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Q: Did you have any concerns about not living up to fan expectations of what Edward is like?
A: I never saw it as a vampire. I saw it as a guy with something in him that makes him terrified of commitment. He is extremely passionate and has very little self-control. He is with a girl he can't have a physical relationship with and she keeps tempting him.

Q: Did you study up on any old vampire movies for inspiration?
A: I've seen a few, but I'm not really a fan. I saw the original Nosferatu, but he definitely isn't dating material. My kind of preparation was not to talk to anyone for a long time. Edward would be so bored with any kind of human interaction. He would not feel like he was part of the human world and doesn't care about other people's reactions.

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Q: Did you get a kick out of watching your performance?

A: I don't really watch my own stuff. If I watch my own stuff, I want to be sick every single time. I don't know. It's a strange thing.

Q: You have some songs on the soundtrack, don't you?

A: It was just a random occurrence. I was writing some songs and performing them last year. I had them on my computer and somebody burned a CD and gave them to Catherine. Later, she showed me these scenes with two of my songs in the background. They kind of bizarrely fit. I was fine with it. I didn't really think about it. There wasn't a lot hype then, but, now, it's become this big deal.

Q: So you're not planning to audition for American Idol?

A: No thank you. Having a career as a musician is just too hard. I think, as soon as you start doing music as a career, it kills the fun for you, unless you just want to perform to big crowds. I want to write songs because I like to and I'm not trying to make money out of it.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

The films that I like aren't necessarily because they're good films in themselves -- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a good film -- but that one specifically meant a lot to me. Not because I was in a mental home or anything, but that character influenced me so much when I was 15 or 16, and bits of it stuck with me. A lot of that kind of "putting your middle finger up to the world" attitude -- not that I really have that, but...I used to be so timid, and that was one of those films that [helped me break out], by pretending to be [Jack Nicholson's character] Randle.

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On having Robert Pattinson (of "Twilight") play, of all things, her son in 2004's "Vanity Fair": "I remember he was very handsome. I do remember that. I thought, 'I have a really handsome son.' It was an older version of my character who had been sort of a ruined woman, and she was at the end of her life and I just remember I had to sob and cry all over him."

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And now people online are saying, "This man is pure sex," or calling you "A sexy man-beast." How much of a sexy man-beast are you?
[Laughs] I wouldn't be able to say. I don't think I'm much of one. It's funny, it is the secret to any guy—if people find him unattractive or whatever—you just get Stephanie Meyer to tell the world, to put on her website that this guy is now attractive and everybody changes their minds.

That's amazing. So, how long does it take to get your hair perfectly coiffed like that?
It's the funniest thing. I just wear a hat a lot. I have so much residue crap in my hair from years and years and years of not washing it and not having any sense of personal hygiene whatsoever. Even today, I go into these things where I'm supposed to be this sexy guy or whatever, and I'm literally asking [the studio rep] if I get plumes of dandruff on me, can you just brush it off.

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We told Robert Pattinson we’d say something, and he had to say the first thing that came to mind.

Here are the results:

Twilight: Bella

Edward: Vampire

Robert Pattinson: Sandwich [Ed. Note: Pattinson, apparently, recently ate a sandwich]

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This year's 'It Dude' Robert Pattinson finally confesses that he's actually a lot like his "Twilight" character, Edward Cullen.

But in a bad way.

Pattinson tells the Dish Rag: "I guess you never know what you have in your character before you do a job and what kind of comes out. I mean, I guess there are elements, a lot of self doubt. Probably all the negative elements. I don’t really have the positive elements, I am not very gentlemanly or anything, I am not very old-fashioned. I don’t have, yeah. I have the bad points."

And the sexiest thing about Edward?

"I learned that 95% of women in the world are attracted to guys who drive Volvos, which I had no idea about," he joked. "I never knew Volvos were such a sexy car. I would never have though. And people would like the fact that Edward drives a Volvo."

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Did you do anything physically to prepare for the role? I mean, apart from staying out of the sun ...

RP: Um, well, I'm from England, so I am kind of pasty anyway, and it's not really sunny in Oregon, where we were shooting. I (also) worked out with a boxing trainer, just to get, you know, a body. (laughs)

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Question: So you've read the book ... what was it like to have to live up to this expectation of being the most beautiful man?

RP: I read the book like five months before casting. I read the first 50 pages, up until when he gets introduced and I was just like, "No." Because I was really fat last year as well. So it was just like embarrassing. I thought the whole thing was embarrassing, even turning up to the audition. I hadn't read the whole book before the audition, but even [from] the four-line synopsis -- "Edward is the perfect being. He's so witty and beautiful. He's crazy and funny. He'll open doors for you. He'll drive you in his Volvo." -- I thought even turning up would be embarrassing.

I still believe the initial reaction, when I was first cast, was the true reaction. Everyone now is like "Okay, I love the books so much I'll go with it. He's beautiful. Whatever." But the initial reaction was 100 percent "He's completely wrong for it." And I agree with them. I didn't play it like some guy who knew he was beautiful. I still don't really feel it. I don't feel it at all.

Question: So were you looking at all the blogs for reaction?

RP: No, initially I did. But my mom sent me some stuff, which she thought was really funny, when I was already in America. They had this picture from this Viking film I did where I looked like someone had beaten me in the face with a frying pan. I was wearing this disgusting wig. And they were like "THIS is Edward." It was a petition, which they were going to send to Summit saying, "We will not go and see the movie." It got up to 75,000 signings. This is about three days after I got cast. I was thinking, "Thanks for sending that mom!" That was my welcome into Twilight.

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