It’s been exactly one year since Twilight, the teenage-vampire book series turned film franchise, became a worldwide phenomenon, launching brooding, reluctant star Robert Pattinson into the celebrity stratosphere. Not since Leonardo DiCaprio’s Titanic era has there been a young actor so rabidly hunted by teenagers and paparazzi alike—enough that mere sightings of him with his co-star and rumored paramour Kristen Stewart make for international front-page news. For the cover story of Vanity Fair’s December issue, contributing editor Evgenia Peretz interviews Pattinson, Stewart, and a host of Twilight insiders for an intimate profile that describes how he landed the role of Edward Cullen, distills the essence of his appeal, and explores his discomfort with the hormone-fueled frenzy he inspires among his fans.

To read “Twilight’s Hot Gleaming” and see Bruce Weber’s exclusive photographs of Pattinson (only available in the print edition), pick up a copy of the December 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, available on newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on November 4 and nationally on November 10.

For more pictures and interview, check out MrPattinson.com!