14 DAY TRIAL // Robert Pattinson, the British actor who plays Edward Cullen in “The Twilight Saga,” is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after and adored stars of the moment. However, no one can deny that this is mostly because of his part in the vampire flick and the impressively loyal fanbase it has earned him, which prompts the question of what will happen to his career once the “Twilight” movies come to an end.
According to an E! Online piece, Pattinson is yet to prove his worth and, at the same time, his staying power. What he needs to do now in order to avoid being typecast and frozen in the audience’s memory for eternity as Edward Cullen is to seek parts that are as different from this one as possible. Otherwise, his appeal will fade away and he will be gone from Hollywood as quick as he came here, E! Online estimates.
“Fans may love R.Pattz now, but kids also used to obsess over Orlando Bloom and Mark Hamill. The indicators for Pattz’s future are not necessarily all that solid... and that’s based on actual data. You know. Facts.” E! Online writes, citing Hamill’s example. Fans had so much trouble separating Hamill from his character in “Star Wars,” that the actor was actually forced to remove all mention of the franchise from his resume. Elijah Wood, on the other hand, wanted so badly not to be constantly associated with his “Lord of the Rings” character, that he started picking up roles at the opposite pole, trying to show his worth in the true sense of the word.
The signs are all there, pointing Pattinson is about to be immortalized as Edward. Social media agency Karma Media Labs says younger audiences have much trouble telling him as an actor apart from him as a character – and this is where it all begins, E! Online points out. The fact that Summit Entertainment is centering a big part of the promo campaign for “New Moon” on Pattinson does not help him one bit either. Not unless he does something different and he does it fast too – because critics also have to be won over if he wants staying power in Hollywood, the same e-zine believes.
“Between the fan forums, social media sites and photo and video sharing sites, Karma CEO Lori Dicker concludes that ‘most of the references and conversations about Robert Pattinson are about his character, and less about him as a stand-alone personality outside of Twilight.’ In fact, she notes, ‘One of the top contributors of content on a popular photo sharing site is named Robert_is_Edward.’” E! Online further writes.
In all fairness, the actor did try to break free from his “Twilight” character with the part of Salvador Dali in “Little Ashes,” a movie that was trashed by critics and overall ignored by fans, with minor exceptions. He just finished working on “Remember Me,” so there is still time. However, E! Online concludes, until it comes out, Robert Pattinson remains Edward Cullen, the 17-year-old vampire.