The reinvention of Robert Pattinson

Britain is about to have a new leading man.

Robert Pattinson, who made his name more than a decade ago in the UK in the Harry Potter films, and then in the US in the Twilight films, has finally emerged as a bona fide, grown-up film star. Following hot on the heels of his starring role in Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s cinema-saving summer blockbuster, Pattinson will be on our sitting room screens this September alongside Mia Wasikowska in The Devil All the Time on Netflix, a psychological thriller produced by Jake Gyllenhaal. Then, in 2021, he’ll appear in his biggest role to date: The Batman. In donning the iconic superhero’s black Batsuit and cape, Pattinson will join a historic list of actors that includes George Clooney, Michael Keaton and Christian Bale.

Pattinson’s rise from promising 18-year-old heartthrob to 34-year-old Hollywood heavyweight has been a long time coming. Back in 2004, in a vast, dark, and permanently cold studio in Hertfordshire, I found myself working alongside Pattinson on the set of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.