Robert Pattinson has found an unexpected parallel between his villain role in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and the character that once competed with him for a teenage girl’s heart on screen. Speaking to MTV UK at the film’s world premiere in London’s Leicester Square, Pattinson likened his portrayal of Antinous, a suitor pressuring Penelope to remarry while her husband Odysseus remains missing, to Taylor Lautner’s Jacob Black from the “Twilight” saga.
“I think they will be rooting for him. I keep comparing it — it’s kind of like Jacob in Twilight,” Pattinson said with a laugh, responding to a question about playing a character audiences aren’t meant to like. He explained the comparison through Antinous’s blunt approach to romantic rivalry: “Penelope just can’t make her mind up between the two guys and I’m just trying to like help her make a decision. It’s like, ‘It’s fine. He’s dead, get over it.'”
The remark carries irony given Pattinson’s own history in that same love triangle. He played vampire Edward Cullen across five “Twilight” films between 2008 and 2012, opposite Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan and Lautner’s werewolf Jacob. Fans split into rival camps, and Pattinson has previously dismissed the loyalty Jacob still commands. At a press event in March for another project, he waved off a reporter’s admission of Team Jacob allegiance, calling the fandom split “just a marketing thing.”
For Antinous, Pattinson said he drew a different set of influences, telling GQ in June that James Woods’s performance in “Casino” shaped his approach, down to costume choices he pushed for at fittings, including leopard-print underwear worn beneath a skirt.
Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic reunites Pattinson with a sprawling cast that includes Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o. At the London premiere, Nolan told the crowd the occasion felt personal, recalling childhood trips to the same cinema and thanking the thousands who worked on the production. Early reactions from the premiere have been largely favorable, with several attendees describing the film as an ambitious achievement. “The Odyssey” opens in theaters July 17.
