I’m in a hotel where the interview will take place. Robert is late, although understandably so. He’s been doing interviews all day, so I try to be patient. Suddenly, the door opens and Robert walks in apologizing with a very thick British accents that makes you melt. He’s tall and thin, he has a very pale skin. He’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt under another shirt. He’s hair is messy and it looks as though he had fallen asleep. He plays with a bottle of coke. When he finally sits down we start out interview…
What made you want to be in this movie? Had you read the books?
No, I hadn’t read them, so I didn’t know how to play my character. When I was reading the script I remember telling my agent “I can’t do this. It’s physically impossible to do this”.
Why did you think that?
Because it’s not just acting. The character has these amazing physical qualities that are impossible to have: he has a great body, he’s gorgeous. So I thought they were going to say to me “No, thank you, next”. Honestly I went to the audition without preparing. I didn’t know the lines or anything and Kristen was there. I didn’t know she was going to be Bella. She was very strong as Bella in the audition, so that gave me a clue as to how to play the character.
In the beginning the fans of the book were not very thrilled about you playing Edward. What kind of pressure did it make you feel?
If you try to do things just to please the fans you’re going to deliver a bad performance. So I made the decision of playing Edward a certain way, and I said “that’s it, I don’t care what people say”. And I tried really hard to not make the character cheesy. But I think that since I’m a guy and it’s a girls book I felt I needed to find something else. So I had to dive in, deeper than most of the people who read the book.
Was it fun playing a vampire?
I don’t think I’m playing a vampire. I don’t think I even look like one, do I? (laughs) I would’ve loved it if Edward had been the typical vampire we’re all familiar with, because the vampires in Twilight are too weird. They’re very pale, they have strange eyes, but they’re so normal and they can live in the real world without rasing any suspicions. On the other hand, it was very fun. I had to do action sequences and I had to climb trees (laughs).
You mention real vampires, are you a fan of vampire movies?
Well, in this film I’m not scary. I’m not like Nosferatu. I want to be that kind of vampire, that would be cool. But as you know, this film is not about vampire clichés, so I played him like he had a disease, like you’re not the same person after someone bites you because you wake up three days later wanting to kill people. You’re a thousand times stronger and faster, and you’re going to live forever and if you think about it, that must be horrible!
What was the hardest part of playing Edward?
Edward has a certain aura that makes people be scared of him instinctively and they don’t know why. I really love that, but I think that’s hard to show on screen so I would imagine him as a lion who was in the jungle surrounded by animals, they know he’s not hunting but they keep their distance. And that was something I really wanted to add to the movie, in fact there’s a scene in which all the birds literally fly away as soon as I walk by, and this gives you the idea. But I think that was the hardest thing to show (he pauses). Well that, and being the most beautiful man in the world! (laughs). But there’s nothing I could do about that.
In the movie Edward is supposed to be 17 years old. If they make the next movies, what are they going to do to keep the character looking young?
With botox! (laughs) No, actually I am a bit worried about that. I don’t know, I guess we’ll have to shoot them pretty quickly.
I know you play the piano, and in the book Edward plays a song in the piano for Bella. Are you playing the piano in the movie?
Yes, I’m playing a song written by Carter Burwell.
Are they adding any songs by you on the soundtrack?
There’s one or two songs by me in the movie, although I don’t know what they’re doing there! (laughs). It’s one of the most bizarre moments in the film, because I’m in a scene with Kristen and there’s me singing in the background, I can hear myself playing the guitar and my voice singing, but my face is just there talking.
After playing Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire, were you worried of repeating yourself with another book series?
Yes, but it’s a very different role and story.
I know you read a manuscript that Stephenie Meyer wrote from Edward’s point of view in order to prepare yourself for the role…
Yes, I read it when we were in the middle of filming, and since the book of Twilight was written from Bella’s point of view and she never really knows what Edward is because he lies and he hides stuff all the time, I had all the freedom to play him as I wanted to. And even though in the book you read only positive things about Edward, when you see the real situation he’s completely negative. Imagine waking up one day saying “I didn’t ask to become a vampire. And now I want to kill a bunch of people and I feel terrible. I don’t want to die but I don’t want to live like this either. I found the only person in the world that makes me feel like I want to keep on living, but I want to kill her too”, that has to be horrible.
How did you develop your vampire abilities? I read you wrote a journal as Edward. Are you planning on publishing that?
It wasn’t exactly a journal. I don’t know how it started (laughs) but I hadn’t realized how difficult it was going to be to play Edward until I started reading the script. He’s a very complex character. So I moved to Portland on my own two or three months before filming began and I didn’t do anything but read the script and books to find anything that helped me play him. So I started to write things. I mean, if you really prepare for a role, there’s going to be a moment in which he’s all you can think of. So I did things like little suicide notes. I was a little worrysome actually (bursts out laughing).
