He is one of the bright new stars of the latest Harry Potter film. Now Robert Pattinson, 19, is being dubbed "the next Jude Law" for a screen-stealing performance as the dashing head boy in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.

The London-born teenager, who plays Potter's love rival, will set hearts racing among female cinema-goers when the film is released tomorrow.

Today, friends told of the young actor's rise to fame - from prep school productions to local theatre companies and now international movie stardom.

The Evening Standard has pieced together Pattinson's past. He is the son of a former "second-hand car dealer" from Barnes - his father ran a business importing vintage models from America.

On screen his character of Hogwarts head boy Cedric Diggory can seem to do no wrong but in real life Pattinson's school days were quite different. In a 1998 newsletter at boys' preparatory Tower House School in East Sheen, he is described as "a runaway winner of last term's Form Three untidy desk award".
What he lacked in organisation, though, Pattinson made up for in drama skills.

From the age of six he acted in numerous school productions, playing the part of the King of Hearts in Spell For A Rhyme - a play written by one of his teachers - and the role of Robert in William Golding's Lord Of The Flies.

Caroline Booth, school secretary at Tower House, told the Standard: "He wasn't a particularly academic child but he always loved drama.

"He was an absolutely lovely boy, everyone adored him. We have lots of lovely boys here but he was something special. He was very pretty, beautiful and blond."

Brought up in Barnes by "arty" parents Clare and Richard Pattinson, he was encouraged to pursue his interest in acting.

Mrs Booth said: "I wouldn't say he was a star but he was very keen on our drama club, I do remember that. We're all so pleased that he's found something he really shines at."

In his teens, he left Tower House to attend the nearby Harrodian School and became a member of Barnes Theatre Club, where he starred in productions of Our Town, Tess Of The d'Urbervilles and Anything Goes.

In 2003, a casting agent introduced him to Goblet Of Fire director Mike Newell. They met the day before Robert flew to South Africa to film The Ring Of The Nibelungs - an epic TV production based around the Icelandic myths that inspired Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings, which will be broadcast next year.

Months later, on the day he arrived back in London, he was told he had won the part of Diggory.

Newell said: "Cedric exemplifies all that you would expect the Hogwarts champion to be. Robert Pattinson was born to play the role; he's quintessentially English with chiselled public schoolboy good looks."

When Screen International magazine named him as a British star of tomorrow, it said: "This fresh-faced, photogenic 18-year-old so oozes charm and likeability that casting directors are predicting a big future."

In The Goblet Of Fire his character bewitches Potter's beloved Cho Chang - taking her to the Yule Ball and leaving lovelorn Harry blinking back tears.

Pattinson said of his character: "It's impossible to hate Cedric. He's competitive but he's also a nice guy."