February 10th, 2025 / 0 comments


10 February 2025

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Dior Homme: The Iris for Men: For nearly twenty years, Dior Homme has granted men a signature fragrance trail blending style and audacity. Inspired by the fundamental balance of that iconic perfume, Francis Kurkdjian now infuses it with the radical modernity of his own point of view. Celebrating the Dior spirit of innovation, he delivers an ultimate version that focuses on a generous dose of the profoundly noble, complex iris, thus opening up an olfactory landscape as delicate and luminous as the flower itself, and as robust and singular as its rhizomes. Between its exquisite petals and powerful roots, there’s a duality that arises: an amber, woody and floral concentrate fuses feminine and masculine. “Dior Homme is a recognizable score, the expression of a tender strength articulated around a masculine iris. Within that framework, I redefined its classic architecture and redesigned its sensual silhouette by highlighting the rigour and power of line and articulating a more assertive, contemporary sophistication,” Francis Kurkdjian explains.

Enveloping and addictive, this new composition extends the heritage of Dior’s men’s perfumes by allowing flowers to bloom in majesty while also rising to the challenge of emphasizing the purest form of Dior Homme’s emblematic ingredients. The iris unfolds completely. Having been cultivated for three years, its roots are left to dry for three more, and then are painstakingly ground into powder using the traditional technique of hydro-distillation. This time-honoured cold-press process results in an essential oil that is transformed into a unique butter. That full-bodied, textured accord incorporates the density of patchouli with an intoxicating vetiver and accents of coumarin. Now synthesized and condensed, this infinitely precious creation goes straight to the heart.

Its enchanting notes illustrate a man who follows a vital impulse, someone of undeniable virility who embraces emotion, ardour and seduction. Personified by Robert Pattinson, the face of Dior Homme since 2013, he is magnetic. The French duo The Blaze once again directed a clip for this opus, a joyful reunion with the actor that seals a long-running inventive dialogue with the House of Dior1. Through fast-paced images, underlined by edgy, sensual editing, emerges all the energy of New York City. Amid the bustle of the city that never sleeps, from the skyscrapers of Manhattan to the Rockaway Peninsula, the Dior ambassador incarnates sensitive, irresistible masculinity. Moving through the Big Apple by day and by night, he seems to defy gravity as he dances, boxes and enlaces the woman he loves. Hypnotic. He proclaims his feelings, welcomes his passion, carnal and solid as a rock. “If you want a lover, / I’ll do anything you ask me to, / (…) If you want to strike me down in anger, / Here I stand, I’m your man.” Resonating like an anthem of suave fervour, “I’m Your Man”, the cult song by Leonard Cohen, has been remixed for the occasion2, carrying within it the quintessence of Dior Homme.

In Dior Homme’s latest story, Robert Pattinson conveys a feverish grace – a magnificent oxymoron, an unfathomable air that is at once captivating and reassuring. Within an atmosphere shrouded in mystery, he resurrects the golden era of movie heroes animated by a fabulous contrast between strength and finesse. On the silver screen, they fascinate for their charisma as much as their flaws: Marlon Brando, James Dean and Paul Newman come to mind, each with his own brand of dashing, devastating charm. This unprecedented vision of Dior Homme could not have been expressed more artistically, both in terms of its visual universe and its muse, to radiate all its irrepressible, spellbinding intensity.

The Tender Strength of Dior Homme as Played by Robert Pattinson*

DIOR MAGAZINE: Since the heroes you’ve played on screen always leave a trace, what do you have in common with the Dior man in this campaign?

ROBERT PATTINSON: Absolutely, it’s true. That’s the best thing about acting, because most people don’t get the chance to explore different facets of their personality. Acting is an opportunity to learn more about yourself. In the film, I play a self-confident man with devastating charm. Playing that for the camera is a complicated exercise. The art of seduction is quite subjective, so it’s not always easy to do in front of a whole production team. [Laughs.]

DM: How do you read the new vision of masculinity in this Dior Homme campaign?

RP: This man has a hint of vulnerability and sensitivity: he has matured, grown. I think that’s the definition of masculinity today.

Thanks Sally!

