Pattinson defends Ledger

No laughing matter!

According to a witness at the No on H8 show at The ­Improv in Hollywood on Dec. 16, Twilight star Robert Pattinson, 22, booed a comic who said, "Here's my impression of Heath Ledger," then collapsed and began faking convulsions.

(Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose in January.)

"Robert and his friend went nuts yelling at him," the source tells Us Weekly. "[Pattinson screamed] f--k you! You suck!"

But the actor -- who recently cut his famous hair -- went unrecognized by the performing comic.
"The comic didn’t know who it was, but I'm sure he found out later!" the source tells Us.

Caught! Hey Braveheart!

Men in kilts is nothing new — just look at the warriors in Braveheart. A little more recently than William Wallace, Marc Jacobs has been sporting skirts this fall, causing a buzz among fashion followers. But when Twilight star Cam Gigandet went shopping in Beverly Hills yesterday in argyle socks and a kilt, we had to take notice.

In A Blink Of An Eye

How Many Apply To You?

TwiCrack
Twilight-related news, information and memorabilia that fuels burning Twilight addictions for those who are High on Twi (-light, that is). Commonly injected by Twilight Junkies and those suffering from severe OCD (Obsessive Cullen Disorder).

Robsessed
Victim of Rob Pattinson's awesomeness

Dazzled, bewi...
Dazzled by Robert Pattinson

Pattisfied
Dazzled by Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson Cuts His Hair: Love It or Hate It?

Say good-bye to Robert Pattinson’s sexy tousled locks. The Twilight star caused a major frenzy when he stepped out this weekend with a new crew cut. Though he may not have the long messy do’ that won us over, we think he looks just as hot with the shorter do’. The second installment of Twilight began filming last week, so this could be a new look for on-screen heartthrob Edward too. We want to know what you think, is Robert just as sexy with his new crew cut?

**At the time I saw this and I voted 66% Love the hair cut and 34% Hate it.**

Short Cut

Twilight star Robert Pattinson showed off his short new do in Hollywood on Saturday.


He must have really been out and about that day.

Vampire Makeover

Robert Pattinson, shorn of his trademark tousled locks, tries his best to stuff his small convertible Audi with large holiday packages.


*****Wonder what he's getting me for Christmas? He will do just fine by himself. **Sighs** *****

Food Run

Twilight's Robert Pattinson grabbed some grub at West Hollywood restaurant La Conversation on Thursday.

He can host my get togethers anytime and everytime...haha

Robert Pattinson, partnering with Katy Perry to throw their friend Shannon Woodward a birthday bash at West Hollywood's Il Sole. The hunky Twilight star and the pop singer are mutual friends of the actress, who starred in one of Perry's music videos. Enjoying drinks and a long three-course meal of the burrata salad, lasagna, asparagus gnocchi and tiramisu, Perry and Pattinson played perfect hosts, only leaving the soiree to take pictures with fans outside the Italian restaurant.

Taylor Lautner Gaining Weight to Save Twilight Job

Taylor Lautner is packing on the pounds in the hopes of convincing Twilight producers he should return in the sequel, New Moon, as a bigger and more mature werewolf Jacob Black.

"I have been working out. I've been working out since the day we finished filming Twilight. I just weighed myself today; I've put on 19 lbs.," Lautner told MTV on Wednesday night at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Salute to Young Hollywood party.

Although Summit Entertainment has yet to give him the job, Lautner, 16, is the overwhelming favorite among fans to return over reported candidate Michael Copon of Scorpion King 2, according to a PEOPLE poll.

And Lautner says he's meeting this week with director Chris Weitz to make – and show – his case.

"I'm guaranteeing Weitz 10 more [pounds] by filming," the star said at the InStyle-sponsored bash in West Hollywood.

Twilight costar Ashley Greene is already in Lautner's corner.

"We all love Taylor. He's such a sweet guy, so sweet and I think that he gets the part," Greene tells PEOPLE. "And the thing is that the girls just love him. He is the teen heartthrob. ... I'm hoping that they don't replace him because we love him."

'Twilight' Sequel Speeds Ahead For November 2009

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Twilight" fans have a short wait for the next installment of the vampire saga.

Summit Entertainment spokesman Paul Pflug says "New Moon" is following just 12 months after the first movie, opening Nov. 20, 2009, over the same weekend as "Twilight" this year.

Summit has tapped Chris Weitz ("The Golden Compass") to direct "New Moon," based on the second book in Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series about the dangerous romance between a teen (Kristen Stewart) and a vampire (Robert Pattinson) fighting his bloodsucking instincts.

Weitz is taking over the franchise from "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke. "Twilight" has shot to $150 million at the box office since debuting Nov. 21.

Should Taylor Lautner Return as Jacob in New Moon?

The uncertain future of who'll be cast as Jacob Black in New Moon has "Twilighters" more nauseous than Bella piggy-backing Edward through the woods!

Although Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will return as star-crossed lovers Bella Swan and Edward Cullen in the Twilight sequel (which will be directed by Chris Weitz), Summit Entertainment has yet to give 16-year-old cutie Taylor Lautner the greenlight to return as Bella's werewolf bestie Jacob.

MTV is reporting that Scorpion King 2 star Michael Copon, 26, is in talks to take over where Lautner left off as a more physically mature Jacob in New Moon.

Breakout Star of 2008

10 Breakout Stars of 2008

ROBERT PATTINSONCast as Edward Cullen, the gentlemanly vampire of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, the 22-year-old British actor became instant bedroom-poster material — before he even spoke a word on screen. Previously known for playing earnest Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Pattinson seems unfazed by this new mania, which has involved Twihards lingering around his Los Angeles apartment. ''These little teenage girls will sometimes be camped outside, but it's fine. There's something about people who like this book — they're always extraordinarily polite. If they were old men, I'd probably move.''

