Robert Pattinson Says Fan Reaction to His ‘Twilight’ Casting Was Worse Than Batman: ‘That Was Way More Painful’

Robert Pattinson is currently earning positive notice for his new take on the Batman character, but the actor says that while reaction to his initial casting as the Caped Crusader had its share of naysayers, it was nothing compared to the reaction when he was first cast in “Twilight.”

“It was less aggressive than when I got cast in ‘Twilight,’ which is strange because no one even knew who I was,” Pattinson told Josh Horowitz of MTV News. “That was literally off one photo and people were like, ‘Absolutely not’ (laughs).”

When Horowitz noted that the reaction to his Batman casting was mostly positive, he seemed befuddled as to why. “On this I was quite surprised; there was kind of a weirdly positive reaction. I think it’s because it was so left-field as well,” but that’s when his “The Batman” co-star Zoë Kravitz interjected: “No, it’s because you’re a good actor!”

While Pattinson may be known to the masses as the star of the “Twilight” franchise, he spent his time after that series working with interesting directors on challenging projects like “The Lighthouse,” “High Life” and “The Lost City of Z.” And it was his performance in the Safdie Brothers-directed 2017 thriller “Good Time” that inspired “The Batman” co-writer and director Matt Reeves to write the script for the new DC adaptation with Pattinson in mind for the lead role.

When Pattinson was cast as the romantic lead in 2008’s “Twilight” opposite Kristen Stewart, his biggest role to date was as Cedric in 2005’s “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” But fans of the “Twilight” book series had intense opinions about who should and shouldn’t play Edward in the film, and most of the initial reaction was negative as Pattinson recalled.

The actor soon earned the trust of fans, however, and helped rocket the “Twilight” franchise to over $3 billion in box office worldwide.

“The Batman” marks Pattinson’s first franchise film since, and based on initial reaction to the film, it sounds like he’ll be wearing the cape and cowl for quite some time going forward.