He's not nearly as famous as were four of his fellow Britishers (John, Paul, Ringo and George), but hundreds of screaming fans who turned out Wednesday night in Orland Park for "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson couldn't care less.
They began showing up about 20 hours before his scheduled appearance at 6 p.m., and acted as delirious as did fans of the Fab Four some 40 years ago.
(Brett Roseman — SouthtownStar)
(Brett Roseman — SouthtownStar)
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Amid hundreds of screaming fans lined up outside the Hot Topic store inside Orland Square mall to meet the actor was Jennifer Armur, the first girl in line, who drove from Indianapolis and arrived just before midnight Tuesday.
Words cannot explain her admiration for Pattinson, Armur said, but she believes there's more to him than just his looks.
"He's not just a pretty face," the 22-year-old said. "There's more to him from what I can see."
However, his good looks didn't seem to bother other fans.
"He's the perfect specimen of a man," Beth Pizarro, of Morton Grove, said after briefly meeting him.
Her friend Jenny Manns, 30, agreed.
"He's very charming," she said. "I was literally in there for half a second."
To get a chance to meet Pattinson, 500 people had to buy a promotional T-shirt, a poster and a bracelet for a total of $30.
But many of his fans were left angry and frustrated after arriving Tuesday night to get in line, being sent away because of the large crowd that showed up and returning to find that all the 500 passes had been distributed.
Morgan Richards had the fun sucked right out of her 13th birthday celebration. Hoping to purchase one of the highly coveted passes, Morgan and her mom, Stacey Richards, of Roselle, headed to the mall Tuesday night. But when hundreds of people started lining up, Orland Park police and mall security told them to leave.
"They told us not to come back until 5 a.m. (Wednesday) or we'd be escorted off the property and our cars would be towed," Richards said.
So she and her daughter, like hundreds of others, left. But when they returned at 4 a.m. Wednesday, they were told all of the tickets had been given out just after midnight.
"I'm so disappointed," Richards said. "I'm trying to raise my daughter to follow the rules, and here the people in charge don't do it."
Skipping school to meet Pattinson, who plays the vampire Edward Cullen in the movie, was to be Morgan's birthday gift, her mom said.
Police Cmdr. Charles Doll said the move to hand out passes about midnight was the store's decision.
"At that time, the rest of the crowd was asked to leave by mall security," Doll said. "... The bottom line is if people are told to leave and they refuse they can be arrested. If their car is on private property, it can be towed."
Doll believed the fans' complaints were with the store. Calls to Hot Topic's corporate office weren't returned Wednesday afternoon.
Stunned and disappointed young women roamed the mall and parking lot Wednesday, some angrily waiting for the 7:30 p.m. question-and-answer session with Pattinson, some shopping in shifts while their friends "held" their spot in front of Macy's department store.
Those who missed out on Pattinson's 6 p.m. appearance were quick to express their disappointment at how the ticketing process changed midstream. Many fans had traveled great distances - from Green Bay, Wis., St. Louis, and Alabama - hoping to get into the meet-and-greet session.
"We're mad, really mad," said Nikki Powers, who made the trip in from Bradley twice in less than 12 hours only to learn she was out of luck.
Ashley Sullivan's mom drove her and her friends, Jenna Thurman and Kaytlin Kaltmayer, all the way from St. Louis on Tuesday, hoping to get a bracelet package.
"We're really mad," Ashley, 13, said. "All day (Tuesday), the workers at Hot Topic assured us the tickets would not be given out early."
Elizabeth Anglin, 18, drove to Orland Park from South Bend, Ind., with her friends, Kate Augustine, 19, and Jamie Abbott, 18.
"Edward is the guy that everyone wants," Anglin said of the character.
"So is Robert," Abbott said.
Taylor Stewart, 17, and Lyndsey Jones, 17, had some good luck and some bad luck. They left their Ottawa homes at midnight and arrived at the mall just in time to purchase two of the last nine tickets.
"We slept (overnight) in our car," Stewart said. "It was really cold."
To make matters worse, when they emerged from the car after the mall opened, they locked their keys inside.
So was it worth all the inconvenience?
"Are you kidding?" Stewart said. "The books (on which the movie is based) are amazing. The characters are amazing. Edward is amazing. He's beautiful."
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