Robert Pattinson says people still tell him “Twilight” ruined vampire movies: 'Are you still stuck on that s---?'

To Robert Pattinson, Twilight is ancient history.

"I love that people keep telling me, 'Man, Twilight ruined the vampire genre,'" the actor and former heartthrob at the center of the Twilight universe recently told GQ Spain. "Are you still stuck on that s---? How can you be sad about something that happened almost 20 years ago? It's crazy."

In case your first thought was, Damn, how old am I? The first film in the supernatural saga actually just turned 16 in November 2024, so there are still a few years before it hits the big 2-0.

"I find it hard to believe the cultural relevance that these films maintain because they are so old," the actor reminisced. "The first one was released in 2008, f---!"

Related: Robert Pattinson recalls airport employee asking why he quit acting after Twilight: 'I'm Batman'

Calling the ongoing obsession with the film franchise a "fascinating phenomenon," Pattinson said, "I can’t believe it. I think this renaissance has emerged in Korea and it's happened a bit like with K-pop, which took off in Korea but then seduced a young Western population."

The first novel in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, which would be adapted into the massively successful yet enduringly controversial film franchise, was released in 2005, when Pattinson was only 19. He was 22 when Catherine Hardwicke's maiden entry in the film series premiered in 2008.

Pattinson had snagged one high-profile role before stepping into the immortal shoes of the vampire Edward Cullen, that of doomed quidditch ace Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But that was only the second film he'd ever appeared in. Twilight transformed him and his costar Kristen Stewart into international superstars overnight, and both actors have spent years course-correcting their careers back to independent, international, and art-house films.

As soon as he got free of his five-picture commitment to one of the industry's biggest-ever film franchises, Pattinson signed on to star in a string of films from acclaimed international auteurs. He now counts directors Claire Denis, Werner Herzog, David Cronenberg, and the Safdie brothers among his collaborators.

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He also hasn't been content just to signal his distaste for the teen hearthrob mold Twilight cast him in through his work; he's been vocally critical of the films in interviews dating back even to the time of various Twilight saga premieres.

Related: Anna Kendrick keeps forgetting she was in Twilight: 'Oh my God'

Pattinson proudly declared himself a member of Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner) during a 2008 Q&A for the first film, and took a swipe at his own character in the process: "Jacob is way more interesting... If you have a girlfriend that's like Edward... yeah, you’re hot and everything, but just shut up."

In a 2011 Vanity Fair profile, Pattinson said he "can't really understand" the fandom around Twilight "It does have an angle which is attached to something quite primal in girls. I guess people want it to define them, like, 'I'm a Twilight fan.' That’s crazy to me. I think people really just like being part of a crowd."

He told Variety in 2018 that he "stopped mentally progressing around the time when I started doing those movies." But the year after, he did soften a bit, telling PEOPLE, "Now the intensity has died down [it's] just very warm memories.”

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