Robert Pattinson reacts to claims about ‘Twilight’ series damaging vampire genre

The first 'Twilight' film in the franchise -- adapted from the book series of the same name, written by Stephenie Meyer -- debuted in 2008, marking the start of a cultural phenomenon

Los Angeles: Hollywood star Robert Pattinson has finally clapped back at long-standing claims from horror film fans who are convinced the ‘Twilight’ franchise damaged the vampire genre.

In the film franchise, the 38-year-old actor found global fame playing Edward Cullen, the vampire protagonist of the ‘Twilight’ films alongside Kristen Stewart, who played Bella Swan in the movies.

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He told ‘GQ Spain’ about how he doesn’t believe claims the series damaged the horror genre: “I love that people keep telling me, ‘Man, ‘Twilight’ ruined the vampire genre.’ Are you still stuck on that? How can you be sad about something that happened almost 20 years ago? It’s crazy.”

The first ‘Twilight’ film in the franchise debuted in 2008, marking the start of a cultural phenomenon.

Over the years, Pattinson has frequently reflected on the impact of the series and the polarising responses it elicited from audiences, reports ‘femalefirst.co.uk’. In a 2019 interview with ‘Variety’, he commented on how divisive the films were.

He said: “The people who don’t like it are generally people who haven’t seen it, and they’re like all judgmental and stuff, and cynical people. But I think I am a judgmental and cynical person who would just mindlessly hate it without ever having seen anything.”

He also shared to finding the series’ storyline unusual, adding: “I mean, it’s a weird story, ‘Twilight’. It’s strange how people responded. They are very romantic, but at the same time, it’s not like ‘The Notebook’ romantic. ‘The Notebook’ is very, very sweet and heartbreaking and stuff. ‘Twilight’ is about this guy who finds the one girl he wants to be with, and also wants to eat her. Well not eat her, drink her blood, whatever. (sic)”

Recalling his experience during the making of the first ‘Twilight’ film, Robert told ‘GQ’ he had approached it with a serious attitude, aiming to make it “as arty as possible”. He added: “My team sat me down and said, ‘Okay, so whatever you’re doing right now, after lunch just do the opposite, or you’ll be fired by the end of the day.’ And I was like, ‘Okay’. And so that was the only thing that got me to sort of smile a little bit.”