YUM! ;)

Couldn't Help Myself

Twilight Trailer in HD

From Ms Stephenie

December 13, 2008

Hey guys,

There's been a lot of worry and speculation on the boards lately, and I want to let you know what's going on.

First of all, like you, I'm sad that Catherine is not continuing on with us for New Moon. I'm going to miss her, not just as a brilliant director, but also as a friend. She has such a distinct, authentic voice that did amazing things for Twilight. I'm looking forward to every movie she does in the future.

And she didn't leave us empty handed. We still get the benefits of her amazing casting and the beautiful visual world she created. This foundation puts us in a good place for New Moon.
Summit Films is moving forward with a new director for New Moon. They've asked Chris Weitz, director of American Pie, About a Boy, and The Golden Compass, to join us, and I am very pleased to announce that he's agreed to be a part of our Twilight world. I've had the chance to talk to Chris, and I can tell you that he is excited by the story and eager to keep the movie as close to the book as possible. He is also very aware of you, the fans, and wants to keep you all extremely happy. (Torches and pitchforks are not going to be necessary.)

I'm excited to work with Chris and I think he brings a lot to the table, not the least of which for me is that he wrote the screenplay for and directed one of my favorite movies of all time, About a Boy. I'm really looking forward to seeing his vision for New Moon.
Below is a letter from Chris to you. I think you'll get a glimpse in this note of how cool it's going to be having Chris as part of our community.

One more thing, unrelated but fun: I finally got around to posting a few pictures from the premiere on the Twilight movie page.

--Stephenie

Guitar Hero Fun With Rob

The Homecoming

The world tour has come to an end! Twilight hunk Robert Pattinson touches down in Los Angeles on Tuesday after premiering his hit vampire flick in London and Paris.

'Twilight' sequel: New details on 'New Moon'

Ok guys....or if anyone who reads this. This is the lastest from EW.com. Crossing my fingers and praying this doesn't turn into a disaster!!!!

Summit Entertainment has tentatively slated Nov. 20, 2009, as the release date for New Moon, the Twilight sequel, which means any director who signs on to replace Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke has to be in Vancouver by Dec. 15 to begin 12 weeks of preproduction before a mid-March start date. Reports have speculated that Hardwicke was fired for being difficult on set, but sources close to her suggest Summit's aggressive production schedule turned her off. "She'd love to do the sequel if she could do it better than Twilight," says one. "It ­became clear that Summit didn't have those same priorities.

"Indeed, at press time the second movie appeared to have ­little more than a rough first-draft working script. As Summit's production president Erik Feig told EW during Twilight's ­record-busting first weekend, "There is that first...script. All the finesse that turns a screenplay into a movie hasn't ­happened yet." Two weeks later, Summit is saying it's happy with screenwriter ­Melissa Rosenberg's progress.

Another of Hardwicke's primary concerns was that hunky vampire Edward remains MIA throughout New Moon's middle portion. In her own opening-weekend interview, she told EW, "You have to get the chemistry as strong ­between Jacob and Bella as it was between Bella and Edward. You also have to do ­some­thing with that arc: She's in love with somebody, he disappears, she falls in love with someone else, and the first guy comes back. Movies like Pearl Harbor have tried it. It absolutely didn't work."

With or without Hardwicke, Summit ­faces other snags. Two sources tell EW the studio doesn't want to rehire baby-faced Taylor Lautner (pictured) as Jacob, though Lautner's agent has apparently reached out to the ­imaging company behind The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in an attempt to demonstrate to Summit how a digitally bulked-up Lautner could work. (Summit says it won't make a decision until a new filmmaker is on board.) There's also the matter of finding a cast of Native American actors to play Jacob's werewolf clan — a difficult challenge Hardwicke was also faced with before ­settling on Lautner, who isn't completely ­Native American. And with a slightly increased budget of $50 million — much of which is ­assumed will go to leads asking for heftier paydays, location shoots in Italy, and ramped-up F/X — Summit will have to scrimp somewhere.

So what director would want to take on such a big headache? Well, at press time, an offer was out to Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), who put Summit on the map years ago when its foreign sales operation made tons of cash off of his first film, American Pie. (One source says Weitz has already had conversations with below-the-line crew for New Moon.) "We are in a recession," ­reminds one Hollywood insider. "It's a hit franchise. Whoever steps into it is guaranteed a $100 million gross. Everyone wants this movie." Adds an exec at another studio, "You'd have to have a very high standard for art, hate the movie business, and hate ­money to walk off this sequel."

Robert and Kristen in Paris

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart moved Twilight to Paris to pose for yet another photo call yesterday. The promotional tour keeps on kicking but their large fan base is already huge, as this cast has taken a commanding lead as your choice for sexiest group of 2008. Last night the costars kept their wardrobes dark and neutral, but they have plenty of things to smile bright about. While there are constant rumors about the duo's offscreen chemistry, it's the on-screen love that is taking the world by storm. The film took second place at the box office again, and though their director has dropped out of the sequel, most of you think it won't hurt the series

From Stephenie Meyers Site

Since we always try to keep everybody informed about everything going on in movie news, here is another press release from Summit Entertainment:

SUMMIT BEGINS SEARCH FOR NEW MOON DIRECTOR

Los Angeles, CA, December 7, 2008 — Summit Entertainment and director Catherine Hardwicke jointly announced today that the filmmaker will not be directing the next installment in the newly minted TWILIGHT film franchise. Summit's targeted end of 2009 or early 2010 release of the film, NEW MOON, does not work with Ms. Hardwicke's required prep time to bring her vision of the film to the big screen. Thus as has been done before with many successful film franchises, the studio will employ a new director for NEW MOON.

"I am sorry that due to timing I will not have the opportunity to direct NEW MOON," said Hardwicke. "Directing TWILIGHT has been one of the great experiences of my life, and I am grateful to the fans for their passionate support of the film. I wish everyone at Summit the best with the sequel—it is a great story."

