I spent the afternoon with cast members from Twilight Saga: New Moon. Although I have seen the movie, I won’t share my thoughts on that just yet. What I will share are some tidbits about the actors.

Robert Pattinson. May as well start with him, right? Here’s the thing about RPatz: if he were any other bloke, you probably wouldn’t think twice about him. But since he plays one of the most romantic characters ever, we think he’s Edward Cullen. So I asked Rob what character traits he shares with his vampire alter-ego: “Stubborness in some ways; and he’s pretty self righteous; I get obsessive and posessive about things too.” (By this he explained that he’s very meticulous and likes to be in control: “I have ideas about how I want to be perceived,” he said. “That’s why I don’t have a publicist — I couldn’t stand it if someone told me what to do.”)

But back to my original point — if he weren’t this Edward Cullen-portraying actor, but worked at Dunkin Donuts and lived with his parents and three ferrets, would people obsess over him? Nope (at least not to this degree). And I’ve always had that perspective — he’s not Eddie C. But let me tell you this people: If Robert Pattinson looks you in the eye while he’s answering your silly question and smiles that broad teeth-revealing smile, you melt. And if you hold that gaze, you feel like you might combust or that your eyes and his eyes will reproduce. You’ll take a full order of Robert with a side of Pattinson. So now I get it — I get the mystique of the guy.

Here are some other things to file away in your Pattinson folder: He drinks Coca Cola — no diet for this trim chap. And when he drinks it, he tilts the bottle, never his head. His eyelashes are miles long. The most romantic thing he’s ever done? “I can’t think of a single romantic thing I’ve ever done. I put a flower in a girl’s locker when i was 14. and she thought it was someone else.” Wesley Snipes in Blade is one of his favorite movie vampires (although it took him a while to pick one). A 90-something-year-old woman recently gushed at him. “The older women say exactly the same thing as 12-year-old girls!” Robert said. New Moon is the Twilight book that he connected to the most. (Me too! But I was in a breakup phase then — was he too? He did say he’s never been heartbroken like Edward was.) He doesn’t think the Twilight series is just for girls — “I’ve watched Titanic and I didn’t think ‘This is a girls’ film.’” He thinks men can be romantic too, “unless you’re a complete idiot of a guy.” He has a movie slated to film next year opposite Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman (HELL-O!). Today he’s wearing a plaid shirt and Dolce & Gabbana leather bomber. He does a lot of boxing in his rare time off. Giant is one of his favorite movies. (Love that.) (more…)