Robert Pattinson

 
Pattinson was born in London. His mother, Clare, worked for a modelling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S. Pattinson has two elder sisters, singer Lizzy Pattinson, and Victoria Pattinson. Growing up in the Barnes suburb of London,the attended Tower House School until he was 12, and then The Harrodian School. He became involved in amateur theatre at the Barnes Theatre Company. He auditioned and was cast in a small role in Guys and Dolls. He next auditioned for Thornton Wilder's Our Town and was cast as George Gibbs. He also played in Anything Goes and Macbeth. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and began looking for professional roles.


Pattinson began modelling when he was twelve years old, but the number of jobs began to decrease only four years later. In December 2008 he blamed the lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance: "When I first started I was quite tall and looked like a girl, so I got lots of jobs, because it was during that period where the androgynous look was cool. Then, I guess, I became too much of a guy, so I never got any more jobs. I had the most unsuccessful modelling career." Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's autumn 2007 collection.

Acting

Pattinson in 2009

Pattinson had supporting roles in the made for television film Ring of the Nibelungs in 2004 and in director Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair, although his scenes in the latter were deleted and only appear on the DVD version. In May 2005, he was slated to appear in the UK premiere of The Woman Before at the Royal Court Theatre, but was fired shortly before the opening night and was replaced by Tom Riley. Later that year he played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For this role he was named that year's British Star of Tomorrow by The Times. He has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.
Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the film Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's best-selling novel of the same name, which was released on 21 November 2008 in North America. According to TV Guide, Pattinson was initially apprehensive about auditioning for the role of Edward Cullen, fearful that he would not be able to live up to the "perfection" expected from the character. He reprised his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight sequels The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which was released 30 June 2010.
Pattinson had lead roles in the feature films Little Ashes (in which he plays Salvador Dalí), How to Be (a British comedy), and the short film The Summer House.
In 2009, Pattinson presented at the 81st Academy Awards. On 10 November, Revolver Entertainment released the DVD Robsessed, a documentary which details Pattinson's life and popularity.
In 2010, Pattinson executively produced and starred in the film Remember Me, which was released on 12 March 2010. On 13 May 2010, Pattinson appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and also made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 18 May, which aired the following day. Pattinson attended the official worldwide red carpet premiere for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on 24 June 2010 at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre.
In 2011, he starred in Water for Elephants, a film adaptation of the Sara Gruen novel of the same name, with Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon.
He will play Georges Duroy in a film adaptation of the 1885 novel Bel Ami, with Uma Thurman, which will be released in 2011. He will also appear in a theatre production for producer David Pugh.

Music

Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music. He also appears as the singer of two songs on the Twilight soundtrack: "Never Think", which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley, and "Let Me Sign", which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long. The songs were included in the film after director Catherine Hardwicke added Pattinson's recordings into an early cut without his knowledge, and he agreed that "one of them specifically, it really made the scene better. It was like it was supposed to be there." The soundtrack for the film How to Be features three original songs performed by Pattinson and written by composer Joe Hastings.
Aside from recording for the soundtracks, Pattinson has said, "I've never really recorded anything – I just played in pubs and stuff", and when asked about a professional music career, he said, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails." In 2010, Pattinson was awarded the 'Hollywood's Most Influential Top Unexpected Musicians' award.

In the media

Pattinson after The Twilight Saga: New Moon photo call at Crillon Hotel in 2009

Pattinson was named one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2008 and 2009 by People magazine. In 2009, he was also named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by Glamour. Ask Men named Pattinson as one of the top 49 most influential men of 2009. In 2009, Vanity Fair named Pattinson "the most handsome man in the world" along with Angelina Jolie as the most beautiful woman in the world.
He was named one of Vanity Fair's "Top Hollywood Earners of 2009" with estimated earnings of $18 million in 2009.
In December 2009, Pattinson autographed a guitar to be auctioned off for charity. He also volunteered for the Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief in January 2010.
GQ and Glamour both named him the "Best Dressed Man" of 2010, with GQ stating, "Extremely elegant and inspiring, the true essence of a contemporary man." In 2010, People also listed Pattinson in their "World's Most Beautiful" issue.
In 2010, Britain's The Sunday Times "Rich List" put him on its "list of young millionaires" in the UK, worth £13 million. Time magazine named him as one of 2010's 100 Most Influential People in The World. In June 2010, Pattinson was named by Forbes magazine the No.50 most powerful celebrity in the world with earnings $17 million. Due to Pattinson's rising fame, a wax statue of him was added to the Madame Tussauds collection in London and New York City. On 14 November 2010, Pattinson received two BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards, Best Dressed and Best Actor.
In 2011, Pattinson was No. 15 on Vanity Fair's "Hollywood Top 40" with earnings of $27.5 million in 2010.