"Catherine did an incredible job in helping us to launch the TWILIGHT franchise and we thank her for all of her efforts and we very much hope to work with her on future Summit projects," said Erik Feig, Summit's President of Production. "We as a studio have a mandate to bring the next installment in the franchise to the big screen in a timely fashion so that fans can get more of Edward, Bella and all of the characters that Stephenie Meyer has created. We are able to pursue an aggressive time frame as we have the luxury of only adapting the novels into screenplays as opposed to having to create a storyline from scratch."

Cam Gigandet

Kristin Stewart

Robert Pattinson

The Guys of Twilight

Vanity Fair Photo Shoot

TV Guide Cullen Family Interview

TV Guide Cullen Family Interview Part 2

Stephenie Meyer talks about the film's twist ending

-- Denise Martin

When I spoke to “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer, she seemed in much better spirits than she had been in following the “Breaking Dawn” backlash and subsequent leaking of “Midnight Sun” online. (For the record, she says she won’t resume writing the book, her planned retelling of “Twilight” from Edward’s point of view, until the noise around it has died down. “I have to feel like I’m alone with it again,” she said.)

The author looked rested and genuinely excited about promoting the big-screen version of a story she’s been talking up for the past three years. And even now that she’s more in-demand than ever, Meyer graciously took some time to talk to us about what she misses most about interacting with her fans; how she argued with Robert Pattinson over his “emo” take on Edward; which moment from the book she fought to have added to the film; and her thoughts about the movie’s twist ending. (Don’t worry, “Twilight” fans, I didn’t include any spoilers in this Q&A.)

Has the divided reaction to “Breaking Dawn” put a damper on this entire “Twilight” experience for you?

Well, hmmm, no. You know, it was funny because I was expecting this sense of closure when I finished the rough draft, and I was expecting it again when I finished my editing and I knew it was going to print. But it wasn’t until the books were out on the shelves that it was done, and I had that sense of crossing the finish line, like ‘I’ve done it! I’ve gotten it all done!’
It’s sad when you can’t make everyone happy, though. It’s impossible but, at the same time, you still hope. You think, ‘Maybe I can do it,’ but you know you can’t. But gosh, if I had to rely on giving people what they wanted, I would have had to write 40 billion different books and even then, I wouldn’t get it right.
What I have to say to myself is, ‘Would I have done anything differently? No. Am I happy with how it is? Yes. Do I like to read it? Yes. Does this feel like the right ending to me? Yes.’ I’ve always written for myself. ‘Breaking Dawn’ was no exception.
The bigger things get, the more haters there are. It’s not about the books, it’s about everything they can find to pick on you about. That just seems to be how society is and it’s kind of sad. For myself, I don’t spend time on things I hate, you know? It kills me. There’s so little time, spend it with what you love.

But has the reaction changed how you interact with fans? Or how much you interact with them?

That had already started to change because it’s now a volume thing. When I started out, I’d do an event, 40 people would show up and we could have this big conversation and really get to know each other. I knew who they were and I actually corresponded with quite a few of them because I could. But then things got busier and busier and it got overwhelming. At a signing, I can barely say ‘Hi!’ to people. And that’s no fun. I really don’t enjoy that. I know people want their books signed and it’s worth it to them, but it feels horrible to me. I can’t find out what your name is or who you are and what you’re about. I don’t like that. So that’s changed and that’s a little sad. It’s great to have things be successful, but there are sacrifices that come with it.

Was there any one actor in the film that you came the closest to your vision for their character while you were writing “Twilight“?

On first look, the one that really jumped out was Ashley Greene as Alice. I saw a picture of her and just thought, ‘You found Alice! Oh my gosh!’ On the set, the person who really exceeded expectations was Rob. I didn’t think anyone could get that close to Edward. I mean, I knew he was going to do a good job, and he has this great look, but I’d seen him as Rob himself and I couldn‘t picture it.
The thing is he looks different when he does characters. When you watch the films that he’s done, you might not be able to put together with the same person because he’s such a chameleon. There were times where he was just being Rob and then you’d hear 'Action!’ and he’d step into character -- and he’d look different! He’d like sound like Edward! It was crazy. He did such a good job.

Earlier at a press conference, though, you mentioned that you butted heads with Rob over how each of you saw Edward.

Oh yeah! That was a worry! He’d sit there arguing with me telling me I’m wrong about this character. He thinks Edward is a lot more depressed than I do. He thinks Edward is on the point of suicide. I’m like, ‘No! He’s got his family that he loves. He‘s got Carlisle.’ And Rob would go (putting on a British accent), ‘Well, why does he like Carlisle so much? This man changed him into a vampire! What are you thinking?’ (Laughs) There were very intense conversations. But it was hysterical after the fact. I was worried though. I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s going to go in there and play Edward like Edward The Emo. Nooooooooo.’ But he didn’t! And it’s exactly what I wanted to see. It was crazy, but he got it. It’s on the screen and that’s all that matters.

Did you give any notes after seeing the movie’s rough cut?

Oh yeah! I sat with some of my friends because I needed the moral support. I just made notes about all these little things. Some of it was me going, ‘Oh, I wish this scene had been longer.’ Like the meadow scene I thought should be longer. And I wanted to see Jacob at the prom. I missed that. In the first cut we saw, the scene didn’t exist!
People thought they were doing reshoots because there were problems, but that was so not the case. What it was is that everyone had the same reaction -- they wanted to see more of certain things. So Catherine was like, ‘Hey! Let’s shoot some more.’ The parts they added in, you really can’t imagine the movie without them after you’ve seen it all. They’re awesome. The impact of the things they added -- and it must be just like 5 minutes, at most -- is so cool.
What did you think of the movie’s ending? [Note to readers: It’s a bit different from the way the novel ends.]

