There is nothing more attractive than a reluctant hero. This could account for the broad appeal to relative newcomer and rising star, Robert Pattinson, who at age 22 has thousands of female fans around the U.S. going screaming into the night, even before the November 21 release of his first major film, “Twilight.”

The fan frenzy, with teens sleeping out overnight to secure a place in line, has been consistent at King of Prussia mall, and similar venues around the country. In fact, the rock star-like guest appearances have become so tumultuous; the San Francisco event had to be canceled due to the overwhelming mob and fears for crowd safety.
“Twilight” focuses on the two young lovers, Edward and Bella, swept away by destiny, who destroy the delicate balance between the hunter and the hunted with dangerous consequences. The much-anticipated film is based on the best selling four-book series by Stephenie Meyer. There are more than 350 fan sites devoted to the series.
The chemistry here is a perfect mix. The fresh-faced, tall, dark, and handsome British actor, best known for his roles in two Harry Potter films, portrays the teen heart throb vampire, Edward Cullen in “Twilight” paired with the lovely actress Kristen Stewart as his teen love interest, Bella Swan, in a story that is already a worldwide literary phenomenon, with 17 million copies sold worldwide. Pattinson, the ever reluctant star, spent a rainy day in Philadelphia, a few days before the film’s release to talk about Edward, his co-stars, and his recent brush with fame. He admitted that after the whirlwind tour for the film comes to a close, heading home for the holidays to London, his pub chums, family, and dog, is on his priority list.

Can you talk about why these books speak to the readers and why your character, Edward, is so popular with the fans?
ROBERT PATTINSON: I’m not entirely sure. I asked the people in Chicago recently, “What do all of you girls see in Edward? Why are you so attracted to him?” The completely unanimous response was, “Because he is so sexy.” (He laughed). I was like, “Okay, that was the depth of the attraction;” I was kind of baffled by the whole thing.

Is there more to it?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Sure. In some ways it must also be about being chivalrous and gentlemanly. Teenage girls are still obsessed with Mr. Darcy (in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) and Heath Cliff (in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights). It doesn’t go away. It’s still a male ideal, and Edward is all of them rolled into one. I guess that’s why.

How are you handling all of the hype surrounding the movie?

ROBERT PATTINSON: It’s just kind of weird. I know it can’t be to do with me personally because the movie is not really out. People are saying, “I traveled four states and have been waiting since nine o’clock yesterday to do this,” and I say, “Yeah. Cool,” but you don’t really go into an acting job really knowing how to deal with it. When you are promoting a movie you are there to sell it, but I’m not selling anything. I’m just there…to get screamed at. It’s a surreal experience.

If “Twilight’s” Edward and your Harry Potter character, Cedric Diggory, got in a battle who would come out victorious?

ROBERT PATTINSON: (Laughed). Probably, Edward as he is invincible. Edward would probably come out on top. I don’t think Cedric would know what to do. He does have a magic wand, but he can’t do it because he’s too much of a saint.

How did you handle research for the film and how connected did you feel to Edward and the story?

ROBERT PATTINSON: In any job, you read a script and whatever connection you feel to the script and whatever you feel is important in yourself is the only thing you can bring to it. I definitely felt some connection to it, to Edward, and I definitely felt I had a connection to Kristen. The relationship seemed to be the only important thing we needed to get across. We just needed to show that there is a separation between their relationship and everything else in the movie, and I think that came across.

How physical was the role?

ROBERT PATTINSON: A lot of the physicality was quite difficult because I’m not that much of a body actor. I don’t have that much control over my body and you had to establish a whole matrix of movement so it didn’t look human, so I guess that was quite difficult. We went through a lot of stuff about physicality and ended up making it much more simple than complicated, where we started out with really complex ideas about how they should move and fight and everything and ended up playing them much more human than we initially started out doing. I think it’s better; it’s scarier. The emotional arc in a lot of ways felt very natural.

Do you consider yourself a romantic like Edward, in the classical old school sense?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I think he decides to be with Bella because he hasn’t talked to anyone in such a long time, he hasn’t made any effort with anybody. So, when he finally starts a relationship it has to be through this template, a formal template of what he believes to be the correct way of dealing with other humans. I think his actual core is quite similar to me. The essence of gentlemanly-ness is not wanting to be a complete ass. I guess that’s what I kind of am.

First thing you plan to do after the hype of the film dies down a bit?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I really don’t know. When I go back to London the only thing I have done all year is go around to cities, have people scream at me, and have people ask, “What is it like to play the most beautiful person in the whole world?” I feel like I will have nothing to talk to my friends at home about anymore. It will destroy me when I come back home.

What specifically about the character Edward made you want to be in the movie “Twilight?”

ROBERT PATTINSON: I thought it was impossible and I thought I wasn’t going to get the role. I liked Kristen Stewart and I liked “Thirteen,” which Twilight (director) Catherine Hardwicke did, and I just went in just for the hell of it. I really liked the audition and it was the first time it just felt really right. That was the reason I wanted the job.

So you weren’t that familiar with the series.

ROBERT PATTINSON: No. I read the books afterward and established the whole way of playing it. I found out about the whole cult about “Twilight” after the audition. I liked the idea of going into a project that the audience will have a very hard preconception of what they are seeing, and there is a lot of back-story set up for you and you can play against it within the movie.

Why do you think the film worked so well for you?

ROBERT PATTINSON: The more depth you give to the part the more your life become entwined with it, and the more you see yourself in the lines and it sort of binds together. There is intense sexual tension in these books between Edward and Bella.

Do you have a trick to build up that kind of connection on screen or was there a connection between you and Kristen, the actress who played Bella?

ROBERT PATTINSON: There was definitely some kind of connection. I don’t know if it was sexual tension, but we never really talked to each other on the set. There were a lot of awkward silences on the set. Neither of us knew one another the whole time and I think that helped. I went to Oregon two months earlier and obsessed myself with the story, so when everyone else came up they were like, “Oh, my God what is this guy on?”

How was your portrayal different from what you saw in the books?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I thought I was doing something different, but now that (the author) Stephenie has seen it she said, “That’s how I imagined it.” In the book whenever you read him saying, “You should stay away from me. I’ll hurt you,” you get the sense of security around the whole thing. You know he is never, ever going to do anything to harm her and you know that she knows that as well.

Tell me more.

ROBERT PATTINSON: I liked the idea of him being a little less in control of himself. It makes him sexier and I think it makes him more attractive if he’s saying, “there is a very real chance that I might kill you if I’m around you.” It makes the relationship more intense if she’s saying, “I know you won’t” as a kind of reassurance to herself. I thought I made him a little more unpredictable.

Have you signed on to more “Twilight” films?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I went into “Twilight” as a trilogy and signed on for the next two.

What do you have planned for the future?

ROBERT PATTINSON: I had been playing a string of loner parts for a while and this is the king of the loner parts for me. Hopefully, I am going to go into a thing where you actually have some normal relationship with the rest of humanity. I think I have literally played every single role, which has some sort of derangement. I hope the next thing I do I can be relatively normal.