Read an Excerpt
Robert Pattinson EPB
Chapter One
Rob's Dazzling Roots
"Twelve was a turning point, as I moved to a mixed school, and then I became cool and discovered hair gel."
-Robert Pattinson
Robert Thomas-Pattinson was born on May 13, 1986, in Barnes, a suburb of London, the capital of England. London has been a major settlement for over two thousand years, and is one of the world's leading centers for business, finance, and culture. It has a widely diverse population-more than three hundred languages are spoken in London. Robert grew up in an affluent and rather secluded area near the Thames River, full of rich culture and elegant houses. And yes, we can thank his London upbringing for that amazingly sexy accent!
Lucky for Robert, two of his passions-music and theater-are significant influences in Barnes. The recording studio Olympic Studios, one of the town's prominent attractions, has hosted some of the biggest stars of pop and rock music, from the Beatles to Madonna to Coldplay. Another tourist site is the Old Sorting Office Arts Centre, which has become a key name in art and fringe theater. The Old Sorting Office hosts both art exhibits and theater productions, all open to the public. A teenage Robert played key roles in the Old Sorting Office's stage productions. After spending his early years in an area so supportive of the arts, it's no surprise that Robert has quickly risen to such heights in his acting career.
Robert is the youngest of three kids in the Pattinson family, and the only son. He has two older sisters. Elizabeth is three years older than he is, and Victoria is five years older. Robert's father,Richard, is a secondhand car dealer who specializes in importing vintage cars from America, and when Rob was growing up, his mother, Clare, worked for a modeling agency. Perhaps she's even the one who encouraged Rob to pursue the modeling he's done at various parts of his career.
Robert's dad loves that his son is involved in a creative profession. According to Robert: "My dad said to me the other day, 'I really am an artistic person.' I was shocked as I never saw him as creative. I think me and my sisters are living out that side of him as my sister is another creative person. She's a songwriter." Robert's sister Elizabeth, better known as Lizzy, has established herself in the music industry in England. Lizzy is both a singer and a songwriter. A scout from EMI, one of the "big four" major record labels, discovered her when she was seventeen. It seems that the Pattinson family's creative talents spring up strongly in their teenage years, because Robert, too, got his big break at age seventeen. In the United Kingdom, Lizzy is the songwriting brains-and often the onstage talent-behind a number of bands that are known for hitting the top of the charts with catchy pop tunes.
Lizzy has performed with the band Aurora UK, which is a trio based in London. Lizzy's bandmates are the keyboardist Simon Greenaway and guitarist Sacha Collisson; Lizzy is the singer of the group. The dance band's debut single was "Dreaming," and their first album, released in 2002, was titled the same. In fact, Lizzy can fill in her younger brother on the peaks and pitfalls of skyrocketing fame, because by the time she was eighteen, Aurora UK had had not one but two Top Twenty hits: "Dreaming" and "The Day It Rained Forever."
Aurora UK toured throughout the United Kingdom, North America, and Europe. They played in many major music venues, and the concert crowds often numbered more than 100,000 screaming fans! Lizzy recently collaborated with Aurora UK again on a 2006 song called "Summer Son." Aurora UK isn't the only band Lizzy Pattinson sings for, though. She's also worked with Milk & Sugar, singing "Let the Sunshine In," which hit the number one spot on the Billboard Dance Chart.
Robert and Lizzy's middle sister, Victoria, isn't involved in the music or theater world, but she channels the Pattinson creativity in another way, putting it to good use in her job in advertising. Unfortunately for Robert, his sisters' creativity wasn't always beneficial to him. "Up until I was twelve my sisters used to dress me up as a girl and introduce me as 'Claudia,'" he says. Growing up with two sisters might have had its pitfalls, but chances are it means Rob learned how to treat girls right early on. And anyway, "Twelve was a turning point, as I moved to a mixed school [a school with boys and girls], and then I became cool and discovered hair gel." Apparently trademark hair has been a part of Robert's persona ever since. At a press event promoting Twilight, a Washington Post reporter quizzed Robert on how he gets his artfully messy hair to stick up so perfectly. Robert laughed and said, "You just don't wash it. Ever."
Back to Robert's life history and the days in which he was first discovering hair gel . . . along with first discovering his talent for acting. The first school Robert attended was an all-boys school called the Tower House School. Tower House is located in a suburb close to Barnes, an area known for schools with high standards for excellence. Traditionally, a "tower house" could also be called a castle-a building built for either defense or for living in. The Tower House School is a preparatory school for boys ages four to thirteen. Music, art, and drama are considered a vital part of the Tower House School curriculum, and Robert got his first taste of acting while he was a student there. He began performing in school productions at age six. His roles included the King of Hearts (aww!) in a play written by one of the teachers called Spell for a Rhyme and Robert in William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
"He wasn't a particularly academic child but he always loved drama," said Caroline Booth, a school secretary, to the Evening Standard. "He was an absolutely lovely boy, everyone adored him. We have lots of lovely boys here but he was something special. He was very pretty, beautiful and blond." Even back then, people appreciated Rob's talents-and his undeniable cuteness. Caroline Booth continued, "I wouldn't say he was a star but he was very keen on our drama club. We're all so pleased that he's found something he really shines at."
Robert Pattinson EPB. Copyright (c) by Isabelle Adams . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
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