It was fantastic. I thought, ‘Now I’ve got them. They have to go on [with more movies], don’t they.’ (Laughs)


Was the addition at the end your idea?

It was in the original script. I didn’t suggest it. [Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg] does a lot of stuff that way. I’m looking straight from what Bella can see and what Bella can hear. Melissa comes at things from outside of Bella sometimes and thought it would be cool to add this bit in -- and I loved it.

Do you want to have any input in any succeeding movies?

In one way, I think I’d like to be more involved. I feel like I had a really great level of involvement here. I really enjoyed the people I worked with, and I just like hanging out with them now. I don’t think they’re threatened by me anymore. I’m sure no one said anything to make people uncomfortable, but I’m also sure that when I came in they thought ‘Oh crap, this author is going to come in here and start making demands and be this horrible pain.’ I think they know I’m not like that now. So that’s good. I could spend more time on the set. I’d be there every day except my kids need me at home. But I was so fascinated with how it all works -- I’d show up every day.

Have you thought about what you could stand to see cut from “New Moon” or “Eclipse” if and when they’re turned into movies? Those books are even longer than “Twilight” and director Catherine Hardwicke said they’d be considerably more expensive to make.

I am not good at thinking that way. If I thought something wasn’t necessary I would have cut it. To me every word is vital. I really need someone else to come in and do the paring down because I can’t. As far as expense, I think if ‘Twilight’ does well enough, then we should be able to do the big expensive stuff for the sequels. I mean, we have to have werewolves, there’s no way around it. They have to be there.

Do you think Taylor Lautner can continue playing Jacob, who's supposed to appear to be in his 20s in the next movie?

Taylor is a phenomenal actor and such an amazing person. He’s so grown-up it kills me. I’d love to see him have a chance at playing older Jacob. I do think it’s a stretch though. It’s hard because he’s young looking. But he’s really good. It’s not my call and, I have to say, I’m glad it’s not.

What is the best thing you’ve received from a fan?

I know the coolest thing I ever got. It must have been during the ‘New Moon’ tour. I was in Phoenix and there was this little girl, who I still correspond with now and then because of this gift she brought me. She came out from San Francisco and she had driven to Phoenix for this event. At that point I still wasn’t used to that. She brought me a homemade CD of rare B-side Muse songs. I had never heard them before and oh my gosh, I wore that CD out. I loved it so much. I felt guilty though -- I had to order everything once I knew it existed because I’m not about pirating. (Laughs) But she gave me the gift of Muse songs I hadn’t heard and it doesn’t get better than that.

Light Socket?

In the age-old battle of man vs. hair product, man always loses.

Promoting in London

I bet Robert is feelin at home in his home country. Looking good guys!

Twilight Star Robert Pattinson Kisses & Tells

Method acting?

Vampire-playing Robert Pattinson admits he sometimes slips into character when he's out with the ladies.

"I've been known for a little nibble," he told reporters at the London premiere of Twilight.

The movie, based on the bestselling novel by Stephenie Meyer, has become an instant hit with tween audiences. Thousands of screaming girls lined the black carpet Wednesday night for a chance to see Pattinson in the (undead) flesh.

Despite adoring fans, the single Pattinson, 22, tells PEOPLE he's not actively looking for a girlfriend. "I'm not like prowling around, no!" he laughs.

However his admirers' pickup lines have changed following Twilight's success. "Now it's very different," he said, continuing in a high-pitched falsetto, "It's, 'Oh I'm such a big fan!'

" One woman who's definitely in Pattinson's fan club? Costar Kristen Stewart.

But the 18-year-old actress did jokingly recall one action scene that sidelined the strapping star.

"He tried to pick me up ... and he pulled his groin," she said. "It was hilarious! He was hurt but he was laughing."

Robert Pattinson: Interview With the 'Twilight' Vampire

Less than a year ago, Robert Pattinson, a British actor known only for a small part in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was picked to play Edward, the brooding, beautiful vampire at the center of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling Twilight saga. Fans revolted immediately. They were furious over the surprise casting of a relative unknown who failed to live up to their idea of the immaculate demigod from their book's dog-eared pages. By the time Pattinson's mother told him she'd read online that her only son was wretched and ugly and had the face of a gargoyle, the author found herself awash in guilt. ''I apologized to Rob,'' says Meyer, ''for ruining his life.''
But teenage girls have their mood swings. It wasn't long before the Twilight universe — 17 million worldwide readers addicted to the tortured romance between Edward and a mortal schoolgirl named Bella — embraced the 22-year-old actor. Twilight won't hit theaters until Nov. 21. (The series' debatable reputation as ''the next Harry Potter'' was reinforced when The Half-Blood Prince jumped to next summer and Twilight slid happily into its old release date.) Still, this past July, when the cast participated in a hype-building panel at the Comic-Con festival, all Pattinson had to do was smile or shift in his seat to send the thousands of besotted girls into fits of red-faced screaming. After the panel, the shaken actor bruised some tender hearts when he likened the sound of the collective squeal to something one might hear when entering ''the gates of hell.'' Fame, clearly, would take getting used to. ''There is going to be a group of girls who will follow his actions from now on,'' says Meyer. ''I asked the producer, 'Is Rob ready for this? Have you guys prepped him? Is he ready to be the It Guy?' I don't think he really is. I don't think he sees himself that way. And I think the transition is going to be a little rocky.''
For this story — the first in-depth interview of Pattinson's young career — the actor's manager suggested that Hollywood's next It Guy be interviewed at the Chateau Marmont hotel, in L.A., over a civilized lunch on the chic outdoor patio. So on a recent afternoon, Pattinson, looking slightly befuddled, wearing secondhand black jeans, what he assumes was once a rather large woman's bowling shirt, and old Chinese slippers with his big toes sticking sadly out of large holes, folds his lanky six-foot frame into a tiny chair. He speaks softly, hunched over his water. Tugging at his unkempt hair, he tries to explain why Jack Nicholson is his favorite actor, before admitting that he feels absurd. ''Why are we here?'' he wonders, looking around at the uptight crowd. ''I feel judged!''
After ditching the hotel — ''Okay, let's think, everything is all schmancy and industry around here'' — he suggests a low-rent heavy metal bar in West Hollywood where he's sung and played guitar at a couple of open-mike nights. Pattinson, who owns every album by his favorite musician, Van Morrison, hopes to record an album soon. He laughs at what a cliché he must sound like. ''Every actor I meet here says they're a musician as well,'' he says. On the ride to the bar, he apologizes for the state of his car, a rattling 1989 black convertible BMW that he recently bought for $2,000. The roof is broken, the old dashboard that caught on fire while he was driving on the highway is chucked in the backseat with the rest of his junk, and he insists that the red flashing light on the new dash is nothing to be alarmed by. ''If I crash,'' he pleads with an impish grin, after nearly rear-ending a sleek Mercedes, ''don't mention it in the article, will you?''

