Robert Pattinson hit by taxicab

Robert Pattinson on the set of Remember Me

Amid a mob of frenzied fans, Rob Pattinson collided with a taxi on the streets of downtown Manhattan Thursday.

The Twilight actor, in New York City filming Remember Me, apparently attempted to run across the street near the famed Strand bookstore to escape a hoard of fans when he was clipped on his hip by a moving cab, whose driver slammed on his breaks upon impact.

Pattinson, 23, did not appear to be injured and walked away from the incident.

Production sources on the Remember Me set say Pattinson regularly attracts mobs of fans when they are filming. "It's been nonstop busy all day with people trying to get a glimpse of him, and the crowd goes nuts when they do see him," an eyewitness told PEOPLE Tuesday.

As a result, the actor has hired his own security in addition to the bodyguards provided by Summit Entertainment, according to the source, who adds that the heartthrob maintains a positive attitude about his fans.

"I think he appreciates it. He's not one to make a big deal about it. He's a chill guy and quiet so far," the source says. "I think he finds it a little weird that people are standing outside all day to get a glimpse of him, but grateful."

Neither Summit Entertainment nor a rep for Pattinson was immediately available for comment.

(Agencies)

"Public Enemies" red carpet screening

Cast member Marion Cotillard(R) and director/co-writer/producer Michael Mann arrive for a screening of "Public Enemies" in Chicago, June 18, 2009.

Cast member Marion Cotillard of "Public Enemies" arrives for a screening in Chicago June 18, 2009.

Cast member Christian Bale and his wife Sibi Bear arrive for a screening of "Public Enemies" in Chicago, June 18, 2009.

Cast member Johnny Depp arrives for a screening of "Public Enemies" in Chicago June 18, 2009.

Cast member Marion Cotillard(R) and director/co-writer/producer Michael Mann arrive for a screening of "Public Enemies" in Chicago, June 18, 2009.

Elbegdorj sworn in as Mongolia's president

Mongolian President-elect Tsakhia Elbegdorj (L) receives the presidential seal from the outgoing President Nambaryn Enkhbayar during the inauguration ceremony in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on June 18, 2009. Tsakhia Elbegdorj was sworn in as Mongolia's President here on Thursday after winning the May 24 election with 51.21 percent of the vote. (Xinhua/Hao Lifeng)

Mongolian President-elect Tsakhia Elbegdorj (L) shakes hands with the outgoing President Nambaryn Enkhbayar during the inauguration ceremony in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on June 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Hao Lifeng)

Mongolian President-elect Tsakhia Elbegdorj (C) attends the inauguration ceremony in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on June 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Hao Lifeng)

Mongolia's President Tsakhia Elbegdorj (L, top) reviews the army after the inauguration ceremony in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on June 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Hao Lifeng)

Mongolian President-elect Tsakhia Elbegdorj (front) takes an oath during the inauguration ceremony in Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on June 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Hao Lifeng)

ULAN BATOR, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President-elect Tsakhia Elbegdorj took the oath of office on Thursday.

In an inaugural speech, Elbegdorj, a two-time former prime minister, called for national unity and vowed to fight corruption to the end.

He also pledged efforts to improve the people’standard of living.

On Mongolia's foreign policy, he said his government will give priority to boosting friendly relations with the two neighboring countries -- China and Russia.

Jiang Shusheng, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), attend the inauguration as special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Elbegdorj, a member of the second largest party Democratic Party, will serve a four-year term after winning the May 24 election with 51.21 percent of the vote.

Robert Pattinson's proposal

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart

Robert Pattinson proposed to 'Twilight' co-star Kristen Stewart.

The 18-year-old actress - who is dating 'Will and Grace' star Michael Angarano - said Pattinson was so "into" his character while filming the vampire movie he convinced himself he was in love with her.

She said: "Rob is very mysterious and very intense - and totally crazy. He proposed to me one day! Pattinson added: "I can't believe I did that! That's really getting into character. It's pretty extreme."

Most girls would kill to be in Stewart's position, but she insists there is nothing "going on" between her and Pattinson, 22. Stewart said: "I'm sure he's proposed to loads of girls before. He's a complete jokester!"