7 February 2025

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Airmail News: Getting Into Bed with Robert Pattinson – The actor and new father shares his nighttime routine

Robert Pattinson refuses to be typecast. Crowned “one of the last movie stars” by The New York Times, he’s mastered the art of defying expectations. Since his start as a heartthrob in the Twilight era, Pattinson’s gone off the grid, only to re-emerge in every type of leading role imaginable—from the blockbuster hero in The Batman to the art-house eccentric in The Lighthouse, and the unhinged antihero in Good Time. This spring, the actor will show us yet another side of himself in Mickey 17, a satirical science-fiction feature from Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho. Otherwise, Pattinson has been gravitating toward stability, with 12 years as the ambassador for Dior Homme and a cozy family life with Suki Waterhouse and their baby daughter. To toast the launch of the new fragrance, Dior Homme Parfum, a warm and sensual re-interpretation of the classic, 20-year-old Dior Homme, Pattinson shares his highly organized and carefully structured nighttime routine.

When do you start getting ready for bed?
I’m becoming more and more of a lame ass—it’s getting earlier and earlier. Like 9 or 10 P.M.? I used to be fine with five or six hours of sleep, and now I’m … not … at all.

Take us through your nighttime skin-care routine.
I didn’t even really realize until two years ago that you have to wash your face. I’m sure a lot of people would disagree with me about this, but I think there’s something in the ritual that’s quite nice. Especially if you’re getting bouts of facial dysmorphia where you’re like, “Oh, my God, I look like Haggard.” Doing it just before bed, it’s like a prayer—you put on some magic cream and hopefully you’ll wake up the next day and things will be different.

Are you particular about your sleep conditions?
It kind of depends. I used to live in a pigsty all the time, and now I’m hyper-organized. I need to have everything tidy before I go to bed. It’s so strange—I don’t understand what’s happened. It’s like I have a completely different DNA to what I had, like, three years ago.

How about your bed?
I like sleeping with two pillows wedged on either side of my head. But for the sheets and stuff like that, I don’t really care.

What’s one thing you do before bed?
I like working out late at night, at 8:30 or 9:00 P.M., and going to bed immediately after.

Do you watch TV?
I never really do, because I find it too distracting. I like listening to audiobooks, or to things that are at a very particular point of difficulty, like nonfiction that’s just out of my level of understanding. That way I’m kind of interested but my brain can’t quite process it properly, so it eventually just knocks me out. I sort of need to feel like I’m in college.

Do you eat or drink anything?
I don’t really eat past six, especially when I’m working.

How about supplements?
I can’t even believe I have to do all this stuff now. I take Lypo–Spherics. It tastes sort of like you’re drinking rotten carcass or a little rotten oyster … it’s delicious … a really nice thing to do before bed. But they really work.

Do you add any steps when you’re shooting a project?
I very much can’t deal with change. If I’m working, I feel like I want to know exactly how I’m going to feel the next day. I eat the same thing every day. I go to bed at the same time. I literally live the same day every single day. And then when I’m not working, I have no structure for a while. I used to really like not having structure, and now I’m obsessed with it. Especially since having a kid, I want to maximize as much time as possible.

How do you decompress?
I don’t really believe in decompressing until the end of a job. I think it’s much more important to be prepared for the next day. I want to stay in a certain mindset. It’s such a luxury—the nature of the job is that you’re by yourself in a hotel room, and you can really, really focus. When I was younger, I would think, I’ve gotta experience the city and go out and do stuff. Now I’m very regimented and my only focus is the job, which is nice.

Where’s your favorite place to sleep?
Next to my kid. When I’m in bed and she’s in her crib near me, it’s the best.

What’s the best night’s sleep you’ve ever had?
I was shooting Tenet in Mumbai. We’d had a wrap party the night before and been out really late. As I was setting my alarm, I just knew I wasn’t doing it right and that it wasn’t going to go off. I had a flight in the morning and somehow woke up out of nowhere. I didn’t know how to get a taxi or anything, and it was like a billion degrees. There was so much traffic, but somehow I got to the airport. I had missed the flight, but the woman who worked at the airport was a Twilight fan and she was like, “I’m gonna help you.”

I got on a plane and passed out. I had never felt more relieved because I had to work the next day. This is probably not the best night’s sleep … but I slept from Mumbai to L.A., and I woke up as the plane was landing in L.A. Whenever that happens, it’s the greatest thing. It feels like you teleported.