At the Rainbow Bar & Grill, where the waitresses look like world-weary biker chicks, with back tattoos and painted nails, Pattinson orders a Pacifico beer and describes his new life in Los Angeles. The studio has him set up in a temporary apartment (outside of which there's always a few eager Twilighters camped) where the only things he keeps in his fridge are peach Snapple and a freezerful of pepperoni Hot Pockets. ''And I wonder why I feel so terrible all the time!'' he says with a laugh. Pattinson has made only a few friends in town, most of them through cheesy industry events. ''So the only people who I hang out with seem to be club promoters and PR people,'' he says. ''I keep getting photographed coming out of these lame clubs. It's so embarrassing. There was a week where every single night I was going out and getting photographed by the paparazzi or TMZ and I realized 'Oh, my God, I look like a complete alcoholic!'''
Pattinson was 17 years old, and attending a prestigious private school in London, when he booked the part of doomed bloke Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. After the film wrapped in 2005, his English agent pushed him to pursue similarly earnest roles, but they no longer interested him. Instead, he landed a lead as a troubled young man in the London stage production of the German play The Woman Before. ''At the time I really thought, 'Wow, I must be great, I'm like f---ing Brando!''' he says. ''I had this specific idea where 'I'm going to be a weirdo, this is how I'm going to promote myself.' And then of course I ended up getting fired.''
There followed a strange couple of years where Pattinson lived off his Harry Potter paycheck, drifting between obscure parts in small films and TV. In December, during a two-week run of auditions in Hollywood, he tried out for the role of Edward, a teenage vampire who is rich and perfect and princely in the way 17-year-old boys rarely are — and who falls not for the sexy cheerleader but the shy new girl in town. ''I'd read the book and liked the book, but it made me really uncomfortable trying to picture myself in this part,'' he says. ''Here's this guy who seems to be the embodiment of every single perfect guy. Okay, I'm going to look like a complete idiot if I just try to do that — like give a half-Fonz, half-George Clooney impression. I went in thinking I would just break into hysterical laughter. But then I did it with Kristen and it was completely different. We had this chemistry that just worked.''
Meyer, who had a fat book of head shots of the thousands of actors who wanted the role, says the producers needed someone who was both pretty and scary. ''The one guy that kids were always saying they wanted for Edward was Tom Welling from Smallville. He's beautiful! But could you ever imagine being afraid of him? We did not have a good option until Rob came along. And the movie rests entirely on his shoulders.''

Two months before filming began, Pattinson went alone to Oregon, where the cast and crew would eventually join him. He pored over both the script and Midnight Sun, Meyer's unfinished version of Twilight that is narrated from Edward's perspective, determined to mine the deepest meaning from every line. In the book Edward is described as being all sinew and six-pack, so he spent long hours at the gym, shedding pounds at an alarming rate. ''Then three weeks before shooting the producers were like, 'What're you doing? You look like an alien!''' he laughs. ''Oh, well, I thought it was a cool idea.''
Pattinson's idea to play Edward as a manic depressive also made people nervous. The producers took to trailing after him on the set with highlighted passages from the book of all the times Edward smiled. ''It was like, 'Argh! I was going to smile at some point.' Or everyone would be like, 'Well, let's try to make this bit funnier!' But it wasn't funny. I tried to play it, as much as possible, like a 17-year-old boy who had this purgatory inflicted on him. I just thought, 'How would you play this part if it wasn't a teen-book adaptation?'''
Director Catherine Hardwicke could see that her star was torturing himself. ''So I had a little thing — 'Rob, let's just rehearse the scene all the way through without tearing it down and criticizing it.' We'd get two lines out, and then he would say, 'No, no, no, it's not working!''' Stewart laughs when reminded of Pattinson's inner turmoil. ''Rob made himself crazy the whole movie, and I just stopped and patted him on the back through his neuroses,'' she says affectionately, then pauses. ''He would punch me in the face if he heard me right now.''
Pattinson and Stewart's onscreen chemistry is crucial to the movie's success, so the actor can be forgiven if he acted smitten with his costar when the cameras weren't rolling. ''In the beginning I thought to myself, 'Because she's so serious, I've got to be really serious,''' he says. ''I didn't speak for about two months so I would seem really intense. I would only ever talk about the movie. And I kept recommending all these books. It didn't really work, though. Then I started falling apart and my character started breaking down. I felt like an idiot just following her around, saying, 'You really should read some Zola — and there's this amazing Truffaut movie.' And she started calling me on things: 'Have you actually watched this movie? Yeah? What's it about?' 'It's about a guy on a train.' 'Did you just look at the photo on the cover of the DVD?!''' On more than one occasion, Pattinson was overheard asking Stewart to marry him — proposals that the actress, who's had the same boyfriend since she was 16, got used to shrugging off.
If the shoot had him in knots, Pattinson is determined not to be psyched out by the rigors of promoting a possible franchise. ''I got sent to media training and my agent got back messages like, 'He's resisting the media training,''' he says with an amused shrug. Before the Comic-Con panel, the cast was given prepared answers, but Pattinson refused to stick to the script. ''Even little kids don't want to hear you say the same pat stuff,'' he insists. ''It's boring! I'm thinking about my career in long terms, rather than just trying to milk one thing for whatever it's worth. You either have to be off book from the beginning or be on book forever. And I've never really seen the point of being on book.'' He laughs and signals the waitress for another round of beers. ''Watch, though. I'm going to be completely destroyed.''

