‘Twilight’: Robert Pattinson Was Terrified When He Got Recognized in Prison

Despite his ever-growing resume, Robert Pattinson never seems to escape his Twilight fame fully. Portraying Edward Cullen in the five movies made the actor an overnight celebrity and a household name. Being a part of a global phenomenon meant that, for years, Pattinson was one of the most famous faces on the planet. The Batman star was even recognized for his portrayal of the gloomy vampire while he was in prison.

Robert Pattinson starred in another massive film franchise before ‘Twilight’

Of course, Twilight was hardly Pattinson’s first rodeo when it came to wildly popular film franchises. Pattinson’s second-ever professional job was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He made a pretty penny from the role and didn’t get back into acting until he ran out of money. It was only then that he auditioned for the role of Edward Cullen and fell head first into yet another global phenomenon.

‘The Batman’ actor took a method approach to his role in A24’s ‘Good Time’

But while Pattinson may have cut his teeth on blockbusters, most of his work has been on smaller films with more limited distribution. Pattinson seems to have developed a penchant for challenging himself with darker characters and more off-the-wall projects rather than going out for typical “leading man” roles. One such project was the 2017 crime-thriller film Good Time.

In the film, Pattinson’s character attempts to rob a bank, hoping to get his brother out of jail. In an interview with Time Out, the actor admits that he and his co-star, Benny Safdie, took a pretty method approach in order to get into character.

Pattinson got recognized for his role in ‘Twilight’ while he was in prison

‘I spent a whole day in character,” Pattinson shared. “I’d never done anything like that before. Benny and I spent a day in Yonkers, hanging out in Dunkin’ Donuts and meeting people he knew. We went to a couple of prisons too.'” Pattinson’s experience visiting prisons seemed to be pretty uneventful until he was recognized for Twilight. It was then that the actor started getting pretty nervous.

“We’d been there for five or six hours and no one had any idea who I was, but as we were leaving via this elevator full of inmates, I could feel this guy staring at me,” Pattinson recalled. “I went, ‘What?’ and he just looks at me and goes, ‘F*****’ Twilight.’ Suddenly everyone in this elevator is staring at me. I’m literally going: ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about.’ It was terrifying.”

It seems that no amount of method acting will be able to completley fool every person who has seen Twilight. But considering the movies were viewed by millions of people worldwide, that’s not much of a shock. Fortunately, for Pattinson, he was able to leave the prison without further incident. But now that the actor is leading yet another film franchise, it’s probably for the best if he doesn’t try to go undercover again anytime soon.