Thanks love_cinema

6 February 2025

Another day another interview (or one that may have been pieced together from others).

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Thanks SallyVG

1 February 2025

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Madame Figaro: Robert Pattinson: “Being a vulnerable man was easier in 2012, at the time of 
Twilight
 ” [Extract translated by Google]. Tailor-made for Dior, which has renewed its trust in him. Attached to the illustrious house since 2013, the actor is the face of the new Dior Homme fragrance, designed by Francis Kurkdjian. “Iris pallida is a mysterious, demanding flower, difficult to tame,” explains the Perfume Creative Director about the star essence of the iconic juice. “It is sublime and distant, a bit like the Dior man, this handsome face who resists a little and does not let himself be easily captured.” Elusive, like Robert Pattinson who leads his life like his career: discreetly but intelligently.

His projects are exciting enough not to spill over into this territory: he will give the reply to a psychotic Jennifer Lawrence in Die, My Love, by Lynne Ramsay, then to Zendaya in The Drama, by Kristoffer Borgli. Before that, he is the antihero of Mickey 17, a satirical science fiction film by the Korean Bong Joon-ho, director of the Palme d’Or Parasite. He plays a second-class citizen exploited to test the dangers to which humanity is subjected. His mission? To die and be reborn. Like a parable of the career of this actor who voluntarily broke the mold to take other artistic paths.

Madame Figaro . – You are once again the face of Dior Homme. How would you define this perfume?
Robert Pattinson. – It is always difficult to answer these questions for someone who is not an expert, but this new formula seems very refined to me. It is this apparent simplicity that I like and what makes this fragrance unique. I rarely wear perfume, and what I like about this new Dior Homme is its discretion. It is not ostentatious but subtle.

In the campaign film imagined by Jonathan Alric, you associate Dior Homme with vulnerability and sensitivity. Do you recognize yourself in these terms?
Absolutely. These are two parts of yourself that you try to access when you are an actor. However, you have to balance them with a bit of strength and determination.

Is it easier for a man to be vulnerable in 2024?
It was easier in 2012, at the time of Twilight. We were at the height of the “emo” (emotional hardcore) movement , which invited men to embrace their sensitivity. Today, I feel like the scales are sometimes tipped the other way. To some extent, society still tells us to fit into molds. There are so many conflicting injunctions that it is sometimes difficult to understand what is expected of us. Instead of seeing it as a burden or a curse, we must above all try to find a path that suits us and fulfills us.

As an actor, have you always felt free to make your own choices?
I have gone through periods of frustration. It is probably inevitable in a career. I have felt trapped by an image when I hoped that the industry would change its view of me. I waited for roles that did not come, but it was my ego that spoke then. Since then, I have understood that you have to embrace the unpredictable and welcome surprises.

In the Dior Homme Perfume film, you say that your characters left an imprint on you. Which one was the strongest?
In the eyes of others, it was obviously Twilight . For eight years, I was irremediably associated with Edward Cullen. For example, the media said that I was brooding, like my vampire character. It stuck with me, even though I sincerely believe that I don’t have a dark or melancholic temperament at all. On a more personal level, I learned a lot from Little Ashes, an independent film in which I played a young Salvador Dalí. For the first time, I did in-depth research to approach a role. It gave another meaning to my job. Working with David Cronenberg was also a founding factor. His world allows for a more conceptual, more abstract approach to acting, as with Claire Denis. Their films had a huge impact on me, and when I had the chance to work with them, I felt like I could completely let go and learn a lot.

On March 5, you will be in Mickey 17, by Bong Joon-Ho. What pleasure do you feel to be part of his world?
An immense pleasure. He is a unique artist, and I still can’t believe I worked with him. His proposal came out of nowhere and, from the first meeting, I understood that the experience would be one of the craziest of my career. During this lunch, he tried to tell me about the film but, paradoxically, didn’t want to reveal anything to me. At the end of our meeting, I had no idea what it was going to be about. It was surreal but exciting. His way of filming was also like him: very singular. I doubt I will have another similar experience in my career.

What does this film tell us about our society?
In general, in Hollywood , when a character is an ordinary guy, he doesn’t stay that way. He irremediably transforms into a hero. This is not the case with Bong. My character is an ordinary citizen, without any particular skills, and Bong uses his banality to highlight the madness of the leaders of our world and the absurd reasons that push them to act as they do on people’s daily lives.

