As we’ve already discussed on a few occasions, Robert Pattinson has been promoting Cosmopolis, which has him poised to be the surprise breakout star of the Twilight Saga. Who would have thought it possible? Certainly, I wouldn’t have believed it a few years ago, but his movie performances outside of Twilight have steadily grown better and more believable in terms of acting, and the Cosmopolis trailer looks relatively phenomenal in terms of a David Cronenberg-styled masterpiece. Now Sparkles has spoken with CBC host George Stroumboulopoulos about exactly how nervous he is to move on as an actor and how both Ryan Gosling and Adele have both inspired him to think differently when promoting his new projects. Here’s a few excerpts from the interview:

Was Cosmopolis a concerted effort to break free of Twilight? “This was not part of the plan at all. I just thought I was totally oversaturated everywhere, I wanted to do little tiny parts or maybe no parts at all. I got this three weeks before I was finishing the last Twilight movie, and I was really, really determined to find ensemble pieces or anything small just so I didn’t have to be in everybody’s face and annoying everyone. And then this thing came up.”

How to promote Cosmopolis: “It reminded me, I watched this interview with Ryan Gosling once, and he said when he did The Believer a few years ago, and people were saying – cause he’d done “Young Hercules” for three or four seasons – and then he did The Believer and everybody was asking about his craft. And it’s the most, most confusing thing. I was in Cannes doing these interviews, and I was really fighting to not look pretentious for years, and someone gives you one inch of the possibility of being pretentious, and you’re like grabbing it so hard, going around being the biggest douchebag. And now I’ve kind of reined it in again.”

On keeping true friends post-fame: “I just remember, I think I was pretty similar before. Like I would be one of those people who was desperate to go to a party and then they go to the party and just stand in the corner with the people they came with and refuse to acknowledge that anyone else is there. So I don’t really miss anything. And you kind of, you have all these fantasies if I wasn’t famous I’d meet all these random people in the street all the time. But you don’t meet random people in the street. Most of the time you’re trying to avoid everybody even if you’re not famous.

“Actually I had this argument with Adele, which is probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever said. I was saying, ‘you know, you can really just like reach for it,’ and she was like, ‘you do realize I am like the biggest-selling female artist ever?’ And I just for some reason just decided to get into an argument with her.”

On needing a second act to his career: “The only thing I ever thought about was thinking, I don’t want anyone to think that I somehow got trapped by something, you know. And I don’t know if anyone really does, the general public, about Twilight — but the amount of times you get asked, ‘oh, are you worried about being typecast?’ I’m just worried about people saying, like, ‘What happened to that guy?’ And also, you think, you want to do something at least a little bit worthwhile with what kind of power you’ve been given, through luck. And not just keep trying to extend the same thing for as long as possible.”

On his immediate future: “I’m desperately trying to get a superhero movie now.”

[From Movieline]

God, that last bit is hilarious. You just know that, aside of another Twilight movie, the biggest nightmare in Sparkles’ mind would be to put on some tights and star in his own superhero movie. That’s just a bit more of the self-deprecating nature that many of us have come to know and love from the bloke. At this moment though, Sparkles has said precisely the correct thing while attempting to make his transition to a more respectable actor than the Twilight franchise would ideally permit, and he totally gets it. When he said he “want[s] to do something at least a little bit worthwhile with what kind of power you’ve been given, through luck,” it’s totally believable. There’s no eyeroll and no pretentious attitude. It’s kind of amazing that his girlfriend of (at least a few) years, Kristen Stewart, has yet to learn such PR lessons that Sparkles seems to manage with ease.

Still, I’m not completely letting RPattz off the hook because — let’s face it — the real test will be what he says while promoting the movie where he plays the solder and interrogator who captures Saddam Hussein. In other words, grab your popcorn, mates.

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News and WENN