While Pattinson is on deck for any Twilight sequels, he's also trying to take advantage of Hollywood's new interest in his career. ''It's funny how quick everything changes,'' says Pattinson. ''Literally, the trailer came out and people who've met me, like, six times are suddenly like, 'Hey! It's really nice to meet you.' After having a big period of unemployment, you think, 'Okay, I'm not going to mess this up again.' So no matter what the meeting is now, even if it's for some dumb movie, even if I don't want to do it, I'm going to go to the meeting and give the most complicated character breakdown I can think of.''
Pattinson stars as Salvador Dalí in 2009's independent film Little Ashes, and is set to play Dennis Hopper's grandson in writer-director Brian Horiuchi's still-unscheduled indie drama Parts Per Billion. He's sifting through higher-profile scripts, amused to find himself in the same conversation as stars like Shia LaBeouf for a role in a Gladiator-style period movie. And he's been pining for the chance to play Jeff Buckley in the biopic, though he imagines if the long-gestating movie ever gets made the role will go to the singer's look-alike James Franco.
It's hard for a boy on the brink of stardom to answer just what he wants out of sudden fame. Despite his appearances now in two wildly popular franchises, Pattinson says he's not interested in grabbing at big-money roles. As soon as he comes into cash, he has a tendency to blow it all anyway. ''Not on cars, obviously,'' he laughs. ''I have very, very low expenditures, but still I manage to spend it all. I guess Hot Pockets are more expensive than I thought.'' He orders another beer and grimaces at his ringing cell phone before putting it back unanswered in his pocket. (It was his agent, reminding Pattinson to read the script for the Sarajevo drama and not to be late to their meeting with a casting director. Which he was.) ''My only real answer, to be completely honest, is I don't want to be completely f---ed after this,'' he says. ''I don't want to be an idiot, and that's always a distinct possibility.''
When Pattinson was on the set of Harry Potter, he wrote obsessively in a journal that he carried around with him everywhere. ''It was my diary, but it became more and more and more about requests to the Fates: 'I will do this if you provide me with this.' It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but I had so much faith in this little book. I remember one time I wrote, 'Please don't give me all my luck now. Make it all stretch. I don't mind waiting. Make it stretch for 70 years.' And now with Twilight — it was pretty lucky getting it, and I've been pretty lucky so far with all the attention, and if it's successful, then that will be a lot of luck used up. Maybe I'm just waiting for the point where I realize the luck has ended.'' He smiles ruefully, and rakes a hand through his messy shock of bronze-highlighted hair that the studio has forbidden him to cut. It's Edward's trademark, and he's stuck with it now.

Kristin Stewart talks Twilight

She begins with a disclaimer. ''I usually don't look like such a skank,'' Kristen Stewart says, fanning out 10 dirt-caked fingernails. Fresh off her star turn as innocent, lovestruck Bella Swan in Twilight, the 18-year-old actress — best known as the hippie chick in Sean Penn's Into the Wild — is researching a very different movie role at the moment, that of a young stripper. She's been spending time at a run-down strip club in New Orleans' French Quarter called Dixie Divas, taking in the show and learning how to gyrate around a pole, though she doesn't shed many layers. ''I danced on the bar there three nights this week, and my legs are covered in bruises,'' Stewart says proudly. ''Hopefully, the Twilight fans won't totally freak out.''
Stewart has every right to be concerned. Ever since Stephenie Meyer's best-selling series of supernatural romance novels spawned a nation of Twilighters, millions of girls (and their moms) have followed the first book's journey to the screen. Casting the schoolgirl was every bit as perilous as casting the vampire. Fortunately, director Catherine Hardwicke was roundly cheered when she zeroed in on Stewart to play Bella, a shy, ordinary 17-year-old every-mortal. The actress' agents, of course, were doing backflips when they heard the news. Stewart herself wasn't so sure how she felt about being at the center of a cultural tsunami. She's still not. ''It's just surreal to be a crucial part of a machine like this,'' says Stewart, over a lunch of raw oysters and po'boys. ''I'm sort of the vessel. The book is what it is because of these girls' obsession with [Edward] through me. If I wasn't right, I'd be persecuted, and put on a cross.''
Not exactly the breathless enthusiasm you might expect from a young actress in the kind of big, splashy blockbuster that could launch her onto young Hollywood's A list. Stewart is Kate Winslet on the eve of Titanic's release or, at the very least, Shia LaBeouf pre-Transformers. But then again, she isn't much seduced by hype. ''I don't want to do something that's just a big moneymaker,'' says the actress, who has worked steadily for nearly a decade but hasn't appeared in a genuine hit since her breakthrough role, at age 11, as Jodie Foster's daughter in Panic Room. Instead, she's built up indie credibility by working with an impressive array of top-tier directors like Mike Figgis (Cold Creek Manor), Jon Favreau (Zathura), and Doug Liman (Jumper), among others. She also scored a moderate success with last year's paranormal horror flick The Messengers. ''I just want to make sure Twilight's worth the ginormous attention it receives,'' says Stewart. ''Everyone said this is a big-deal movie. But I hate when people celebrate before you have something to celebrate about.''

