Robert Pattinson is looking back at a big purchase that backfired during his rise to fame.
In a recent interview with GQ, the British actor opened up about his taste in luxury items like watches and cigars — but revealed that during his time working on the iconic vampire franchise Twilight, he overestimated his passion for cars.
“When I was doing Twilight, I got this Shelby Mustang, which is the car I always wanted when I was a kid,” Pattinson, 40, told the magazine. “I think it was a GT350, maybe, or a Fastback, like the one from Gone in 60 Seconds,” he said, referencing the 2000 action flick.
He added that the car led to some humiliating experiences in public, where it would “break down — always in front of enormous groups of tourists or something like that — and I’d have to push it around the corner.”
“I was like, ‘That’s it. I’ve had enough of this. I need something that just works,’” he said.
The Odyssey actor said about his taste in cars, whiskey and cigars: “I also like the idea of it but I always feel like I don’t particularly know what I’m doing.”
Pattinson starred in all five of the Twilight movies as vampire Edward Cullen opposite love interest Bella Swan, played by Kristen Stewart. The series ended with the release of Breaking Dawn: Part Two in 2012.
An online Barnett-Jackson car auction listing from 2017 confirms that Pattinson previously owned a 1968 Shelby GT350 Hertz edition, which was one of 224 built. Only 400 miles were driven on the car since it was fully restored in 2011, according to the listing.
In 2012, Pattinson also spoke about his affinity for old cars during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, in which he admitted to buying “several” vehicles used online, including a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado that he haggled down from $2,500.
Elsewhere in the GQ article published Tuesday, Pattinson spoke about his upcoming projects, including the long-awaited sequel to The Batman — which is in production now in the U.K. — and the highly anticipated A24 drama Primetime, in which he plays To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen.
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Primetime, which comes out September 25, stars Pattinson as the longtime TV personality in a dark take on the origin of the NBC Dateline show, which centered on catching sex predators in the act. Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the film’s cast also includes Unbelievable actor Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo and singer Phoebe Bridgers in her acting debut.