"I used to think it was a good thing to have a safety net," says Pattinson, 26, of his starmaking Twilight role. "To know you're always safe is not real. It's got to matter."
So after Breaking Dawn, Pattinson will launch into a busy slate of projects that are starting to take shape.
"I have five things going — actually six," he says. "I'm pretty sure I know which one is going to be first."
Rob: When I read the sript, as soon as you read the script, it's like: wow, it's so different from anything I did before. It's the kind of challenge I look for as an actor. I mean no one else but me got that role. And then I read the script, I really liked the style of it. It was well structured and really easy to read as well.
If Robert Pattinson made young girls fall in love with him, he only has eyes for her, Kristen Stewart, who became just as famous with the Twilight saga. For the both of them, it's not as easy anymore to live a normal life.
Rob: There's no point in worrying about it. And also, when you come to Cannes, you have to expect all this activity around you. People can think whatever they want.
Rob talks leaving Twilight behind with the AP - CLICK TO READ
Everywhere in the streets, Robert Pattinson sees himself on posters, magazines covers and tells himself: This isn't me. "I don't recognize my face, my hair, nothing. It's like an out of body experience."
Yet standing on the terrace of a big hotel in the morning light, the lead of Cosmopolis, by David Cronenberg, looks like his image. Though, he's more discret and soft, and above all more happy. He laughs all the time, his contagious cheerfulness that nothing disarms.
Subtle. The eternal question on celebrity, for starters. The star of Twilight that caused a riot during his last visit at Cannes (security had to carry him out so he could escape 700 rabid fans), starts with a serious answer. "The most frustrating is to know that it isn't me they like or hate. To know that I serve as a support to a feeling that has nothing to do with me." He think for a bit. "The paparazzi, you get used to them. But it's still weird to see those guys who decided to be assholes their whole lives. You feel like telling them: 'Why did you chose that job?' Everyone hates you!'" And then he starts laughing so hard he can't stop. "It's like people who give you parking tickets. You watch them, they all seem so happy! Mhhh cool, I'm gonna ruin someone's day!"
When David Cronenberg called him, he jumped with joy and then with fear. His working method was different for the actor. "David didn't do rehearsals. A few days before the movie started, I called him. 'Don't you think we should talk about it a little?' He told me: 'Oh no, don't worry about it. It'll come on its own.'" On the set, he tried the old method. "I would lock myself all day in the limo to live like my character. I was hot, sweating and sleeping. They had to shake me to wake me up." On the third day, he finally got out.
He claims that working with David Cronenberg gave him confidence. "I would look at the end of Twiight approaching and I started asking myself questions 'What to do, what are the right choices?'" Among his dreams, working with Jacques Audiard. "I love all his movies and his male characters are amazing. I would love to be like this."
He lives in Los Angeles, like his girlfriend Kristen Stewart, a 'particular' life where he can't really go out for a coffee but he won't complain. One last anecdote: "When I go to restaurants, if I'm a little drunk ... and that I see someone with a phone, I tell myself: 'He's taking a picture of me!'" He starts laughing again. "So I get up, pissed off, go to his table: 'Show me your phone!'" He puts his hands on his sides. "Last time, I almost threw some guy's phone through the window. He wasn't he even taking a picture of me, he didn't even now who I was!"
Viva Press (UK) - A lot of great answers from Rob - CLICK TO READ. // via
Portugal's National TV - CLICK TO WATCH (At about 71:15)
BFMTV
At around 00:50
Robert Pattinson is bankable and it helps the auteur cinema.
David: Funds for the movie were really hard to find. Actually, Robert helped us a lot because of Twilight and that we can't deny. So bless them! Bless the Twilight movies without which I couldn't have made this movie.
Rob: You end up running out of ideas. I've done 5 movies withe same character. Especially someone who doesn't change, I mean, he doesn't die, who has no fears. You get to the point where you're like ... I don't know, people are gonna start calling me out on it.
David: I'm hoping that Rob will be in the 5 sequels of Cosmopolis that I have planned. I didn't want to kill you in case we might want a sequel.
Interview with Le Figaro. Translation via - You can see the scans here.
Le Figaro: How does it feel to be at Cannes?
Rob: It's crazy. I was at the screening of On the Road the evening before yesterday. It was intense. At every scene, I felt terrified, blown away, captivated. On the Road and Cosmopolis are kind of similar in a way, they talk about a journey. They're road movies. In a way, they talk about the same thing, freedom, this desperate attempt to look from something different than the sad daily reality.
LF: You and Kristen Stewart, both actors from the Twilight Saga, are in competition at Cannes. Is that a game, a coincidence or a challenge?
Rob: I don't think of it as a challenge. I admit that it's really strange. The year when Twilight ends, Kristen and I end up in Cannes ... For me, Cannes is the most important competition in the world. When I was a kid, even before I knew I wanted to be an actor, I would rent DVDs with the Palme logo on it to impress my friends. As an actor, you dream that one day all your movies could have that logo on their DVD cases. My secret goal was to one day be invited at the Festival. I thought it could happen in 10 years and it happens now! I think the phone call I got to tell me that Cosmopolis was selected for the official competition, was one of the happiest moments of my life.
LF: What push you to make this movie?
Rob: The script. I read it in half an hour. It was perfect. The only thing that terrified me was that the fear that I could screw everything up. What helped me decide too was the conversation I had with David Cronenberg. I asked him why he chose me and he answered: 'I don't know!'. Then, I asked him if he understood anything about the script and he simply told me that he didn't but that it wasn't important. I hesitated for a week then I called him back one night, almost in tears: 'I want to do it, as soon as possible!'
LF: Who's Eric Paker?
Rob: He's a guy who did everything to empty himself. A lot of people think he's nihilist. On the contrary, I think he hangs on to the slightest bit of hope. But every time, he's disappointed.
LF: How did the filming go?
Rob: David Cronenberg did everthing he could to unsettle me. Eric Packer slipped through my fingers like an eel. David constantly told me: 'If you understand anything to what we're doing, it's over!' So I played my role like a melody to a song. I didn't understand the lyrics but I felt like I was in tuned to it. After one week of acclimation, we often filmed scenes in one take. Even the 15 minute scene with Paul Giamatti was done in one take! At the end, this is the movie that gave me the most confidence.
LF: Will Cannes be a launching ramp for you after Twilight?
Rob: People don't watch Twilight for what the movies are but more as a global phenomenon. Edward Cullen is like a superhero A superhero who doesn't do anything but be super. In Cosmopolis, I'll finally be judged for my performance. That's why I'm scared!