Stewart says she was drawn to the Twilight role not because of the books' ginormous popularity — ''I figured it was a little cult vampire movie with a built-in fan base'' — but because she loved the idea of playing a teenage girl experiencing animal attraction for the first time. ''What I love about the story is that it's about a very logical, pragmatic girl who you think would never get swept into something that has this bizarre power.''
After being cast, Stewart performed a pivotal love scene on Hardwicke's bed with the four leading contenders for the role of Edward, including Robert Pattinson. ''Catherine liked a couple of the guys, and I was like, 'Are you joking? I can't do the movie unless Rob does it,''' Stewart says. ''He got it, and we could, like, see each other.'' As Hardwicke puts it, ''She would have strangled me if I didn't pick him.''
During the shoot, the pair ended up taking the roles — and themselves — a little too seriously. They spent hours deconstructing what it meant to be a vampire, and what it meant to be in love with one. The result: big-time angst, both on screen and off. At one point, the studio began to worry their young stars had mistaken this for a Bergman movie instead of a romantic teen fairy tale. ''We were like, 'We're going to play this real' and the studio was like, 'But it's fun. Lighten up!''' says Stewart, who launches into an imaginary rant at the studio suits: ''You knew what you were getting when you hired actors who aren't Disney kids! We're actually going to consider the characters, and not just smile on our marks, and hope we're in focus.''
Stewart, who was just 17 when she shot the movie, was uncompromising about what she'd allow her character to do and say. ''We had to rewrite and improvise a lot of the most intense scenes, because Kristen will not say something if she doesn't feel good about it,'' recalls Hardwicke. ''Kristen is very tough and she does not tolerate bulls---.'' Stewart just feels like she was doing her job. ''I had some of the corniest lines I've ever had in this film,'' says the actress, who was keen to tone down some of the over-the-top declarations of ''I will die for you!'' love. ''We were so awkward saying those lines. Catherine was like, 'Just feel it and say what comes to you.'''
All this might sound like arrogance in someone else, but after spending time with Stewart, she seems like a genuine rebel spirit looking to do good work. Even now, as Twilight threatens to elevate her to the top of the marquee, she's not that curious about how far fame will take her. She'd prefer to chart her own course. ''Look what I'm doing here in New Orleans,'' she says. Playing a stripper in a film that doesn't yet have distribution. ''I told my agent, 'I'm not doing a big movie after Twilight.''' Because she's got that kind of offhand confidence, it's easy to forget that Stewart's barely old enough to vote. She has an eerie calm about her for someone about to undergo a high dose of sudden celebrity. ''For no real reason,'' she says with a shrug, ''I just feel like it won't be a problem.''

'Twilight': Where Does the Fandemonium Lead Now?

''You are a rock star!''
The moderator at a Sherman Oaks, Calif., movie theater was paying homage to Catherine Hardwicke. The director had just stunned Twilight fans by appearing for a surprise Q&A after a sold-out screening of her movie last Saturday night. The audience screamed as if Zac Efron — or Twilight's own Rob Pattinson, for that matter — had just strode on stage and dropped his drawers. ''OMG, OMG,'' the girls stuttered, trying desperately to remember their questions. Hardwicke cheerfully navigated the swarm on the way to the stage, comparing their united passion to what it used to be like following the Grateful Dead on tour — and proceeded to dazzle them. One 50-year-old woman asked the director what she thought it was about Pattinson's Edward that made women of all ages swoon. A Twilight mom in the audience shouted, ''He's gentlemanly and caring and unattainable and mysterious all at the same time!'' Hardwicke laughed and shrugged her shoulders. She said that when she brought her 70-year-old mother to the set she asked her mom if she'd like to meet Pattinson and his costar, Kristen Stewart. To which her mom promptly replied: ''Just Rob.''
The first movie to be adapted from Stephenie Meyer's breakout hit — about the chaste romance between rebel vampire Edward and a shy high school girl named Bella — left many, if not all, of the author's fans in a state of religious ecstasy. (The unconverted, though, most likely spent the weekend plugging their ears, willing themselves to their happy places where fangirls and vegetarian vampires never roam free.) Made for less than $40 million, Twilight far exceeded box office predictions, pulling in a dizzying $69.6 million over opening weekend. ''Up until this week, everyone was thinking this would be a one-quadrant movie,'' says a top female studio executive. ''The men in this industry are still chasing the young boys — even after Sex and the City.''
As the weekend's receipts were tallied, Meyer nervously awaited news that the adaptation of her first book was a hit. ''There's that petty part of me that wants the movie to do really great so no one can say 'See, all this buildup for something stupid! Ha, what a flop!''' she'd told EW a few weeks earlier. Turns out her wish was her fans' command.

The success of Twilight must be giving Paramount executives night terrors, since they let the option to Meyer's best-seller lapse in 2006. The fledgling studio that wound up making the film, Summit, knew that it had teenage girls in its pocket, and wisely amped up the action scenes in the trailer in an attempt to snag male viewers as well. ''If you look at the percentage of the trailer that focuses on action,'' Meyer says with a laugh, ''it's not the same percentage in the movie.''
So, newcomers to the Twilight phenomenon like Calvin Johnson went into a Los Angeles screening on Friday night thinking he and his friend were walking into a horror film. ''We're hoping to see at least a couple of teenage girls get their heads cut off,'' the 44-year-old said. Alas, he surely went home disappointed, just like Mack Sims, 42, who left a Manhattan screening well before the credits. ''Horrible!'' he cried on his way out of the theater. ''I love vampire movies. I love when Vincent Price is doing vampire movies. But this is one of the worst!'' Not all men were so disenchanted, though. At a midnight screening in Texarkana, Tex., last Thursday, a gentleman dropped to his knee with a ring as the credits rolled. To the delight of the screaming crowd, he asked his girlfriend if theirs might be as enduring and unconditional a love as the one shared by Edward and Bella.

