Early life
Pattinson was born in London, England. His mother, Clare, worked for a modeling agency, and his father, Richard, imported vintage cars from the U.S.[6] Pattinson attended Tower House School and Harrodian School.[7] He became involved in amateur theatre through the Barnes Theatre Company. After some backstage experience there, he took on acting roles. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and began looking for professional roles. Since then he has performed in an amateur version of Macbeth at the Old Sorting Office Arts Centre, as well as trying his hand at modeling.
Career
Modeling
He began his modeling career when he was twelve years old, but it wound down only four years later. He has blamed his lack of work as a model on his masculine appearance. Pattinson explained in December 2008, "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 modeling career."[8]
Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's Autumn 2007 collection.
Acting
He 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 the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Consequently, he was named that year's British Star of Tomorrow by The Times.[9] He also has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.[10][7][11]
Pattinson played Edward Cullen in the movie Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling 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 wouldn't be able to live up to the "perfection" expected from the character.[12] He will reprise his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight sequel, New Moon, which began filming in March 2009.[13]
Pattinson also 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 2010, he will appear in a theatre production for producer David Pugh.[14]
He appeared and presented at the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.
Music
Pattinson plays guitar and piano, and composes his own music.[15] He also appears as the singer of two songs on the Twilight soundtrack: "Never Think", which he co-wrote with Sam Bradley,[16] and "Let Me Sign", which was written by Marcus Foster and Bobby Long.[17] 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."[2] The soundtrack for the film How To Be features three original songs performed by Pattinson[18] and written by composer Joe Hastings.[19]
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."[2] In 2008, he also performed with his first girlfriend's current boyfriend's band, called Bad Girls.[20]
