Is it true that Rob suffered some kind of head injury while filming New Moon in Vancouver?

This rumor originated with a blurb in the National Enquirer which hit newsstands around March 23, 2009. It reported:

A bad wind suddenly blew no good at sexy “Twilight” vampire Robert Pattinson–ripping loose a metal advertising sign that rocketed across an open field and slammed into Mr. Undead’s head, knocking him flat as cameras were getting ready to roll…

…Star Vampire dropped like a zapped bat, then laid deadly still as cast and crew ran to help, sending out a radio call for an ambulance. Finally, Pattinson–looking like he’d had the blood sucked from him–began moving, feebly, disoriented, but able to speak. The crew put ice packs on a knot-sized lump, and by the time medics arrived, the star was coherent and insisting he was fine. Taking no chances, the director cancelled filming. Pattinson was ordered back to his hotel, but returned the next day — still sporting a lump.

The Evidence

Rob did indeed appear to be in Vancouver the previous week. He was reported as attending some additional makeup testing sessions that week, and was confirmed as attending a concert put on by his friend, Sam Bradley, on Friday, March 20th.

But did Rob even film that week? Co-star Jackson Rathbone did indicate, as quoted by Just Jared, that filming was scheduled to begin on Monday, March 13th.

As as the cast was leaving, Jackson, 24, revealed to paparazzi that filming for New Moon will be starting earlier than anticipated. He shared, “[Rehearsals] They’re going great, they’re going great. We’re actually going to start filming on Monday, so be sure to check it out.”

However, set reports seem to indicate that the scenes being filmed are those involving Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and Bella (Kristen Stewart). On March 19 and 20, the crew was filming at Pacific Rim National Park, per an article in the Calgary Sun. The newspaper reported on a set visit by a group of fans.

“We got there and saw the trailers and the crews and they told us it was a commercial and a documentary,” said the Grade 12 student at Ucluelet secondary school, where Twilight devotion splits the class. “Finally, someone was like, ‘Yeah, it’s New Moon.’”…

…Timmermans and her friends hung around the set Thursday and spotted two of the film’s stars, Kristin Stewart, 18, and Taylor Lautner, 17, coming up a trail from the beach.

“They looked like they were filming the scene where Bella [Stewart] almost drowns because they were wet and wrapped in towels,” she said.

Whether Rob was needed for these or any other scenes filmed that week is unclear.  There were no other additional reports of an ambulance being called to the set.

The Verdict

The initial article in the gossip tabloid was very specific with a lot of details, however, none of those details seem verifiable. There are no other reports of filming being cancelled or ending early on any day.  The first week of filming is also a period of time in which it appears that the only main actors needed may have been Kristen and Taylor.

Spunk-Ransom.com reported that they phoned the office of Nick Frenkel, Robert’s manager, to inquire if Rob was injured.  They were told by an assistant, “Not that we’re aware of.” 

The Pattinson Anonymous team initially labeled this rumor as Unresolved, but now there is confirmation it is BUSTED.   Pattinson Online reported Rob’s manager, Nick Frenkel, had the following to say:

“This story is completely false.  Robert has not been injured in any way and no version of the story ever occurred.”

Thank you to Shorty who gave us the heads up on the  Radaronline article and RobFan who pointed us to the Pattinson Online original quote.

Tags: injury, new moon

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Busted, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.