Dammit! I like Robert Pattinson.

OK, I will admit it – I’ve read the Twilight books. All of them. And…and I loved them. I’ve seen the movies too, although I like the books better. I’ll also admit I was a bit bitter to see the movies blow up in popularity, creating a Twilight franchise that cheapened the experience of the books for me.

Although Kristen Stewart looks pretty much exactly like the Bella I’d pictured in my head while reading the books, I was particularly bothered by Robert Pattinson as the choice to play Edward the romantic vampire, because he did not at all match the hunky image I’d created of Edward in my head while still reading the series. Then I started seeing Pattinson’s face everywhere and reading about all the girls from teenyboppers to housewives (many of which are old enough to be his mother) swooning over him, that I was “over” him before I knew a thing about him.

It’s been a few years now though and I finally gave in and read an interview with young star and I guess I have yet another thing to admit – I liked him. No, I don’t like him in the “OMG, he’s sooooo hot!” kind of way. I liked that he sounded like someone I would hang out with. He came across and funny, real, and not pretentious, despite his instanct level of popularity (at least with the female population in the world).

The interview I read, from BlackBook magazine, covered some random ground, but it did get his personality as a pretty normal 26-year-old across. Pattinson shared a fun anecdote with the magazine about purchasing his first car when his acting career was just starting to take off.

“The first time anyone said anything about my being famous was when I tried to buy a car a few years ago. It was an ’89 BMW convertible for $1,000 I found on Craigslist. I went out to the hills to take it on a test drive and, of course, almost crashed. A few days later I went back to pick it up. I had said I was an actor and the guy had looked me up. When I went back, he said,’ Dude, do you realize you’re #2 on IMDB?’ I thought, ‘Shit, now I can’t ask for the 200 bucks off.’”

Pattinson also had a charming answer for how he felt about being at the Cannes Film Festival this year promoting the final Twilight installment, due in theaters in November.

“I lost my mind,” Pattinson admitted in hilarious honesty. “I was preparing myself to fight with 1,500 people. I was so amped up. I was just kind of running around with my pants down and my shoelaces untied and, amazingly, not falling. Until this … Most people get 15 years of doing movies nobody sees. Now I’m at Cannes.”

Despite his not taking himself too seriously, what really won me over as a Pattinson fan was his ability to see stardom for what it is – a media game that celebrities rarely – if ever – can win at.

“You try to say things in the perfect way but you know unless you say something stupid, from which people will make you look like a dick, you’re not going to have sound bites. And if you don’t say anything stupid, someone’s going to make something up anyways.”

Sad, but probably true. Well-said Robert, from your newest fan.