For a bit of context, Jamie and Robert belong to a long-standing circle of actors who lived together and hung out in London during the late 2000s. Big names like Andrew Garfield and Eddie Redmayne were also known to be members of the up-and-coming group at the time.
Since finding fame in the industry, the various actors have opened up about these early years in their careers, revealing that the dynamics in their friendship group could get a little awkward while they were competing for the same roles.
“Because we were spending so much time together — and Eddie and I were literally living together — you’d find out you weren’t getting a callback…if you got the call saying they wanted to see you again, and the other one didn’t get that call, then they would know that they probably aren’t going to be wanted again,” Jamie said during an appearance on the Awards Chatter podcast last year.
And now, promoting his new Netflix movie Heart of Stone, the Fifty Shades of Grey star reflected on feeling “jealous” of Rob when his career began to take off in the late 2000s.
“I’ve known Rob forever. He’s a really good friend. I love him,” Jamie said while participating in the latest edition of Wired’sAutocomplete Interview series. “I think he’s one of the most interesting, exciting actors around.”
“I probably at one point was quite jealous of him early on. We were all friends back in London, and Rob was going places, and we weren’t,” he confessed, before emphasizing that he thinks the Batman star is “the nicest guy in the world.”
Of course, Jamie is referring to Rob’s overnight success after being cast as Edward Cullen in Twilight back in 2008. The five-part movie franchise grossed $3.3 billion globally, catapulting Rob and his costars to worldwide stardom.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in March 2022, Jamie previously opened up about the way Rob’s success impacted their friendship, joking that he and their fellow actor buddies began to question if he still “fit in” with the group.
“I think with Rob, it’s always been like, he sort of had success earlier, so we were a bit like, ‘Does he really fit in with us?’ Because we were not working and he’s working all the time,” he said. “He did Twilight and was suddenly in a different stratosphere than us.”
Needless to say, Jamie’s time to shine came just a few years later when he was cast as Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise in 2013, which went on to earn more than $1 billion over the course of three films.
And as for Eddie and Andrew? I think their Oscar nominations (and win) speak for themselves.