For love, your character comes back from the dead. And you, what drives you in life?
The French always ask such philosophical questions in interviews! (Laughs.) Let’s just say that I follow my instincts and listen to my desires. I also try not to get caught up in uninteresting tasks.

You favor singular authors : David Cronenberg, Werner Herzog, Ben and Josh Safdie, Robert Eggers, Claire Denis… Is it difficult to hold this line in this industry?
In a way, yes. You spend a lot of time questioning your choices. And then, finally, certain projects impose themselves. I trust this force that I do not control and that seems to choose for me. Which also explains why I do not chain projects: I wait for the obvious.

You celebrated your twentieth anniversary in 2024. How do you look back on the journey you’ve made?
To this day, I still don’t understand how it all happened to me. I still have to pinch myself to believe it. However, I can’t see myself doing anything other than acting. When people ask me what I would have done if I hadn’t been an actor, no answer comes to me. The more time passes, the more my interest in this profession grows. What has happened in this industry in recent years makes the future exciting. Until recently, everyone said that cinema was dying, and yet, after Covid, there has been an incredible rebound in creativity. New directors are emerging with very ambitious cinema proposals.

Is directing part of your plans?
For a long time, I was certain that I would never direct. When I act, all the parameters are already in place and the stakes are not the same. Being in charge of a team, becoming the boss on a shoot has scared me for a long time. But since I launched my production company and have been developing many projects with my colleagues, the idea has been gaining ground.


EsquireRobert Pattinson Thinks He Has ‘Olfactory Dyslexia: Robert Pattinson is not the same man he was in 2013, the year he was first announced as the face of Dior Homme fragrance. Back then, he was still largely known as the dude from Twilight (or maybe Harry Potter, depending on your particular fantasy-movie affinity). Now Edward Cullen is a distant memory. Pattinson has matured into a new father who also happens to be Batman, all without losing his signature self-deprecation, deadpan delivery, and taste for the unexpected. As he prepares for his highly anticipated latest project to hit screens—a sci-fi epic from Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite —he’s also ushering in a new era of Dior Homme.

Preserving the DNA of a house like Dior is always at top of mind for Kurkdjian, and in this case he looked to architecture as the inspiration, particularly glass buildings, which may seem odd given that glass has no scent. That wasn’t a problem for Pattinson, however, who claims to have “olfactory dyslexia,” a term and diagnosis he made up himself but basically means he has a hard time identifying scents. It could be more of the self-deprecating streak, but even if it’s not, he couldn’t ask for a better fragrance teacher than Kurkdjian, arguably one of the most famous perfumers working today. Neither man is easy to lock down, but we were able to get them together for a conversation about the evolution of the Dior Homme man, Kurkdjian’s history with the fragrance and vision for the future, and why this is the version Pattinson himself likes most.

Esquire: Had you two met before?

Robert Pattinson: We met for the first time in New York when we were doing the making-of, whatever it was that we were doing in a taxi in New York.

Francis Kurkdjian: Whatever we were doing.

RP: Even on the first meeting, he has a pretty unique ability to explain to a layman about the process of creating a fragrance. I thought it was fascinating when we were first talking about it, and he can teach in a very gentle way. Especially when I was supposed to essentially be interviewing him, and I’m like, “What is a smell?”

I’ve since realized, as well, that I think I might have olfactory dyslexia, where I think things smell like other things. No one else thinks they smell the same way I think they smell. Which makes it very, very difficult to talk to someone about scents.

I find talking to perfumers like Francis, who are so talented, intimidating because smell is a little bit subjective in a way.

RP: Definitely. Even when we are doing these interviews, I’ve said almost the wrong answer to everything. Also, he keeps saying, “It’s so sweet,” and I’m like, “It’s sweet?” It doesn’t even smell sweet to me.

What do you think it smells like?

RP: Francis was talking about it being like a glass building. That is something I can really smell in it. It’s strange. I can relate more to abstract things. It smells very singular. From before he even described it, I was like, “It feels like something,” a totemic kind of smell. Literally, I do not know how else to describe this. But when he said, “It’s like a glass building,” I’m like, “Yeah. That’s exactly the feeling I got from it.”

