How to Navigate The Heartthrob to Hollywood Transition

“Being in such a specific pigeonhole right now, it’s very strange,” Pattinson told Vanity Fair in 2011, a person couldn’t swing a vampiric baseball bat without hitting a Team Edward shirt. “Having a persona people recognize, it’s the thing that probably gets you paid the most—but it’s also the thing that virtually every actor in the world doesn’t want. ’Cause, like, no one would believe me if I wanted to play something ultra-realistic, like a gangster or something.”

In the decade since Twilight’s final installment, Pattinson worked to prove just the opposite and undo his teen heartthrob status, trading mainstream fare for challenging roles in films from David Cronenberg, Werner Herzog, Claire Denis, and Nolan. And yes, he even got to play that “ultra-realistic” gangster in 2017’s Good Time, a hard-boiled thriller directed by Benny and Josh Safdie. Pattinson’s blockbuster origins and recent indie presence collided for his weirder, more detached take on Bruce Wayne in The Batman earlier this year. 

Dwayne Johnson: Lean Into Your Strengths

Nearly two decades before Johnson was considered a presidential contender, not to mention one of the biggest stars in the world, it was unclear if he would even be taken seriously as an actor. He was credited only as The Rock, his professional wrestling name, for his first several films, including The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King. At times, Hollywood struggled with which space to slot Johnson into—testing him as a family-friendly lead in The Game Plan and Tooth Fairy and brawny supporting player in comedies like Get Smart and The Other Guys. But it was his casting in the Fast & Furious franchise as Hobbs, a character he’s played in five films and a spin-off, that first truly tapped into Johnson’s built-in action-star charisma.

At the time, Johnson says he reinvisioned his career around fellow heartthrobs turned movie stars like Will Smith and George Clooney. “I said, ‘Those are the guys who are on top. And I don’t know how, but I feel like if we can all go shoulder to shoulder on this, I feel like there’s a pathway to that kind of success, only different and maybe better or bigger,’” he told Vanity Fair. With box office smashes such as Jumanji, San Andreas, and the recently released Black Adam, it appears that Johnson’s vision has been realized to the tune of $430.4 million in box office receipts in recent years. 

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