Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. R-Pats and K-Stew. Patman and Kristen. Robbie Pattie and Kristy Stewie. El Roberto and La Kristina, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.
Good Time and Personal Shopper
Before I press on, I feel I have to recontextualise ‘unfortunate,’ and how that word relates to the two.
By most, if not all metrics, they are not unfortunate actors, quite the contrary. They are millionaires who continue to find work, are well regarded by critics, and in a broader sense, they are successful actors.
But they are unfortunate in the sense that a large number of people consider them to be bad actors, and it’s almost exclusively because of their roles in the much-maligned Twilight franchise.
Also, it’s not just that they’re considered ‘bad actors,’ they are actively ridiculed and mocked.
A lot of people seem to despise the two, and often quite aggressively. Well, I’m here to tell you that this aggression will not stand, man.
Because here’s the thing – I think they’re two very fine actors.
They have taken that FU Twilight money and built a career on doing interesting, challenging and mature work with exciting filmmakers.
Unfortunately for their PR managers, those movies aren’t what you would call ‘mainstream.’
I boarded the ‘Pattinson is Great!’ train in 2016, when I saw him in The Lost City of Z.
Now, he had appeared in well-regarded movies and garnered praise for his performances before that as well, but those movies weren’t on my radar – The Rover and Cosmopolis.
The Lost City of Z was only the third movie of Pattinson’s that I had seen at that point. And I thought he was quite remarkable.
The Lighthouse
And since then, he has been on a roll. The trifecta of Good Time, High Life and The Lighthouse has in my eyes, established him as a hugely exciting talent, both in terms of his varied performances and his eclectic selection of films.
As for his standing, the tide is turning. As he returns to the mainstream with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and takes on playing the Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, he will undoubtedly win over a new section of fans.
Careful, man, there’s a beverage here.
Kristen Stewart’s return to the mainstream, however, didn’t go according to plan.
Charlie’s Angels bombed at the box office and was met with lukewarm critical reception. But I suppose that’s the life of an actor. Strikes and gutters, ups and downs.
The Stewart backlash is even more inexplicable than Pattinson’s.
Here is someone who has been acting since 1999; she was in a David Fincher movie with Jodie Foster when she was 12.
While by no means an A-lister, Stewart was an established presence in the industry before Twilight.
After those movies, the narrative around her seems to be that she is a terrible, one-note actress who doesn’t smile enough. Goodness.
Clouds of Sils Maria
Of course, people are free to make their own choices, but I suspect a large number of her “haters” haven’t seen enough of her movies.
Because I can’t imagine how one can walk away from the likes of Adventureland, Café Society, and Camp X-Ray thinking she’s a bad actress.
To go one step further, I don’t see how anyone can walk away from Clouds of Sils Maria and Personal Shopper with anything but the highest regard for her obvious abilities.
While I wouldn’t call her greatly versatile, I find Stewart’s understated and internalised approach to her characters fascinating and consistently engaging.
That being said, her unique energy can be utilised to good to great comedic effect, as it was in American Ultra and Charlie’s Angels.
Besides, she has put together an interesting and eclectic filmography that stands alone compared to most of her peers.
While determining just how good Pattinson and Stewart are as actors would make for an interesting debate; they are unequivocally good, at the very least.
And at times, I would argue they are great.
But that's just, like, my opinion, man.
That quote really tied the answer together.
Image source Google
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