Rob is thrilled about all the Connie Nikas Halloween Costumes
Parade sat down with Rob during the Savannah Film Festival and spoke to him about Good Time, Twilight and Halloween amongst other things. Â This is what Parade found out:
When Robert Pattinson takes out his phone to show you something, the least you can do is lean forward and take a gander. It’s a few days after Halloween, and the actor is swiping through social media-posted photos of men dressed up as his peroxide-blonde, red-jacketed character in his most recent film, Good Time. His co-director, Josh Safdie, has texted him a steady dose of pics.
“It’s crazy!†he exclaims while scrolling. “There are tons of them. Loads and loads. It’s so unexpected. It really, really shocked me. Like wow, people like the movie! It’s nice.â€
Do you prefer Robert or Rob?
Call me anything!
What about R-Patz? Do you hate that?
I don’t understand how I can get rid of that. It’s so annoying. Jennifer Lopez started the J.Lo thing, but I didn’t start that name! Why some people get a nickname and some people don’t is really unfair!
So let’s talk about Good Time. It’s electrifying but definitely doesn’t go down easy. Was it challenging to film?Â
It was a high level of energy to maintain. But it’s a fun part. The moral compass of a character is neither here nor there. He’s not a good or bad person. He’s also kind of nuts. I always find it interesting to play a part where all this guy’s actions indicate that he’s a bad person and your only job is trying to fudge that. You don’t know what’s going on. You could have easily played it as a complete psychopath.
Your Queens accent is particularly impressive.
I’m weird with accents. I don’t think I’ve ever done the same accent in a movie ever. Even when I try to do an English accent, it doesn’t come out in my normal voice. I’ve learned that if you just spend enough time with people, it just all starts happening. For this movie, the script was written in a Queens accent and accents are always the first thing I pick up on when I read something. It’s a fun one to do. You can feel it when it feels right.
You also had a strong turn in The Lost City of Z this spring. Do you think 2017 was the year you officially broke out from being “Twilight actor Robert Pattinson�
Um, no. Actually, I was pretty surprised by Lost City of Z. I was barely in it! People liked it. But with Good Time, I was consciously trying to do something that felt different. I’m also just older. I used to be so worried about looking too young. This is the first year where it’s like, nope! I’m going to have to try to look younger again.
Have you ruled out doing another big film franchise like Harry Potter and Twilight?
No way! I find it so difficult to find anything I get excited about. In general, it’s about directors. If a great director called, I’d be like, “Yeah.†Martin Scorsese is producing a film I’m starting next year.
Looking back, what do you think is Twilight’s legacy?
It’s fascinating. They’re such odd, specific movies. And they became so mainstream. . . Even now, I don’t know anything else like it. It’s essentially a romance. I like romantic movies. But whenever you try to find one, people are like, “Oh, no one goes to see romantic movies.†But what about Twilight? It seems to me like such an anomaly. It’s still quite a unique story, and even the audience is unique. It was swayed so specifically female. It didn’t even try to appeal to a male audience! That’s still really interesting to me.
A great little interview here. Thanks Maria.