Robert Pattinson is co-starring alongside Zendaya in The Drama and has hailed the actress as one of the “greatest” of our time and also praised her for her calming energy on set
With the amount of time they have to spend together, not just filming but also on promotional events and weeks-long press tours, it helps when actors get along. So it’s a good job that Robert Pattinson and Zendaya have a close bond, given they have not one but three major films together out this year.
First for the pair comes Kristoffer Borgli’s twisted romance The Drama, out next month, followed by Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey in July and Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi Dune: Part Three in December.
Robert, 39, says of his co-star: “She is one of the most incredible actresses of the moment. She is so talented but also such a calming influence on set.
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“I have this thing where I overthink lines and look for a deeper meaning but her calm manner always quickly bought me back to the moment.”
In The Drama, Zendaya, 29, stars as Emma Harwood, a bookshop assistant engaged to Robert’s Charlie Thompson, a museum director from London. Days before the couple are due to marry, one discovers unsettling truths about the other that threaten to unravel everything.
While their on-screen chemistry is undeniable, their off-screen friendship has been just as important in shaping their performances. It was in fact Zendaya’s partner, Tom Holland, who first brought the pair together. Robert had previously worked with fellow Brit Tom on The Devil All the Time in 2020.
Robert says: “Tom has been a great friend of mine for a lot of years now, so we had met socially. “I can be a bit quiet in social occasions, so I think Tom had to convince her that I had a personality.
“Thankfully I think he succeeded, and I now consider the pair of them trusted friends.”
For Robert, navigating high-profile roles is nothing new. He first rose to prominence as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, but it was his portrayal of Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga that catapulted him to A-list status.
The films, released yearly from 2008 to 2012, became massive hits and in 2025 the first novel celebrated its 20th anniversary. Looking back now, Robert admits his relationship with that period of his life has evolved.
He says: “At the time I wanted to move on, but as I have gotten older and the hysteria has died down I actually look back on Twilight with really fond feelings.
“I am still asked about Twilight more than I am asked about anything else, the impact it still has on fans is huge. Due to streaming services there is the new wave of fans. I get asked about it by people who were barely born at the time the first film came out.”
Robert was 21 when he was cast in the vampire franchise – and he struggled with the attention that came with being a global heart-throb.
He says he’s “lost count of the times fans asked me to bite them”, adding that it used to be “a weekly occurrence”. He adds: “That was why I was so keen at the time to move on from those films. I really didn’t cope at all. The first Twilight movie was always my favourite time of the franchise.
“Not because it was necessarily my favorite but because the hysteria hadn’t yet started and we got to enjoy the experience for everything it was.”
Over the next two decades Robert carved out a diverse and critically acclaimed career, landing notable roles including 2022’s The Batman, in which he played Bruce Wayne. During that time, he learned to deal with fame’s highs and lows.
When he was announced as the new caped crusader, fans questioned if he could step in to such an iconic role – but Robert took it in his stride.
At the time, he said he was shocked he wasn’t mocked more, and joked the backlash was only “70% negative”, which he viewed as a bonus compared to past experiences.
Since then he has developed a thicker skin in terms of public opinion. He says: “When it comes to my work and performances I am my harshest critic.
“When I started out I was full of self-doubt, but as you get older you learn to block any criticism out.”
Away from the spotlight, Robert got engaged to actress Suki Waterhouse in 2023 and the couple had their first child, a daughter, in March 2024.
And this week rumours swirled that both he and Zendaya had tied the knot with their long-term loves. It could be said that becoming a father has proved his biggest lesson to date.
He says: “They just bring so much fun, so much joy, so much laughter. Then there is what they teach you. I think I have become so much more patient since I have become a parent. Before, in your mind you think there is some sort of handbook that tells you what to do, but the reality is you learn as you go.”
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