ROBERT PATTINSON ' My Steep learning curve'

AFTER FINDING MASSIVE FAME IN THE TWILIGHT FRANCHISE, THIS ECCENTRIC BRIT STAR LAID LOW FOR YEARS – BUT NOW HE’S BACK IN ANOTHER BLOCKBUSTER

- Jennie Noonan

Despite spending much of his adult life avoiding star turns in big-budget blockbusters – and the spotlight that comes with that – Robert Pattinson has always been keen to play the Caped Crusader. “There’s just something about Batman,” he tells WHO of his willingness to take on the lead role in The Batman, director Matt Reeves’ edgy take on the comic book canon. “It was strange because it was a role I have always really focused on. I don’t know why that was. It just kept coming back into my head.”

Pattinson’s own origin story occurred in West London when he joined an amateur theatre club called Barnes Theatre Company as a shy student. His first big-screen break came in 2005, playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He catapulted to superstardom after being cast in the first Twilight movie in 2008.

“Twilight was [a case of ] literally, one month there was nothing and the next month it was massive,” says Pattinson, 35, of his fast lane to fame. “That was a strange learning curve.” And a steep one. In 2012, the final instalment of the popular franchise grossed over $800 million worldwide, cementing Pattinson and his co-star-turned-real-life girlfriend Kristen Stewart’s status among the world’s most well-known people.