Pattinson was born in London, England. He became involved in amateur theatre through the Barnes Theatre Company. After some backstage experience there, he took on acting roles. He caught the attention of an acting agent in a production of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and began looking for professional roles. Since then he has performed in an amateur version of Macbeth at the Old Sorting Office Arts Centre (also in West London), as well as trying his hand at modelling, for which he was sometimes credited as Robert Thomas-Pattinson.

He had supporting roles in the made for television film Ring of the Nibelungs (2004), and in director Mira Nair’s 2004 Vanity Fair, although his scenes in the latter were deleted, and only appear on the DVD version. In May 2005 he was slated to appear in the UK premiere of The Woman Before at the Royal Court Theatre, but was fired shortly before the opening night. He was replaced by Tom Riley.

Later that year he played Cedric Diggory in the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Consequently, he was named that year's British Star of Tomorrow by Times Online and has more than once been touted as the next Jude Law.

Pattinson appeared in the advertising campaign for Hackett's Autumn 2007 collection.

He has a role in the The Summerhouse and the film Little Ashes (in which he plays Salvador Dali). On December 11th, 2007, Summit Entertainment announced that Pattinson will play Edward Cullen in the upcoming movie Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel of the same name.