Happy birthday Robert Pattinson: Did you know he ‘hated’ playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter? Here’s why

Robert Pattinson turns 36 on Friday. He got his start in the movies, when he appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, and became a household name when he starred in The Twilight Saga. (Read more: When Robert Pattinson talked about ‘mindlessly hating’ Twilight movies, how they took his dignity

Years before he dazzled (literally) on screen as vampire Edward Cullen in Twilight, and even before he took on the lead role in The Batman, Robert was channeling his supernatural abilities as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In a heroic move, his character, Cedric, sacrificed himself to Voldemort to give Harry the chance to escape, breaking the hearts of Harry Potter fans around the world.

Although most might associate Robert Pattinson with that character, the actor once shared that he and Cedric couldn’t be any more different. He admitted he wasn’t too fond of the character that helped further his career, according to Robert Pattinson: The Unauthorized Biography.

“I hate him,” Robert said, according to the book, of the role that arguably put him on the map. “I used to hate everybody like Cedric at my school.” The actor was 17, when he was cast in the Harry Potter franchise. Interestingly, he chose Harry Potter over going to university, as revealed in a 2017 interview with Time Out London.

He also elaborated on what exactly separated him from his on-screen character. Robert said he was never a leader, and the idea of him being made head boy would have been a complete joke. “I wasn’t involved in much at school, and I was never picked for any of the teams,” he said.

Calling it “quite difficult,” Robert explained why the handsome wizard in Harry Potter was a challenge to play. “In the book, and also in my character’s first introduction in the script, it’s like, ‘an absurdly handsome 17-year-old,’ and it kind of puts you off a little bit, when you’re trying to act, and you’re also trying to get good angles to look good and stuff. It’s really stupid; you’d think I’m really egotistical. But I think that’s the most daunting part about it,” Robert said, adding, “It’s much scarier than meeting Lord Voldemort.”