Robert Pattinson

New Hollywood, 'Twilight'

By STEPHEN SCHAEFER

Robert Pattinson finds himself a recognizable star even before the movie version of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" opens Nov. 21. Ever since news broke of his being cast as Edward Cullen, the romantic 17-year-old vampire hero of the tween-popular book series, the 22-year-old actor is known wherever he goes in Britain.

"It's one of these phenomena that come out of nowhere, and everything about your career is completely different," he says. "Every 13-year-old girl in the entire country has read this, and you can almost guarantee wherever you go you'll hear, 'Oh my god! It's Edward Cullen.' "

Pattinson isn't worried that "Twilight" will define his career. "I'm sort of signed on for another two, but it's all dependent on what happens at the box office," he says. And unlike what happened to Bela Lugosi, Pattinson knows he won't be playing Edward Cullen when he's middle-aged.

"The thing is he doesn't age, which means I can't really play 17 forever."