In this episode of WTF Happened to This Celebrity, we look back at the life and times of Twilight and Mickey 17 star Robert Pattinson.

The obsessed stalker lurks outside the layer of her favorite sparkling movie star.  Her drive is strong; her mission is to never cease until she wins his famous heart, fulfilling her cinematic fantasy and making everything right in the world. One day, her annoying and invasive tactics actually work, causing the movie star to accept her invitation, and off they go to a cafe or something. He sat her down, looking deep into her soul with his dreamy eyes, and proceeded to just complain about how awful his life was. Boring her with negativity until every ounce of fangirl vanished into the cold wind. Destroying her fairy tale fantasy with nothing but his bizarre and brutal truth. And I guess for some, that’s what it is like to watch Robert Pattinson in a movie nowadays. Too many popcorn munchers had locked this man’s career in a vampire-shaped coffin, assuming he would be nothing more than an undead one-hit-wonder. Then, getting a sudden blast of arthouse realism to the face, and at first, we didn’t know what to think. But soon, it was time for all the Bellas to fall in love all over again… or get weirded out by his acting choices and claim you were Team Jacob all along. But after a series of knockout performances in the most unique and original films over that past decade, the name Robert Pattinson does not twinkle in the sunshine with cringe teeny bop madness; the name Robert Pattinson now brings up images of darkness and pain and talent and risk and artistry…. oh yeah, and he is The  Batman too. But is he experimenting a little too much nowadays? Or is he the finest actor of his generation? Or should we just enjoy his films and not give a fuck? Because he sure doesn’t.  And it’s a beautiful thing to watch. So yeah, WTF happened to Robert Pattinson?

He was born on his birthday in 1986 in London, England. A shy child who excelled on the stage. After a fantasy TV Movie called Ring of the Nibelungs, young Robby Patts pretty much started his film career on the cutting room floor, with his scenes not making it into the film Vanity  Fair in 2004. Rumor has it that the casting director felt so bad for not telling poor Pattinson about getting chopped from the film that she booked him a Harry Potter auction just out of sympathy.  Surprising everyone when he was hired for the role of Cedric in Harry Potter and the Goblet of  Fire. He was 19 years old.  

Then came Twilight and its sequels. They became a pop cultural juggernaut and turned Robert into a heartthrob. He started out as difficult to work with, often disagreeing on how to portray Edward. He was going too dark and was almost fired for it. So, to avoid unemployment, he changed things up a bit and made some Hollywood compromises. It results in a wooden performance. Sure, these films made billions, but that resulted in overexposure. Everyone mocked him, from Jimmy Fallon to a handful of spoof films. Due to this frustration and his overall attitude, he always made sure to let everyone know that he was not a fan of this franchise and criticized the plot holes and overall absurdity of vampires going to high school. He had no fear of those press junkets. This drama, on top of a major cheating scandal with his co-star, was just too much for this sensitive private man. You could tell he hated every moment of the hellish flashing lights of fame. A red-carpet prison.  

While caught in the Twilight saga, he could still express himself artistically with smaller projects, allowing him to play around more and make art. He literally played a character named Art in the film How To Be, soon after the first Twilight film. And that same year,  he played one of the greatest, most eccentric artists of all time, Salvador Dali, in Little Ashes. He squeezed out a mustache and performed real sex acts on himself in a desperate display to show everyone that he was a serious actor, and because of that, we had to believe him. Gross.  Along with the titles Remember Me, Love And Distrust, and the romantic drama Water For  Elephants in 2011. Remember, this was all done in between his Twilight shooting schedule. This young man had conquered Hollywood as a movie star, so he had nothing to do but prove himself as an actor and artist. Many actors often join prestigious period pieces and work with auteur filmmakers to build their arthouse street credentials. Robert Pattinson did just that with Bel Ami and David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis. Both were made in 2012, the same year he finally finished with his dreaded franchise of fangs and broke away after Breaking Dawn –  Part 2.  

