Robert Pattinson
British actor Robert Pattinson smiles as he arrives at the Cannes Film Festival for the screening of "Good Time," May 25, 2017.
The British actor, who shot to superstardom in the blockbuster "Twilight" series of vampire films, has successfully fended off typecasting as he pursues challenging roles in small, independent films.
"Good Time"
In the Safdie Brothers' drama "Good Time," Robert Pattinson plays a criminal who plots a bank robber with his brother, only to be forced to come up with bail money when his brother is captured and jailed.
"Definitely as soon as I read the script, I was like, 'Wow.' You have a guy who, to all intents and purposes, is doing a lot of bad things. and yet pretty much everyone who sees the movie is like, 'I don't understand why, [but] I kinda like him!" he told CBS News' Michelle Miller. "At least to me anyway, playing it, I always thought he was really funny and interesting."
Robert Pattinson
Pattinson told CBS News' Michelle Miller he is attracted to scripts where "you don't know where it's going. That's what I'm always looking for, really. That was the main thing with ['Good Time']. And also if you meet the directors, they're kind of like that as well. They're kind of crazy!"
"Good Time"
Writer-directors Josh and Benny Safdie with Robert Pattinson filming "Good Time."
Pattinson contacted the filmmaking brothers after seeing a promotional photo for their last movie, "Heaven Knows What," starring Arielle Holmes. "I'd never heard of them, never seen the movie; there was just something about her face in this photo," Pattinson said. "I was like, 'If that's the photo you use to promote your movie, there's just something about your sensibilities that I know I like.' I just emailed them and I was like, 'I know from this one photo, I'm gonna do a movie with you, and I'll literally do anything.' My agents and everybody were like, 'What? I don't get it.'"
The Safdies put their other projects on hold to write "Good Time" specifically for Pattinson.
"Good Time"
"He's just one of those people who's incredibly instinctive," Pattinson said of his character. "The plan he's making is almost nothing -- he wants to rob a bank so he and his brother can live in the woods in Virginia in a cabin. And also, he robs a bank with his brother who's developmentally disabled. What are you doing? There's not a single part of this plan which makes any sense to anyone. But he gets fixated on an idea and tries to will it into existence."
"Have you met people like that?" Michelle Miller asked.
"(sighs) Yes."
"Tess of the Durbervilles"
Born Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson, he's the youngest of three children. Growing up in London, he started acting by accident: "I had a lot of very confident kids at my school who were the acting kids, and they were so confident that it made me not wanna do it -- 'Ah, I can't compete.' And then I joined this drama group near my house, worked backstage and stuff. And then one of the plays one year, all the tall people left, and I was the only one tall enough to play this role, and then ended up getting an agent from that!"
"You were lucky!" said Michelle Miller.
"Very, very, very lucky. And then you spend the rest of the your life sort of trying to come to terms with why you were lucky," he laughed. "I still haven't really figured that out yet."
Pictured: Pattinson as Alec D'Urberville in "Tess of the D'Urbervilles."
"Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King"
Pattinson was featured in the cast of a mythological drama for German television, "Ring of the Nibelungs" (a.k.a. "Sword of Xanten," "Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King" and "Curse of the Ring").
"I was playing a Viking with a terrible wig on," he laughed.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Robert Pattinson was featured as Cedric Diggory, who meets a tragic end upon an encounter with Voldemort, in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005).
While his friends were going to university, "Harry Potter" set Pattinson on a different course. "It just put you in a position where you're like, 'Well, I either do this or go to college, at least now. And then your road starts going along a specific way, it's kind of slightly out of your control."
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Robert Pattinson as Cedric Diggory and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005).
Yet Pattinson says he struggled to find work after "Goblet of Fire." "I'd been living off Harry Potter money for ages," he said. "I'd blown all of that! And then I didn't realize you had to pay taxes at the time. So I was completely broke and then got a big tax bill.
"I loved my agents in America -- they basically hadn't fired me for the three years that I'd been unemployed -- so I came over and tried to get a job."
"How to Be"
In the indie comedy "How to Be" (2008), Robert Pattinson starred as a musician whose aspirations are greater than his talent.
"Little Ashes"
Robert Pattinson (right), as artist Salvador Dali, and Javier Beltrán as poet Federico García Lorca, in "Little Ashes" (2008).
