Pattinson overwhelmed by celebrity

Twilight star and heartthrob Robert Pattinson admitted he was overwhelmed by his own celebrity as thousands of fans who had queued for 13 hours greeted him with screams at his latest film premiere in London.

The 24-year-old British actor was joined by his Oscar-winning co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz on the red carpet at Westfield shopping centre for the premiere of circus love story Water For Elephants, but the screaming and sobbing girls only had eyes for Mr Pattinson.

He said of his fans, some of whom began queuing at 6 a.m. outside the shopping centre to get a front-row position: “It’s nuts!”

He said of his global celebrity status: “It’s weird, but it can be fun. I used to go shopping in this place and now it’s crazy.

“I guess you kind of adapt to it a little bit. Just keep working all the time and you don’t have time to think about it.”

The film, released in British cinemas yesterday, is based on Sara Gruen’s book about a travelling circus in the depression era.

Mr Pattinson plays a vet who runs away with the circus and falls in love with performer Marlena, played by Ms Witherspoon, who is married to the brutal ringmaster, played by Mr Waltz.

The stars of the film all dismissed the old adage never to work with animals.

Ms Whiterspoon said: “It was really fun. I went to circus school for two months and then I trained on the elephant for two months and just got to know her, and I had this amazing Cirque de Soleil choreographer to train me.”