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Pattinson takes a bite out of fame; Stewart tells 'Twilight' fans to buzz off; Boyle gives back to Mumbai; crying over spilt 'Milk'

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As I began my interview with Robert Pattinson, the dreamy vampire Edward in the upcoming romantic thriller "Twilight," I reminded the 22-year-old Brit about our previous conversation on the movie's set last spring and how enthusiastic he was at the time about the project.

Puzzled, Pattinson responds, "I was having a good time on that day? There was, like, a close-up in the script where [Edward] has a look that's 'demonic and animalistic,' and just imagine trying to do that when you have stupid contact lenses in. You can hype yourself up as much as you want, but you still have two orange blobs in your head. Everyone is like, 'Do something! Do something!'"

A phenomenon that has caught most of the mainstream media off guard, "Twilight" frenzy has turned Pattinson from a relative nobody to tabloid fodder in less than six months. He says he tries not to look at the pictures, but finds it difficult when his family and friends continually forward them his press breaks.

"My mom sends me a picture and I'm like, 'Don't send it to me.' They send it every single time," Pattinson admits. "My mom and dad, any press I get, they always look at everything. I find it so bizarre. They are like, 'We're so proud of you.' And I'm like, 'Don't be proud of me. It's all luck.'"

Most young actors begin their careers insecurely humble (and quickly turn arrogantly entitled), so I prod Pattinson just a bit. To get to this stage in his career, there's got to be a little bit of talent involved, no?

"I have been phenomenally lucky considering I never started out trying to be an actor," Pattinson says. "It's funny because in all these things, so many actors say, 'Oh, the press, that's the actual job. Publicity and blah, blah, blah.' I try to spend as much of my life making it as easy as possible, and most actors say, 'I like to make the job as easy as possible and all the other stuff is so hard.' So, when they are doing press, they are so serious and that makes it so boring. But I like to make the jobs as hard as possible and stress myself out about everything, and then afterwards it's like you are yourself when you are doing [publicity]. Am I even answering your question?"

Eh, sort of. No doubt, it has been a long day.

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I move on to a recent quote that director Catherine Hardwicke gave in an L.A. Times article, saying that when Pattinson and co-star Kristen Stewart run into crazy fans, she gets freaked out but he seems to enjoy all the attention. Is Hardwicke reading the situation correctly?

"Definitely misreading," Pattinson says. "It's not like I have a bad time."

Pausing for a moment, Pattinson clarifies: "Kristen sort of wears her heart on her sleeve, it's very obvious. But, y'know, if I am feeling uncomfortable about something I force myself to be relaxed about it. People ask you if they can give you a kiss and you're like, 'No,' and they just do it anyway. And it's like, what can you do?"

Finally, knowing a "Twilight" sequel is more than likely, I ask Pattinson if he's looking forward to adapting the second and more action-packed novel in the series, "New Moon." His eyes light up at the prospect.

"My part in the second one is completely different," Pattinson says. "He's, like, distraught, and sort of goes mad. I much prefer the second one to the first, and I'm hardly in it. I just get this really cool, ominous presence in the book where Kristen keeps saying how much she's longing for the return of Edward and then I have this pretty dramatic entrance at the end where I'm going to kill myself. It's cool."

We'll take your word on it.

"Twilight" opens nationwide on Nov. 21.