Terrified of former typecasting, Robert knew he could stop searching for challenging out-of-the-box roles, and when he read the script for The Rover, he knew this character would bring him attention from a different audience. Crippled with anxiety, Pattinson needed 45 mins to calm down for the audition. Of course, he nailed it, and his subtle and gritty perforce brought this film to Cannes. This was followed by another wave of kino, with films like another  Cronenberg flickThe Childhood of a Leader, the debut film of The Brutalist director Brady Corbet. Then stealing scenes with his intensity and beard in The Lost City of Z. Screen time or box office didn’t seem to matter to Robert. He would rather inhabit a complex, troubled character and work with directors he respects. He risked it all and totally could have done an endless assembly line mindless shlock, but he didn’t.  And when Pattinson finally joined the world of blockbusters and superheroes, he made sure that visionary directors like Christopher Nolan and Matt Reeves were behind them. We will get to that in a bit. But in my humble opinion, it was the film Good Time that secured Pattinson’s artistic legacy. Finally, taking the lead in this Safdie brothers’ tense, incredible picture, which allows him to improvise throughout the entire film. The directors have him channel the  PTSD Pattinson experienced from the mega fame and pressure Twilight brought him. And it totally worked. I always believed in him but never expected this level of skill. Erasing all memories and shining a glorious independent light of the shadow that was Twilight. Replacing the beautiful sparkles with the beautiful chaos that only the best cinema can give. Damsel, High Life, Waiting For Barbarians, The Devil All the Time and a chilling turn in The King were solid additions to his unconventional yet fascinating filmography but it was his.

Good Time performance that made Matt Reeves pick The Patt Man to be his The Batman. But before he could become the dark knight and battle The Penguin, Catwoman, and The Riddler, he had to light up the dark nights and battle seagulls, mermaids, and a guy who should have played  The Joker in Robert Eggers’s masterpiece of madness, The Lighthouse. Critics were mesmerized by the hypnotic, fearless performances and the surreal atmosphere that Robert and  Willem fit into perfectly. Watching these two dance around and yell at each other as they slowly slip into insanity is why God created actors. And for how the public now saw Pattinson, this was pretty much the rebranding of the century. He was free. He could do anything he wanted and possibly save the world of artsy-fartsy cinema in the process. And after doing his thing in Tenet, we thought this thespian could surprise us no more… so then he did the one thing nobody thought he would do… take on the superhero genre.

For many of us, our first reaction upon hearing the news of Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne was an insult. There were still plenty of uneducated buffoons who had somehow missed the resurrection and renaissance of this Robert. So whenever I heard anyone complain about “the Twilight guy” as the new Batman, I saw it as an opportunity to introduce them to his post-Twilight work, which helped ease their doubt that he would ruin their ruined childhood. The Batman grossed over $770 million. He did the impossible again and returned to his superstar blockbuster status, but this time, he did it via skills and dedication to his craft…. not just his pretty face. Sure, it may have been a bit emo, but the pain in his eyes was an undeniable fit to help elevate a character we thought we knew. Who knew that Batman needed a Kurt Cobain vibe? Robert knew. And his Bat voice wasn’t distracting this time. That’s where Pattinson shines; he can control his voice corals like a master, bringing the most exciting and unusual voices –  for example, the English dub of The Boy and the Heron. He continues to push the boundaries of his voice by making a very interesting choice in Bong Joon-ho’s most recent film, Mikey 17. And yeah, even though my cousin says this one is a little too weird, it is a fitting partnership that I hope leads to other thought-provoking pictures. 

But does that mean that the glory days of Mr. Pattinson are over? No freaking way. I’m sure this film will be more appreciated as time goes by, and I’m sure Pattinson doesn’t give a  fuck. He is hard at work on his next transformation. He’s teaming up with Nolan again for his take on The Odyssey, a The Batman sequel is on the way and much more to look forward to from Robert Pattinson. His career is a testament to reinvention and rebellion. He defied the industry and took his own independent path to freedom. Balancing arthouse credibly with mainstream appeal. Constantly being reborn as an artist like a real-life Mikey 17… or a pretty vampire. So nobody should give a fuck about what the fuck happened to Robert Pattinson because he is doing just fine.