What made you want to be in this movie? Had you read the books?
No, I hadn’t read them, so I didn’t know how to play my character. When I was reading the script I remember telling my agent “I can’t do this. It’s physically impossible to do this”.
Why did you think that?
Because it’s not just acting. The character has these amazing physical qualities that are impossible to have: he has a great body, he’s gorgeous. So I thought they were going to say to me “No, thank you, next”. Honestly I went to the audition without preparing. I didn’t know the lines or anything and Kristen was there. I didn’t know she was going to be Bella. She was very strong as Bella in the audition, so that gave me a clue as to how to play the character.
In the beginning the fans of the book were not very thrilled about you playing Edward. What kind of pressure did it make you feel?
If you try to do things just to please the fans you’re going to deliver a bad performance. So I made the decision of playing Edward a certain way, and I said “that’s it, I don’t care what people say”. And I tried really hard to not make the character cheesy. But I think that since I’m a guy and it’s a girls book I felt I needed to find something else. So I had to dive in, deeper than most of the people who read the book.
Was it fun playing a vampire?
I don’t think I’m playing a vampire. I don’t think I even look like one, do I? (laughs) I would’ve loved it if Edward had been the typical vampire we’re all familiar with, because the vampires in Twilight are too weird. They’re very pale, they have strange eyes, but they’re so normal and they can live in the real world without rasing any suspicions. On the other hand, it was very fun. I had to do action sequences and I had to climb trees (laughs).
You mention real vampires, are you a fan of vampire movies?
Well, in this film I’m not scary. I’m not like Nosferatu. I want to be that kind of vampire, that would be cool. But as you know, this film is not about vampire clichés, so I played him like he had a disease, like you’re not the same person after someone bites you because you wake up three days later wanting to kill people. You’re a thousand times stronger and faster, and you’re going to live forever and if you think about it, that must be horrible!
What was the hardest part of playing Edward?
Edward has a certain aura that makes people be scared of him instinctively and they don’t know why. I really love that, but I think that’s hard to show on screen so I would imagine him as a lion who was in the jungle surrounded by animals, they know he’s not hunting but they keep their distance. And that was something I really wanted to add to the movie, in fact there’s a scene in which all the birds literally fly away as soon as I walk by, and this gives you the idea. But I think that was the hardest thing to show (he pauses). Well that, and being the most beautiful man in the world! (laughs). But there’s nothing I could do about that.
In the movie Edward is supposed to be 17 years old. If they make the next movies, what are they going to do to keep the character looking young?
With botox! (laughs) No, actually I am a bit worried about that. I don’t know, I guess we’ll have to shoot them pretty quickly.
I know you play the piano, and in the book Edward plays a song in the piano for Bella. Are you playing the piano in the movie?
Yes, I’m playing a song written by Carter Burwell.
Are they adding any songs by you on the soundtrack?
There’s one or two songs by me in the movie, although I don’t know what they’re doing there! (laughs). It’s one of the most bizarre moments in the film, because I’m in a scene with Kristen and there’s me singing in the background, I can hear myself playing the guitar and my voice singing, but my face is just there talking.
After playing Cedric Diggory in the Goblet of Fire, were you worried of repeating yourself with another book series?
Yes, but it’s a very different role and story.
I know you read a manuscript that Stephenie Meyer wrote from Edward’s point of view in order to prepare yourself for the role…
Yes, I read it when we were in the middle of filming, and since the book of Twilight was written from Bella’s point of view and she never really knows what Edward is because he lies and he hides stuff all the time, I had all the freedom to play him as I wanted to. And even though in the book you read only positive things about Edward, when you see the real situation he’s completely negative. Imagine waking up one day saying “I didn’t ask to become a vampire. And now I want to kill a bunch of people and I feel terrible. I don’t want to die but I don’t want to live like this either. I found the only person in the world that makes me feel like I want to keep on living, but I want to kill her too”, that has to be horrible.
How did you develop your vampire abilities? I read you wrote a journal as Edward. Are you planning on publishing that?
It wasn’t exactly a journal. I don’t know how it started (laughs) but I hadn’t realized how difficult it was going to be to play Edward until I started reading the script. He’s a very complex character. So I moved to Portland on my own two or three months before filming began and I didn’t do anything but read the script and books to find anything that helped me play him. So I started to write things. I mean, if you really prepare for a role, there’s going to be a moment in which he’s all you can think of. So I did things like little suicide notes. I was a little worrysome actually (bursts out laughing).
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