Hey, Twilight fans! It’s hard to believe the week of Twilight’s big movie release has arrived. After spending some time with the young actor who’s about to rocket to stardom playing the too-handsome-for-this-earth vampire, Edward, I’m curious to see this story come to life on screen.

After causing utter mayhem at a mall here in San Francisco last week, Robert Pattinson retreated to a calmer room where I asked him all my burning questions about the the mania surrounding this movie, how he approached the role, why people seem to be going ga-ga for vampires, and more. Incidentally, I have to note that in my most objective, journalistic opinion, the man is awfully dreamy. Ahem! On with the interview:

Before you signed up to do this movie, did you understand the hysteria that went along with the books?
No, I went into it having absolutely no idea what it was, and then some people turned up to the set occasionally. But I mean, I kind of expected that. I knew it was a popular book, so I thought, you know, it would be 20 fans who might come occasionally. And then when we finished shooting I went back to LA, and the first day I was there, someone came up to me and was like, [breathless girly voice] “You’re Edward!” and it was, “Oh, OK,” just something I didn’t expect. And then I did this thing called Comic-Con in San Diego and there were just seven or nine thousand people, just ridiculous . . . and they just screamed, like, 45 minutes — or the entire time, just screamed and screamed. Up until that point I wasn’t really expecting anything.

If you haven’t read the book, some of what follows might be a tad spoilery, but if you’re ready, just

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