"Twilight"
Pattinson shot to superstardom as vampire Edward Cullen in the smash hit "Twilight" (2008) opposite Kristen Stewart. Four more films in the series would follow.
"Remember Me"
Emilie de Ravin and Robert Pattinson in the romantic drama "Remember Me" (2010).
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (2010).
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" on June 24, 2010.
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1"
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1" (2011).
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1"
Robert Pattinson in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1" (2011).
"I knew I wanted to be successful at something. And then when 'Twilight' happened, I had this thing where, if someone tries to put me in a box, I don't know how to do it. If someone says, 'I like you 'cause you did this thing,' then it's like, 'Well, I wanna do the opposite thing.' I don't know what that pathology is! I want to be able to have the freedom to do something else, mainly, 'cause I feel like I don't fully know myself yet. And I so I don't want someone to say, 'This is who you are. Well, if you don't know yourself, we'll tell you who you are.' Like, I want to kind of remain in that chaos a little bit."
"Water for Elephants"
Seven years after Pattinson's scene in "Vanity Fair" (in which he played an aged Reese Witherspoon's son) was cut, he played a veterinary student who runs off and joins the circus, where he becomes attached to a married circus performer (played by Witherspoon) in "Water for Elephants" (2011).
"Bel Ami"
In the period drama "Bel Ami" (2012), Robert Pattinson plays a social striver who seduces several woman (including Uma Thurman) as he climbs the ladder of 1880s Paris.
"Cosmopolis"
In David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis" (2012), based on the Don DeLillo novel, Robert Pattinson starred as a financier who engages in self-destructive behavior over the course of a day (much of which is spent stuck in traffic).
"Cosmopolis"
Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon as an estranged couple in "Cosmopolis."
"The Rover"
In the dystopian thriller "The Rover" (2014), Robert Pattinson is abandoned by his family during a botched robbery, and searches the Australian outback to confront his brother.
"The Rover"
Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson in "The Rover" (2014).
"It was the first time I'd really felt like, 'Oh, I have a sort of skill set, and I actually feel like I'm going to work,' rather than just rolling the dice, really," Pattinson said. "And that's very satisfying."
"Maps to the Stars"
Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson starred in "Maps to the Stars" (2014), directed by David Cronenberg.
Despite his early success with the "Twilight" franchise, Pattinson has steadily worked in indie films and with auteurs like Cronenberg. "The only thing that being famous really helps in is getting financing, if your movies make a lot of money. And, like, the movies I do are weird, and they don't make a lot of money a lot of the time!"
"Queen of the Desert"
Nicole Kidman as explorer Gertrude Bell and Robert Pattinson as T.E. Lawrence in Werner Herzog's historical drama, "Queen of the Desert" (2015).
"Life"
The 2015 biographical drama "Life," directed by Anton Corbijn ("A Most Wanted Man"), explored the relationship between Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) and actor James Dean (Dane DeHaan).
The actor's choice of American characters is striking, and not perhaps happenstance: "I grew up watching American movies. It's a weird thing. I feel like being an American is innately more cinematic in my head. There's something about playing English, for me, it just reminds me of being in school plays, which is so stupid. I feel like I'm really bad when I'm doing an English accent!
"I love trying to figure out American accents. You can really tell so much about their history and their attitude just from their voice."
"The Childhood of a Leader"
Robert Pattinson played a fascist leader in "The Childhood of a Leader" (2015), based on a story by Jean-Paul Sartre.
FKA Twigs and Robert Pattinson
British pop star FKA Twigs (a.k.a. Tahliah Debrett Barnett) and Robert Pattinson attend the "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016 in New York City.
"The Lost City of Z"
In James Gray's historic epic "The Lost City of Z" (2017). Robert Pattinson is a British Army corporal who aids a noted adventurer in his exploration of the South American jungle.
"The Lost City of Z"
Robert Pattinson and Charles Hunnam in "The Lost City of Z."
"Good Time"
Robert Pattinson in "Good Time" (2017).
Of acting, the 31-year-old said, "There is nothing that can beat experience. Like, that's it. And now I've been doing it half my life. And I just realized that the other day: I've been doing this for, like, 15 years. If you haven't learned anything by then, like, you should definitely, 100% give up!"
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
For more:
Robert Pattinson: Revelling in the freedom of chaos ("Sunday Morning")
"Good Time" (Official site)