On Saturday morning, after celebrating news that the film had already taken in more than $35 million, Summit e-mailed a letter to Twilight fans, signed by stars Pattinson and Stewart, expressing gratitude and delight at moving forward with a sequel. But the studio still hasn't confirmed whether the rest of the cast will be brought aboard for New Moon. Fans are particularly invested in whether Taylor Lautner, who is markedly shorter and more boyish-looking than Meyer's description of his character, Jacob, will return to vie for Bella's heart. ''We are definitely talking and thinking about it right now,'' says Erik Feig, Summit's president of production. ''Taylor's fantastic as Jacob in Twilight. I think when we get closer to shooting, the director is going to look at everyone as if they are brand-new to the role.''
And just who that director will be remains to be seen. As of press time, Hardwicke — who now holds the record for best opening-weekend box office for a female director — hadn't signed on. But she spent much of the weekend sequestered in meetings with lawyers, agents, and studio executives. She felt hamstrung by her modest budget through much of the Twilight shoot. ''I had more elaborate stunt sequences designed and very crazy, cool stuff that I wanted to do,'' she says. ''We had locations taken away. We had five days cut before we started to shoot. But, you know, I kind of got past that, I just had to let it go.''

After the grueling production, Hardwicke now wants to make sure the studio shows her the money to properly tackle New Moon's tricky plotline — which includes location shooting in Rome and several characters who must realistically morph from teenage boys into werewolves. Summit's Feig has nothing but praise for Hardwicke, but he maintains that the sequel doesn't necessarily demand a bigger budget. ''I don't think there was anything excessively lavish about Twilight, and yet the world was fully realized,'' he says. ''We'll do exactly the same thing with New Moon.'' Still, the studio might want to throw more money at the universally trashed special effect that was supposed to make Pattinson sparkle magically in the sunlight but left him looking merely sweaty. ''People make realistic CGI dragons, so you wouldn't think making people sparkle would be that hard,'' says Meyer.
For now, only Pattinson and Stewart are sure to live on in Meyer's fantasy world. The two young stars, neither of whom banked on this sudden explosion of fame when they signed on for the movie, are currently limping through the last lap of their American promotional tour. (After a brief Thanksgiving rest, they'll gear up again to spread Twilight fever across Europe.) Stewart in particular seems ill-suited for the rigors of sound-bite TV, as she fidgeted and frowned her way through awkward appearances on Late Show With David Letterman and the Today show. ''I think she's had a lot of trouble,'' says Hardwicke. ''She knows it's important, but it's not her favorite part of the job.'' Pattinson seems to have a better game face, drowsily mystified when teenage girls throw themselves onto his moving car or when Tyra Banks asks him to bite her neck on her talk show. He did have one flash of rebellion, however: ''I cannot wait to cut my hair,'' he told EW in September. ''It's so annoying! I was at a photo shoot the other day, and people were saying, 'They say we can't touch your hair. You have trademarked hair!' No, I don't.'' And so, despite the studio's request that his ragged mop not be touched, he cut off his hair in between press junkets.

Fans can now debate online whether Pattinson is dreamier with short or long hair, just as they continue to wrestle over whether they love or hate the film they'd imagined in their heads for so long. Lisa Hansen, the creator of the website Twilight Moms, says the movie has left her blog community polarized. ''But the interesting thing about this is that everyone is also saying how after seeing it a second time they loved it,'' she wrote in an e-mail before heading out to her fourth screening. ''It seems to be the general consensus that it gets even better every time you see it.''
And so the phenomenon lives on, and on, and on. ''I went in expecting it to be crap and completely ruin my idea of the books,'' says Danylle Utley, a 31-year-old accountant and married mother who is the president of Salt Lake Twilighters Anonymous. ''And it completely amazed me.'' She saw the movie three times by the end of the weekend, including a Thursday midnight screening where she and 24 fellow club members dressed up in prom gowns and ate mushroom ravioli for dinner as homages to Bella and Edward's romance. ''People think that I'm insane because I'm so invested with this fandom,'' she says with a giggle. ''But they're all just jealous that the things they love aren't this big.''

Robert Pattinson in Little Ashes

InStyle Photo Shoot

The cool-kid cast of the much anticipated vampire movie took a bite out of traditional black-and-white fashion

Kristen Stewart
"I feel like a Greek god in this," Stewart said of the Temperley London gown. "Like Zeus’s wife! The bird is so cool—we had a connection."

Robert Pattinson
"I don’t want to look trendy, so I try to find clothes where somebody wouldn’t be able to say, 'Oh, you’re a cool guy,’" says Pattinson. The actor also admits, "I do like the 'expensive but disheveled' thing if I am going out."

The Cast
"We filmed the movie in Portland and everyone was in boots and jogging pants," says Rachelle Lefevre (far right). "We were like a rag-tag, scrungy bunch, so it is kind of funny to see everyone glam."

Kellan Lutz
"In the movie, I wear a lot of layers, like a big jacket to look more burly and bear-like," says Lutz. "I love wearing old-fashioned stuff, like top hats and bow ties and striped suits."

Nikki Reed

"I feel comfortable in this because it's loose-fitting, and I get to sit down in a chair!" said Reed. She added, "They put me in 12-inch stilettos [in the movie] because I am supposed to be taller than my sister... It was the running joke that we might not be able to shoot because I might not be able to walk. I was like, 'Can you just have us sitting and put me on a pillow?'"

Rachelle Lefevre

"I feel like there is something about having wild hair that makes people assume that I might be fierce and cool," says Lefevre of her mane. "So I can just let that do all the work and be my regular intimidated self!"

Kellan Lutz and Robert Pattinson

"These are my own sunglasses, but they kind of go with it. It’s not really that different from something I would normally wear," says Pattinson.

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

"I love women’s clothes fashioned after men’s clothes," said Stewart of her Helmut Lang tuxedo jacket and Zac Posen shirt. "You definitely feel more feminine because you look better in the clothes than the guys do!"