The Batman and Twilight Star Robert Pattinson Reveals Why He Almost Quit Acting

It’s rare for an actor to develop a fandom around a singular character, especially one who manages to become recognized internationally for that role. It’s even rarer for that to happen twice, and yet, for Robert Pattinson, it did.

Pattinson starred as Edward Cullen in the four Twilight films adapted from Stephanie Meyers’ works, then later played Bruce Wayne, AKA The Batmanin Matt Reeves’ iteration of The Dark Knight of DC Comics. He is an actor with truly recognizable success given how he’s gone from the dark-brooding heartthrob to the dark-brooding superhero, and yet this incredibly talented and world-famous actor almost called it quits on the whole business.

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Pattinson’s Early Success Put Him In The Public Eye And Into Roles He Both Loved and Loathed

In his early years, Pattinson had two truly famous roles that threw him into the spotlight—the first was Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the second was as a “disco ball” in a film in which he started romancing Kristen Stewart. Despite his incredibly short time studying as a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts, Pattinson learned a lot from the role.

From Twilightit seems Pattinson’s short appearance in Harry Potter could be traded for his long run as the polarizing vampire. Pattinson quite famously hated the role, and critics might say that if his performance in Breaking Dawn – Part 2 is anything to go by, he didn’t seem to care if people knew. Though the experience didn’t endear him to acting, it didn’t push him to quit the business as certain rumors suggested. That came later.

Why Pattinson Almost Quit Acting Entirely

Speaking to Vanity Fair in promotion of his latest project, Mickey 17, Pattinson talked about how the coronavirus pandemic seemed to halt the movie industry and leave no space for good projects. The actor has made a policy of pursuing projects that he feels he can enjoy, and at the time, felt perhaps he was seeing the end of the movie industry as he’d known it.

“It’s strange because the last few years for the film industry, starting with COVID and then the strikes, everyone was constantly saying cinema is dying,” he said. “And quite convincingly. I was literally almost turned off. It actually started to get a little worrying.”

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Pattinson quickly stated that his opinion on this is no longer current, as he’s noted that “in the last few months” there’s been ‘a flurry of ambitious movies. He said, “I feel like the stuff that’s going to get nominated for Oscars this year is going to be really interesting, and it seems like there’s suddenly a new batch of directors who the audience is excited about as well. Hopefully, Mickey will come out in a period of enthusiasm for cinema.”

Hopefully, Mickey [17] will come out in a period of enthusiasm for cinema.

For now, it seems, fans will have a few more Pattinson projects before they get any sort of retirement announcement. Hopefully for them, the British-born actor won’t change his mind any time soon. Whilst Twilight fans might have seen the culmination of Pattinson’s run as Edward, The Batman fans are still eager to watch the sequel, due in theaters in 2027.

Robert Pattinson’s latest movie, Mickey 17is set to release on March 7th of 2025.

Source: Vanity Fair