Which character did Robert Pattinson hate playing the most?
In 2005, Robert Pattinson made his film debut as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. From there, he landed a role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight series and seemingly emerged as the latest Hollywood blockbuster star. Subverting expectations, however, Pattinson made a swift left turn after the Twilight franchise ended and began a long-standing love affair with indie cinema.
Leaving his wizarding and blood-sucking days behind, Pattinson went on to appear in cult favourites like the Safdie brothers’ Good Time and Claire Denis’ High Life. In 2019, he cemented his status as something of an indie darling with a crazed performance opposite Willem Dafoe in A24’s The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers.
Between a collaboration with Christopher Nolan on Tenet and an upcoming role in a Bong Joon-Ho film, Pattinson has firmly reinvented himself. Though Cedric Diggory was the character that gave him his start, eventually allowing him to hone his filmography, Pattinson has previously revealed that he hated playing the character.
As quoted in Robert Pattinson: The Unauthorized Biography, Pattinson’s distaste for Diggory came from his dissimilarity to the character: “I hate him. I used to hate everybody like Cedric at my school”.
He explained, “I was never a leader and the idea of my being made head boy would have been a complete joke. I wasn’t involved in much at school, and I was never picked for any of the teams.”
Pattinson also struggled with the book’s original description of the character: “In the book, and also my [character’s] first introduction in the script, it’s like, ‘an absurdly handsome 17-year old,’ and it kind of puts you off a little bit”. The pressure led Pattinson to try and carefully pick his angles to match the description: “It’s really stupid; you’d think I’m really egotistical. But I think that’s the most daunting part about it – it’s much scarier than meeting Lord Voldemort.”
Though he may have hated it at the time, Diggory propelled Pattinson into stardom. Still, he feels no possessiveness towards the character. He told Time Out that Harry Potter “feels like a lifetime ago” to him, and he wouldn’t mind if someone else took on the role: “I’d be curious if someone else played it. It was so nice to be a part of it. That, more than anything, changed my life.”
While Pattinson has favoured more left-field cinema since his departure from teen fantasy adaptations, he has made several returns to the blockbuster sphere. In 2020, he starred opposite John David Washington in Nolan’s Tenet, which was the highest-grossing film of the year. Just two years later, he took on the role of Bruce Wayne in The Batman.
Still, even when he takes on those blockbusters and beloved characters, there remains an element of care and artistry in Pattinson’s current filmography. Steering clear of any more handsome head-boy type characters, he’s found a place in between the cult and the commercial.
