Why Robert Pattinson Believes the Whole Premise of Twilight Was 'Strange' and 'Weird'

From 2008-2012, "Twilight" mania reigned supreme -- and star Robert Pattinson really doesn't understand why.

The actor famously played century-old vampire Edward Cullen in the five films, which chronicled the character's forbidden love story with human teenager Bella (Kristen Stewart) and the other supernatural beings standing in their way.

Speaking with Jennifer Lopez for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Pattinson admitted the story is "weird" and he didn't quite get the fan reaction to it all.

"I mean it's a weird story, 'Twilight.' It's strange how people responded," he told J.Lo. "I guess the books, they are very romantic, but at the same time, it's not like 'The Notebook' romantic. 'Twilight' is about this guy who finds the one girl he wants to be with, and also wants to eat her. Well, not eat — drink her blood or whatever."

"I thought it was a strange story," he continued, something that shouldn't be a new revelation to fans of the franchise. "Even the way I promoted it, I was very open about how strange I thought it was when I was doing it. Then afterward, I didn't make a conscious decision at all to do smaller things. I've just kept doing what I wanted to do in the first place."

According to Pattinson, he didn't really set out to make a massive franchise when he signed onto the first movie. Looking at everyone attached at the time, it seemed like a much smaller project.

"I mean with 'Twilight,' it wasn't really an established thing," he said, despite the huge following for the book series. "To me, Catherine Hardwicke, who directed it, had done 'Thirteen' and 'Lords of Dogtown.' They were little movies, and they were kind of hard-core. Kristen [Stewart] was in stuff as well; she'd been in 'Into the Wild' and some other things. And it was very indie."

Next, Pattinson will tackle another extremely well-known property as the titular superhero in "The Batman." He told Lopez that he liked that's it's an unexpected move for him. "I don't know what it is, which happened inside of me, but I was like, 'I kind of want to do it,'" he explained. "I like doing something which an audience doesn't know that it wants, and try to get it out of them: 'Oh yeah, you want to play Batman.'"

When Lopez noted he'll be "awesome" as the Dark knight, Pattinson said she would as well. "I could be Batman," she replied. "Why not? I think as an actor, it would be fun to explore."

And we'd love to see it!