Facing fangs of regret?
With his tousled, seemingly unwashed locks and rumpled, just-rolled-out-of-bed undershirt and jeans, Robert Pattinson seems laid-back and carefree.
But the 23-year-old heartthrob, who attracts throngs of screaming fans wherever he goes, has a lot on his mind these days – not the least of which is what will happen when the “Robsession” ends.
“If it suddenly dies down and suddenly no one is interested … yeah, it is worrying,” he says.
“It’s scary to think that it all might just fundamentally stop after the ‘Twilight’ thing’s finished.”
That “Twilight thing” is the more than $1 billion movie franchise based on Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling series.
Pattinson stars as Edward Cullen, the vegetarian vampire who falls in love with human Bella Swan.
Despite the success of the first two films, “Twilight” and “New Moon,” he hopes to break away from that emo, teenage undead role with his new film, “Remember Me.”
Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin star as twenty-somethings falling in love while coping with family tragedy.
Q: Did you feel a lot of pressure choosing “Remember Me,” since it’s the first time we’re seeing you post-“Twilight”?
A: I just always liked the script. When I was making it, I didn’t even think about it. Now that it’s being released, it comes into context with all of that.
Q: Do you regret taking on “Twilight”?
A: You can never tell. When I did “Twilight,” I had no idea it was going to be so big. I didn’t know they were going to make the sequels afterward. … But I don’t really have any regrets about it. It’s just, you can’t. There’s nothing you can do about it.
Q: How do you feel about being an idol?
A: I don’t really know if I am. It’s still just the sort of character that people like a lot. I try and avoid promoting myself like that ’cause otherwise you end up with a huge burden of responsibility.
The birthday bunch
Actor Michael Caine is 77. Composer-conductor Quincy Jones is 77. Country singer Michael Martin Murphey is 65. Comedian Billy Crystal is 62. Actor Adrian Zmed is 56. Singer Kristian Bush (Sugarland) is 40. Actress Grace Park (“Battlestar Galactica”) is 36. Actor Chris Klein is 31. Singer-keyboardist Taylor Hanson (Hanson) is 27.