Pattinson agrees: "My favourite chat-up line when I was younger was to go straight up to a girl and say, 'Will you marry me? I don't want to mess around'. These days, Pattinson is less outrageous, but claims he will never be as clean-cut as 'High School Musical' star Zac Efron.

He said: "I don't think I could be the new Zac. I've met him and he's really good at not offending anyone. He's a really cool guy in reality. "He'll never do anything that'll be misconstrued. No one will ever say, 'Oh that guy is an idiot.' There's nothing bad you can say about him, whereas I'm told I'm an idiot - frequently!"

Hoaxing in Hollywood

Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius.

Celebrities make a good living making fools out of us–-and themselves.

Actor Joaquin Phoenix was supposed to appear on the Late Show With David Letterman in February. Instead, the man who sat down on Letterman's couch was a disheveled character with a hobo's beard and dark glasses, mumbling incoherent answers to the host's questions.

It was the twice-Oscar nominated Phoenix, alright. He had suddenly taken on a new, bizarre identity unrelated to his role opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in his latest film, Two Lovers. A befuddled Letterman closed the 10-minute encounter with an apology. "Joaquin, I'm so sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

The interview caused an uproar in entertainment circles and enraged James Gray, Two Lovers' director, who called his star actor "a crazy person with a beard making a fool of himself." Had Letterman been "punk'd" or was Phoenix really embarking on a new career?

"From a business perspective, it doesn't matter," says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. "The ambiguity of these pranks draws chatter. People want to watch them."

True enough: In the week following Phoenix's Feb. 11 appearance on Letterman, CBS.com clocked 7.5 million views, a record for any Late Show video clip. On YouTube, the interview has been watched 3.9 million times. A documentary is in the works about Phoenix's hijinks, produced by Casey Affleck, Phoenix's brother-in-law.

One of MTV's top performers is Punk'd, which ran for eight seasons beginning in 2003. Ashton Kutcher conceived the show and promised to "make superstars suffer for your pleasure." The show's cameras were there to record celebrity freak-outs, like the time Halle Berry was denied entrance to her own movie premiere or the phony IRS agents who swarmed Justin Timberlake's new home to tell him he owed $900,000 in back taxes and all of his possessions would be seized.

Sacha Baron Cohen set the gold standard for pranksterism with his on-screen persona Borat, which grossed $130 million when the movie was released in 2006. In Cohen's newest film, Bruno, coming this summer, he impersonates a gay Austrian fashion journalist. Wearing a Velcro suit, Cohen causes mayhem by sneaking onto the catwalk of a Milan fashion show, sticking to everything. In Alabama, "Bruno" and his crew enter a gun store, pretend to confuse firearms with sex toys and get a salesman to tell them they must keep weapons away from one's "poopinschaft."

To fool his victims, Cohen reportedly set up 31 dummy companies and Web sites. The movie's working title is probably a prank, too: Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt. Hollywood is banking the movie's payday will be no hoax: Universal reportedly paid $43 million for the rights to Bruno.

Literary hoaxers haven't done as well. J.T. Leroy won instant fame after writing two novels based on a horrific childhood: Leroy claimed to be a former cross-dressing teenage prostitute from Appalachia who had worked truck stops in West Virginia. Fellow celebrity authors supported Leroy, among them Dave Eggers, Lou Reed and Suzanne Vega.

The author turned out not to be a man but the half-sister of Laura Albert, a San Francisco woman who had created "J.T. Leroy" with her boyfriend. Albert was later sued by a film distribution company to whom she had sold Leroy's movie rights.

Things worked out better in the early 1980s for comedian Andy Kaufman. A frequent guest on Saturday Night Live, Kaufman pulled off one of the biggest entertainment hoaxes in years. After his career waned, he began staging outlandish wrestling matches with women to compete for the "Intergender Wrestling Championship." He offered $1,000 to any gal who could pin him. Kaufman made a small fortune televising these smack downs until he accepted a challenge from professional wrestler Jerry Lawler. The pro gave Kaufman a broken collar bone after executing a "piledriver" on him. It was probably the only real wrestling move during Kaufman's career in the ring.

Expect more fakery from Hollywood. Wasn't it P.T. Barnum who quipped, "There's a sucker born every minute"? It turns out, no. The expression itself is something of a prank--historians say he never said it.