"Twilight" may have saved Robert Pattinson's career. The 21-year-old Brit made a name for himself as Cedric Diggory in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," but he was slowly getting seduced away from acting by his musical interests. That changed when he was persuaded to read for the role of Edward Cullen, a 108-year-old vampire. He soon found himself in director Catherine Hardwicke's Los Angeles home auditioning alongside Kristen Stewart, who was set to play his romantic interest Bella, a teenage girl madly in love with the eternal teenager.

Pattinson recalls, "I had no idea how to play the part when I went in, and it was a good thing to find during the audition. I really wanted it after that, but I didn't really even know what it was. I hadn't really read any of the books. And just from that, 'I want this job.' It was pretty much because of Kristen."

As Edward, Pattinson plays Bella's soul mate, a person the novel describes as making her "ache" whenever he comes into a room. Even after landing the part, Pattinson wasn't sure he could live up to that sort of scrutiny.

"I thought I couldn't deal with the humiliation of 'Could he be more good looking?' Then I kind of read it [as] it's not like the author is saying Edward is the best looking guy in the world; it's from Bella's perspective who is obsessed with him," Pattinson says. "When you take into account that, he could look like anything. When you are in love with someone, you look past all the flaws."

He also had the opportunity to sit down with Stephenie Meyer, who wrote the original novel, and she provided him with extensive notes.

"There is another version of 'Twilight' called 'Midnight Sun,' which isn't finished, which Stephenie Meyer wrote, and it's the entire story from [Edward's] perspective," Pattinson says. "He just sees himself as the most disgusting person in the entire world, which is how I was trying to play it before I read that. Luckily, I was on the same page as the author."

Although the film contains many intimate, dramatic scenes, it also has its share of action. As a superpowered vampire, Pattinson is in the middle of most of it. He'd experienced much wirework on "Harry Potter," but running at "vampire speed" on this flick has unfortunately led to some "terminal groin chaffing."

"You're on this wire track and going 30 miles an hour and that's kind of fun, but the main thing you are thinking about is unbelievable pain and just wanting it to end," Pattinson says. He does add, "It's quite exciting, though."

Like his co-star Stewart, Pattinson is signed for a number of possible "Twilight" sequels, but he isn't sure what he'll do next. One thing is for sure: He's not so keen on returning to the damp and cold weather of Oregon after coming down with bronchitis for the first time.

"I never took antibiotics before in my life. [My infection went away] within two hours," Pattinson says. "I'm a big advocate for that now. A Z pack every day."

Can someone say endorsement deal?

"Twilight" opens nationwide Dec. 12.

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