Three years ago Robert Pattinson was a little-known actor with a small part in two Harry Potter films and a handful of TV roles behind him.
Fast forward to 2011 and the British actor – known as ‘R-Patz’ to his devotees – can’t even step out his front door without feeling paranoid about being accosted and stalked by fans.
“A lot of the time, you think people are way crazier than they are. You think they’ve been waiting for five hours when they’ve only been there for five minutes,” he says.
“I was in London once and no one found out where I was staying the whole time I was there, and then this girl, waiting in the courtyard of the hotel in complete pitch blackness, called out my name – and I thought, ‘This is it. I’m going to get killed’,” he adds, grinning at the memory.
“The thing that drives me crazy is if people follow you when you leave the building. As soon as I lose those people, I’m fine.”
The reason for all this fear? The film juggernaut that is the Twilight saga, a love triangle between vampire Edward Cullen, Bella Swan and werewolf Jacob Black.
Based on Stephanie Meyers’ best-selling books, the three films, with the eagerly anticipated fourth instalment Breaking Dawn Part 1 hitting screens this week, have propelled the lead cast members – Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner – to global stardom.
Running his fingers through his trademark tousled hair, 25-year-old Pattinson says: “The whole cast had no idea it would explode so much. I just have to remember that it is all a job. As overwhelming as it seems sometimes, this won’t last forever.
“The only time I found it really difficult to cope was when I tried to go to the same places I went to before, and live exactly the same life, and it’s impossible,” he admits.
“You have to adapt. You can either let yourself go completely insane or just deal with it. My family and friends haven’t been any different the entire time.”
Shot back-to-back, the first of the final two Twilight films, with the second part to be released next November, sees Bella and Edward taking their relationship to the next level, beginning with preparations for their wedding.
Their honeymoon on a beautiful island in Brazil “starts off quite nice and just gets progressively worse”, reveals Pattinson.
“It goes downhill after they have sex. Edward gets to relax – but only for a second. It’s like a set-up so he can get punished again for the rest of the movie consistently.”
Shooting the love scenes with Stewart, widely believed to be Pattinson’s girlfriend, brought some pressure because of fans’ expectations for the previously celibate on-screen couple.
