The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn star, who is dating Kristen Stewart, said that he used to think acting was "pretentious".
He explained: "I suppose it was a variety of things - the pretty girls? There was a theatre around the corner from my house. I guess it was something I always wanted to do, but I thought it was pretty pretentious. I didn't mind the kids that were acting at school but I wanted to do it secretly outside the school."
He told The Sun: "I just liked the environment. I worked backstage for about three years and just watched everything and then I did a couple of plays and I got an agent from one of the plays, totally randomly."
The 24-year-old, who can currently be seen starring opposite Reese Witherspoon in new romantic movie Water for Elephants, also admitted that he loved working with all the animals on set.
