Story by Cat Cardenas// @c.aaattt // she/her

Graphics by Meredith Cambis // @meredith_design // she/her

“Twilight”’s 2008 release was met with swooning audiences captivated by the portrayal of the brooding, but sparkly and ripped vampire, Edward Cullen. The role instantly catalyzed Robert Pattinson’s rise to global celebrity crush status for almost half a decade. 

Upon wrapping up the franchise, Pattinson all but disappeared from the public eye while continuing his acting career. This was until a haunting 2017 photo of a brown track jacket and camouflage pant-clad Pattinson, standing awkwardly in a kitchen resurfaced in early August of this year and began trending as a viral meme on the social media app TikTok.

Something about the tension of his pose and odd choice of garb drove speculation: fans began to realize that the actor might be a bit more bizarre than they had previously thought.  

Pattinson’s eccentricities are most evident in his interview commentary. In a 2011 episode of the “Today” show, the actor told a story about a clown dying at a circus he attended as a child. A week later, he revealed  the story was made up, saying  he simply did not know how to respond when asked about his past experiences at the circus. 

This is but one example of the type of off-beat answers Pattinson typically gives in interviews. His ability to make his interviewer noticeably uncomfortable is an almost uncanny talent, as well as a muscle which he routinely flexes in his consistent trashing of the “Twilight” franchise on press tours. 

Pattinson’s post – ”Twilight” career has been marked by appearances in films ranging widely in genre. Most recently, he was in Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and the Netflix original “The Devil All The Time,” and is set to act as the newest Batman in a highly anticipated 2021 release of a new iteration of the franchise. 

The photo’s revival and the recent roles landed by Pattison have prompted many to revisit his first big acting job playing Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” Although his character was seen as arguably minor, TikTok got both Diggory and Draco Malfoy (played by Tom Felton) trending again, reinvigorating fanbases for both and prompting the creation of a new “side” of TikTok which users have dubbed “DracoTok”. 

As with most of 2020’s twists and turns, the revival of Robert Pattinson was definitely not anticipated; however, it might just be something that we recall as having brought us joy amid a year defined by neverending uncertainty.

With the social media technology we have this day-and-age, the revival of archival photos and videos of celebrities who have shied away from the public eye are easy to access. Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Mariah Carey are all examples of celebrities who have had their rounds as memes on twitter in recent years. 

In some instances, it serves as a career booster, as a reminder to the public of who they once were. In other cases, it could serve as a reminder of things better left unrepeated (enter Britney Spears shaving her head in 2007.) 

Whether for good or bad, the rise of the digital age has allowed for these photos to resurface for the enjoyment of Twitter users everywhere. 

There is no doubt that Pattinson is a talented actor, sometimes committing so hard to roles that his portrayals come across comedic, and other times deadly serious. This pop culture revival and recycling of old archival Pattinson content – the cursed photo, the Cedric Diggory throwbacks, the ‘fan cam’ edits that fetishize him – is a sign of the times. 

While there is a lot of dark and upsetting content online, these clever uses of the quirky actor’s funny moments is a bright spot online, and portrays his effervescent attitude and unique skill set. However, we should also be careful of the way we portray celebrities and place them on metaphoric pedestals, as if they are not regular people – although no one claims Pattinson is ‘regular,’ the lesson can be applied nonetheless.