse to people, over the last few weeks, and I find myself getting very argumentative, which I’m not usually. They definitely have some kind of power.”
But, and not just for PR purposes, New Moon was his favorite book. “Mainly because I like the juxtaposition. Edward is such a hyped character, and there are so many people looking at him like a romantic hero. In New Moon, the way that I read it anyway, he’s just so humbled. It’s a character who’s looking at Bella and thinking that he loves something too much, but he can’t be around. He deliberately starts breaking up their relationship, which I think is a very relatable thing that is very painful. And, in the fight sequence at the end, Bella ends up saving Edward, as she does in every single one of the books. It’s really funny how everyone looks at Edward as the hero, and he’s continuously saved by the damsel in distress. I think he really realizes that in New Moon. Eclipse is really him trying to catch up with Jacob because he’s so out of the loop and he can’t speak in superlatives anymore. He’s accepted being alive and he needs to catch up to Jacob.”
