I related to Tyler in that I wish I could have done things like he did when I had the opportunity. There is something quite satisfying about being a little bit more reckless and even fighting. It’s quite cathartic to just sort of randomly start hitting someone. It was fun kind of, letting all your rage go on the set.

In a lot of ways, it’s different because when you’re working with young people it’s like you’re going on the journey together. Everything is fresh to you. Whereas if you’re working with experienced people, they’re much clearer about what they want to do or bring to the job right from the beginning which is really good in some ways. But, at the same time, they’re very willing. Chris [Cooper] and I were rewriting the scene when we fought each other during the lunch break just before. I never worked with anyone who is really tied down to what they want to do and that’s that. It’s really good either way.

Maybe I just am brooding and wounded. I’m just realizing that. Nah, I’m not. You just take little steps. I’m always aware of how people are going to view things so you’ve kind of got to go halfway. If I did something playing a 400-pound woman people are probably going to judge it more harshly than other people who have been doing character parts for 20 years. Not in a calculated way but all of the projects I’m doing seem like little baby steps toward other things. The thing I’m doing now [Bel Ami] is completely different in some ways but, at the same time, it’s got a lot of intensity. It’s what I like in characters.

I used to write a lot by just doing gigs, and just turning up to open mics with two lines of a song, and the pressure would force you to make something up. And I can’t really do that anymore. That was my main process of writing songs, get songs that are totally uninformed by self-consciousness. When I sit down and try to write some lyrics, it just looks like rubbish. I can’t function with two things at the same time. I don’t even listen to music when I’m doing [films]. I think after doing another movie after this movie now, then I’ll try and write some music, hopefully at the end of the year.

It’s the fantasy idea of living in the East Village. It’s the kind of life I would have wanted to have if I was a student. It’s a very active culture– even the extras in New York, everybody’s got an opinion about everything.

I used to dance all the time till I was 16 and I was at a wedding in Seattle. I didn’t realize at the time that Canadian beer is like really strong, like 7.8 percent or something. And I was just going nuts on the dance floor and my dad was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I’ve never been able to get that out of my head. I’m so self-conscious about it.

Mine was made out of half a bra and some wig tape, which took me 35 minutes to actually figure out how to stick on and then it just fell off immediately. You’re so obsessed whenever you have to do any nudity stuff. You’re like, ‘Yeah, I definitely need this thing on.’ And then you get there and as soon as you’re standing naked in front of everyone you don’t care anyway. It’s actually quite liberating.

The only worrying thing is that when you see your face everywhere all the time, you start to get fears of oversaturation, and that you won’t be able to do anything else. If I decided not to be an actor and do something else, then everyone’s like, no you’re the guy from ‘Twilight,’ I can’t really take you seriously.

I think Betty White is probably one of the sexiest women in America. She’s vibrant; it’s sexy. I think the more age, the better.

The fans, not trying to kiss their ass or anything, the fans are always fine. It’s just paparazzi that are the ones that are nightmares because they’re making money out if it. If you’re not making money out of it they just want to watch. They don’t want to break anything. So yeah, the fans are fine.

If I could do supporting roles in things, then I’d love to do that. But it’s difficult to get supporting roles because it would be really weird most of the time. ‘Well, there’s the guy from Twilight playing the parking warden,’ or something. But I would love to do that.

There’s a reason why James Dean stereotype is so common, especially in actors, I think. I think it’s pretty real. It’s also an ideal for young guys I think. I think, anyway. Because as soon as you stop struggling against something, what have you got to do? That’s the whole point being young, struggling against things.

Like when you meet someone who you feel whatever for, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s a finish line, and that’s like ‘oh you’ll be alright now afterwards.’ I think that worked in the relationship with Allie and Tyler. I think it’s to show that it’s sort of ok to have, if you just have one moment of happiness, where you can feel that you’re happy, even if it just lasts for a minute. It’s worth a lot. Because I think people now, everyone does all of these things because they think they should be happy like all the time. Doing therapy, and taking anti-depressants and all of these things. If you’re happy all of the time, it’s difficult to acknowledge when you actually are happy.

I was hitting myself afterward in a little spur of the moment thing which they cut out of the movie. I hit myself so hard, I was in so much pain for the rest of the shoot. It was the most stupid thing I’ve ever done.

Well, I’ve been beaten up a few times. I was a bit of an idiot when I was younger. Always unprovoked, in my eyes anyway. It was just after I first started acting and I liked to behave like an actor and that generally provoked a lot of people into hitting me.

Tyler is so aware of his actions. But he has no idea whether they’re of any value at all. Can you be a person if you live in the bubble? He’s stuck in the middle. At the same time, he’s lucky to have the choice. Conflict is innate in a lucky person.

I really hate vaginas. I’m allergic to vagina. But I can’t say I had no idea, because it was a 12-hour shoot, so you kind of get the picture that these women are going to stay naked after, like, five or six hours. But I wasn’t exactly prepared. I had no idea what to say to these girls. Thank God I was hungover.

I find it really funny—if I got shot, I would literally be in hysterics. I would be like, ‘Are you serious? Jesus Christ, get Zac Efron! He’s got more social relevance than I do.’

I think you need to be able to break through what you think about yourself to try to make any sort of art. I used to play music all the time, and the most amazing part was the freedom that came with kicking myself in the ass, letting go, and surprising myself.

That was one of the hardest things I had to do the whole movie, I had no idea really how to do it, so I was kind of shooting in the wind and… shooting in the wind is not the expression.

On the first shot on the first day, I kind of strained one of my ass cheeks. My ass just couldn’t take the strain of the first day. And they had to bring in a physiotherapist and I, uh, had to have a butt massage on the first day.

It caught me by surprise. Whenever I start crying I just start weeping afterward, it’s like, I have emotions!

My old agent used to promote me as the male Keira Knightley. I thought: ‘Well, what does that say about me exactly?’ Do I pout a lot or something?

Being an English guy, you get a lot more breaks. You’re allowed to look a little worse. It’s that thing about English teeth.

Especially in New Moon, and actually in the whole series, I’ve never played it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m in a series of girls’ films and I’m doing something just for girls.’ I don’t feel like I’m doing an animated Tiger Beat, every week. I like doing romantic scenes. I felt like a lot of the storyline in New Moon is very heartbreaking and true. I didn’t think I was doing something, just for the sake of romance. I thought, in a lot of ways, that it was a really sad story.

The fight scene was actually really fun. It’s the only fight scene I’ve ever done in which I actually look like I’m quite good at fighting in it! I’m quite happy with that.

Who won’t like being called the sexiest person? Well, actually I don’t know whether I am sexy or not. How could I comment about myself? Ask others I guess. I am ok with such tags as far as there is no stereotyping. But yes, I would like to rename the title to The Sexiest Actor instead of just Man. After all I am an actor first.

I think it’s such a risky thing doing interviews. I try to limit the amount of interviews I do, because no one is that interesting, especially when you’re not really saying anything. I don’t particularly want to be some kind of character in society or whatever. So I guess the only thing you can do is do jobs and see if people respond to that.

I always find it funny when older people come up. There was a woman who came up to me the other day who must have been in her 90s! And she said all this stuff; it’s very unusual. And they say exactly the same things as 12-year-old girls! That is kind of bizarre.

It’s (music) the thing that makes you more naked, more than acting. You can’t blame anyone if you make it bad, you can’t blame any screenwriter, or director. There you are, with your soul.