Interesting Tidbits:



Edward Cullen:
Edward Anthony Masen Cullen was born the son of Elizabeth & Edward Masen on June 20, 1901. In 1918 at age seventeen, having lost his mortal family to a particularly deadly strain of Spanish Influenza, Edward found himself at death's door. Whilst receiving treatment in Chicago, he came under the care of the enigmatic Dr. Carlisle Cullen. His mother had made a final wish that the young doctor do all within his power to prevent the death of her son from the same disease. It is unclear whether or not she was aware of the fate she was assigning to him. Dr. Cullen complied with her request the only way he knew how: by transforming Edward into a vampire.



Presently, Edward resides in the wintry town of Forks, Washington with his "adopted" family: Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen, sisters Rosalie and Alice, and brothers Emmett and Jasper. He attends Forks High School, sharing the graduating class of Isabella Swan, human daughter of Police Chief Charlie Swan. Despite almost ninety years of strict abstinence from human blood, upon meeting Bella he was barely able to resist the urge to feed on her. The unique, potent aroma of her blood proved to be a powerful temptation, awakening the dormant beast within and very nearly destroying the life the Cullens has constructed for themselves.



In degrees, Edward learns to overcome and to control his thirst for Bella, and his fascination quickly evolves into passionate adoration. However Bella's penchant for becoming embroiled in dangerous situations weighs heavy on his conscience. When Bella is part of a near-fatal accident involving Tyler Crowley's van in the school parking lot, Edward intercedes and Bella discovers his extraordinary physical strength. After he rescues her again, this time from a gang of would-be attackers in Port Angeles, she begins to realize that strength is only one of the strange gifts he possesses. After this incident, the two become inseparable and their love continues to grow and evolve into something profound. Edward finds himself unwilling and unable to stay away from Bella, though he fears that he is exposing her to danger and is soon sharing the secrets of his families various "powers" and their individual histories.



Edward's gift is that he can read minds, hearing peoples innermost thoughts. He has never encountered a person who is immune to his power... until Bella shows up and he realizes that her mind is impenetrable. At first this infuriates him, but it is also the catalyst for his obsession with her; How and why is her mind a mystery to him? As Bella comes to grips with the truth about the Cullen family, she continually begs Edward to turn her into one of them. She dreads the fact that she grows older than him day by day, and sees her humanity as more of a curse than a gift as she is pursued by all manner of supernatural assailants. His brothers and sisters include Alice, who can see the future, Jasper, who can control others emotions, Emmett, who has supernatural strength (even for a vampire), and the amazingly beautiful Rosalie. Though most of them trust their natural instincts and avoid her because of her sweet smelling blood, they eventually adjust to the change and support Edward's feelings for Bella. They are all vampire offspring of the mysterious Carlisle Cullen and his vampire wife Esme. While Jasper and Emmett's parents remain unknown, Rosalie and Edward talk of their parents occasionally. Alice is from an asylum and doesn't know who created her nor does she remember her past human life.Edward is described as being impossibly beautiful. His face is angular and perfect--high cheekbones, strong jawline, straight nose, and beautiful, perfect lips. His hair, which is always in casual disarray, is an unusual bronze shade inherited from his biological mother, Elizabeth. As a human, his eyes were an emerald green. He is said to have a dazzling crooked smile. He stands 6'2", has a slender yet muscular body, and is physically 17 years old.



Robert Pattinson:
In the tried and true nature of all movie magic moments, it only took one film to turn Robert Pattinson from featured player to the idol of millions of teenaged girls around the globe. The British actor, who prior to 2008 was best known as the doomed Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005), was cast as Edward Cullen, the romantic vampire hero of “Twilight” (2008). The news of the casting sent shockwaves through the young adult community that worshiped the novels by Stephanie Meyer on which the film was based, and who quickly elevated Pattinson to favored pin-up status. The buzz around Pattinson seemed to solidify what the British press had ordained him in 2005 – a “Star of Tomorrow.” Born Robert Thomas-Pattinson on May 13, 1986 in London, England, he was raised in the suburb of Barnes by his parents, Clare and Robert Pattinson. Acting captured his fancy at an early age and soon supplanted schoolwork as his sole focus. As a teenager, he joined the prestigious Barnes Theatre Club, which gave him an education in classic drama. A casting agent saw him in a production of “Tess of the D’urbervilles” and encouraged him to pursue performing as a career. He made his screen debut in 2004 in a German TV production of the epic fantasy “Ring of the Nibelungs,” which aired in the United States as “Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King” in 2006. Pattinson also landed a minor role as a younger version of James Purefoy’s character in Mira Nair’s adaptation of “Vanity Fair” (2004), but his scenes were left on the cutting room floor. Immediately after returning from the South African set of “Nibelungs,” he was awarded the role of Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” for director Mike Newell. Diggory, the hero of rival wizard school Hufflepuff, was Harry’s opponent on both the Quidditch field and in romance, as he trumped Harry’s two wins at the TriWizard Tournament by squiring the young hero’s beloved, Cho Chang, to the Yule Ball. Diggory’s moment in the sun was short-lived, as both he and Harry faced down the sinister Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). The villain’s henchman, Peter Pettigrew, dispatched Diggory, who was mourned by the entire school. The press, in its raves over Newell’s film adaptation, singled out Pattinson for his charismatic performance, and some went as far as to name him a “future Jude Law.” The Times Online also bestowed the “Star of Tomorrow” award upon him. Pattinson’s sudden popularity afforded him some choice roles post-“Potter.” He was top-billed as a shell-shocked World War II airman in the supernatural thriller “The Haunted Airman” for BBC Four, and later played a nerdy student with a crush on his teacher (Catherine Tate) in the highly rated drama, “The Bad Mother’s Handbook” (2007) for ITV. That same year, he returned briefly to the wizard world with a flashback cameo as Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” The year 2008 saw Pattinson return to features with “How To Be,” which earned him critical acclaim for his portrayal of a depressed young man who attempts to wrest some control over his spiraling life. Pattinson also tackled the role of legendary surrealist Salvador Dali in the arthouse effort, “Little Ashes,” which explored the friendship between Dali, filmmaker Luis Bunuel and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, as well as the unusual romance that developed between the former and the latter. However, both were overshadowed by the high-powered spotlight that shone on Pattinson after he was cast as Edward Cullen in Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of “Twilight.” A century-old vampire trapped in the body of a 17-year-old, Cullen falls madly in love with a human girl, Isabella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and later runs afoul of a malevolent fellow bloodsucker with designs on his new girlfriend. Massively popular with teenage girls, the news of Pattinson being cast as Edward was met with almost equal excitement as the reaction to the book-to-film adaptation in the first place. Internet fan sites quickly sprung up to celebrate him and debate his crushworthy status in great detail, including everything from his unique hairdo to his handsome profile.