This is a great article.  I agree with Kevin in that Rob’s performance in Little Ashes showcased for me what potential he had.  Although he filmed Little Ashes before Twilight, I think it was unfortunately overshadowed by the Saga.  That role was a bold move for Rob.  I love that men are starting to take notice of him as an actor.  Here some of what Kevin had to say for MoviePilot:

“I sat through only one episode of the Twlight series that launched the fan craze of Robert Pattinson. The episode was,Eclipse. That was that. Pattinson did not register on my radar again until I saw him in David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis. I wondered, who is this actor. I did not yet know of his legacy as the Heart throbbing romantic vampire, Edward Cullen. Yet there in Cosmopolis, Pattinson sat in the back seat of a limo all groomed and grand playing the role of Eric Packer (a young billionaire). Pattinson seemed right for the part because despite all his popularity, Pattinson’s on screen presence can seem like that of a man out of place. In Cosmopolis he portrays a character who is indeed more stoic than ‘lost’ and it seems that Pattinson’s almost expressionless gaze was necessary for this role.

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The roles actors take on in franchises tend to transcend the screens that separate then from audiences. Many teenage movie goers tend to transpose their lives with those of their screen idols. Fantasies are apt to do that. Lately when fans of characters are satisfied with the actor who is chosen to play their favorite characters, they become mixed with the madness of summer block buster and their own real life summer romances. This mixture of fact with fantasy can become toxic. Edward Cullen has become Pattinson’s Frankenstein.

… my decision to write about Pattinson stems from the fact that he appeared on the covers of a magazine I trust. In this case Esquire Magazine. I read and the Esquire article and while doing so, I remembered the reviews I had seen on youtube (Grace Randolph’s among them). They were mixed yet judging from his choice of directors Cronenberg (twice), David Michod (the Aussie director responsible for ANIMAL KINGDOM), Werner Hersog and Anton Corjbin with whom he has chosen to work, Pattinson has chartered a course of escape from being just a pretty boy suitable only for tabloid mania. Yet the films that pique my curiosity were LITTLE ASHES (directed by Paul Morrison) and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (Francis Lawrence). These films made with directors who are not yet household names are worthy. The roles therein may become even more telling of Pattinson’s development. Take LITTLE ASHES:

Imagine what it must have been like to play the part of a young Salvador Dali and clasp (in a passionate manner) another male actor (Javier Beltran in his role as legendary poet and rumored lover of Dali- Frederico Garcia Lorca). The first encounter I had with a fictional homosexual love scene came while reading a novel by James Baldwin. I found myself utter transfixed by the writing yet bothered that it was arousing. In light of the fact that Pattinson speaks askance on nudity and sex scene, such memories of my own enable me to recognize and attribute a great deal of respect to actors who can achieve convincing homoerotic scenes. See LITTLE ASHES. On the subject of sex scenes, the internet is replete with compilations of Pattinson’s kissing scenes where his bodies interlocked with women suggests passionate moments; yet these near erotic celluloid moments do little other than serve fan mania. The arch of an actor’s passion has to extend into the conviction he conveys. Pattinson kisses well, yet he is not yet entirely comfortable with his body.

While I read the magazine article I laughed at some of the revelations Pattinson shared with writer Sanjiv Bhattacharya. He was engaging and amusing. He shared what his life is like How he has to find out-of-the way places to chill. With all the paparazzi and negative press always lurking, Pattinson’s understandable uneasiness still seems penetrable. He opens up; if only as long as the allowable time. I am reminded of the fact that sometimes photographers are only given 15 minutes with the President of the United States. Imagine that, you have only 15 minutes to capture something genuine. In the face of power be it movies star, celebrity or politician, you can not ‘flub it up’. What would you I or anyone do. Robert Pattinson is no where near the great leaders of the world. Yet he has his own ‘cross of popularity’ to burden. How would anyone of us get beyond that and get to something genuine?

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Let us hope the the best for Robert Pattinson as he continues to try to awaken from the state of undeadness as Edward Cullen. He is finally on my radar and he is flying high with potential.”

This is just an extract.  Head on over to read the full article, it’s  a really interesting read and slowly slowly Rob’s changing people’s opinion of him.