When Robert Pattinson's character, Cedric Diggory, was ruthlessly slain in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - thereby ending his brief, but magical spell at Hogwarts - it could so easily have been curtains for his fledgling career. Instead, it acted as the catalyst for a grander fantasy, as he was propelled from bit-part wizard to vampire lead Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling teen-tome, Twilight.
"Every time I go out, no matter where I am, people just go completely nuts! It's unreal," he says, shaking his head in disbelief. "When I started doing this, I knew the books were big in America but it keeps surprising me how much bigger everything's getting! Every time I see physical manifestations of it, like fans going wild, my brain can't process it, because it's just too weird.
"One of the weirdest days was when we started shooting New Moon at this high school, in Canada. The school was still open, so there were kids everywhere," recalls Pattinson. "We did this scene, where we were just walking around the corridors but, after every take, all the kids started applauding. It was the same whenever a class came out after a lesson: they'd all clap. That was really bizarre - one of the strangest days ever."
He's also bemused by the frequent comparisons made between him, Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio - who personally endorsed Pattinson's burgeoning career and teen heartthrob status by declaring; "finally there's someone to take that burden off me".
"When I heard Leonardo DiCaprio had said that, I just thought; 'Wow, that's so cool,' because that guy's had the best career of any young actor," enthuses Pattinson. "You can virtually guarantee anything he's in will be good. That's the type of career I'd like to have too."
"Every time I go out, no matter where I am, people just go completely nuts! It's unreal," he says, shaking his head in disbelief. "When I started doing this, I knew the books were big in America but it keeps surprising me how much bigger everything's getting! Every time I see physical manifestations of it, like fans going wild, my brain can't process it, because it's just too weird.
"One of the weirdest days was when we started shooting New Moon at this high school, in Canada. The school was still open, so there were kids everywhere," recalls Pattinson. "We did this scene, where we were just walking around the corridors but, after every take, all the kids started applauding. It was the same whenever a class came out after a lesson: they'd all clap. That was really bizarre - one of the strangest days ever."
He's also bemused by the frequent comparisons made between him, Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio - who personally endorsed Pattinson's burgeoning career and teen heartthrob status by declaring; "finally there's someone to take that burden off me".
"When I heard Leonardo DiCaprio had said that, I just thought; 'Wow, that's so cool,' because that guy's had the best career of any young actor," enthuses Pattinson. "You can virtually guarantee anything he's in will be good. That's the type of career I'd like to have too."
But, despite his fondness for the Twilight saga and his character, Pattinson insists he'll be happy to finally banish them both to the grave, after the concluding episode. Likewise, he's less than enamoured with the idea of acquiring any vampire traits himself.
"When you think about it, being a vampire means you have to kill people and feed on their blood, but all you get in return is you can run really fast, or throw things around. That's kind of a lame trade-off," he surmises.
"It's the same with living forever. I wouldn't want to, under any circumstance. I don't think anyone would want to, would they? It's like my great aunt.
"She's 97 and a very, very funny woman but every time I talk to her she says things like; 'When you next come to see me, can you please bring me some poison?' I'm like; 'Yeah, OK' because I know what she means. Live forever? I couldn't think of anything worse..."
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