It doesn’t feel like it takes over the room. I guess my sense of a perfume which takes over the room is associated with overly floral, oppressive clouds of scent. With this, it’s very singular. It doesn’t feel like there’s too many notes going on, which I really liked about it.

You’ve been the face of Dior Homme for over ten years. What speaks to you about this new version versus the old one?

RP: Oh, God. I’d have to give a smell to the old one. There was a much stronger main ingredient in the last one, and then I’ve forgotten what the ingredient is. What’s the scent that everyone had in the ’70s, very associated with the hippies?

FK: Patchouli.

RP: Patchouli. It felt like there’s a lot more patchouli in the last one, but I could be totally wrong. Is that correct?

FK: It was woodier.

RP: Yes. It was woodier. This one’s less woody.

FK: For sure.

Robert, were you surprised when you first smelled this fragrance?

RP: When we were doing the ad, I was wearing it a lot, but that was the first time I wore it. I’m just always really surprised when something can coalesce with your own scent so easily. It’s very, very quick to feel organic on you.

FK: I love when you put perfume on and you give that feeling that the smell comes from your own skin and your own sweat. It’s like a piece of clothing. Sometimes you wear something, you feel that you put something on and it’s not you, you feel like you are wearing a costume. Then sometimes you wear something and you don’t feel it because you are one with it. Perfume, to me, works exactly the same. Sometimes you put a perfume on and all day long, you feel that you’re sitting next to someone because you don’t blend, because you don’t match. I love when I am able to create a perfume where it’s you. It’s your skin. It’s like you smell someone’s neck, like you smell your body sweat. I love that. I love that type of sensuality.

RP: There’s something kind of athletic about it. I don’t know if athletic is the right word, but sometimes when you have something too woody, it feels much more about just sitting and being static. This felt much more active immediately, which I really liked about it.

FK: I don’t like perfumes when they’re too perfume-y or fake.

I find this to be a very sensual perfume, in a way. Like you said, it really works well with your skin. There is a little bit of sweetness.

FK: The sweetness brings the modernity.

RP: The shoot, the stills especially, felt very, very different from the first one. The first time I did a shoot for the one in 2014, all the imagery was a lot harder. This time, I was quite surprised because it was so different. They’re all a bit oilier. I’m more tan in it. I was very white in the last one.

FK: Last week I called them smoky, a bit.

How does that speak to the evolution of the Dior Homme man?

FK: Men have changed because society has changed. Masculinity has changed so much. My perception is that the younger generation of men acknowledge their feminine side more easily, easier than I did. I’m 54, so I am the previous generation. Nowadays, when I walk in the street, you sometimes can’t tell for sure if it’s a man or a woman, because of just the way people are, what they wear, how they act, and their body language. That is interesting. You feel it in perfumes, as well.

RP: Sometimes, when I look at, I don’t know, actors who are going to premieres and people who can now take massive risks in what they’re wearing, I find it quite unfair because I didn’t grow up in that environment. Now to make that first step, it suddenly looks like you’re faking it and you’re just biting on the younger generation’s stuff and you just look like kind of a loser. But my desire to be more experimental is so strong and I find it deeply unfair. I remember the last time I was doing a press tour, I was in the fitting room and I’d put on all the cool stuff and would be like, “This is great,” but then I realized, maybe If you’re 22, that’ll be fine, but being 38, I might’ve missed the boat a little bit.

Now you have your Dior Homme to fill that void for you.

RP: Yeah. I can experiment with scent. It’s a lot safer.

28 January 2025

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Esquire Japan: Marking the 20th anniversary of the birth of the Dior Homme fragrance, the new Dior Homme Parfum, announced by Francis Kurkdjian, Dior Perfume Creation Director, will finally be released on January 24, 2025. After finishing filming, we asked Pattinson, who challenged himself to create this new worldview, about his impressions.

” I think the (new) Dior Homme Parfum is very flexible. It has the flexibility to adapt to various scenes. I don’t want to be tied down to one identity, I want to be free. Dior Homme is the same. You could say it’s a fragrance that can adapt to any situation. I was particularly surprised by the new formulation. It’s a familiar scent, but the original base note is very soft. And it’s wonderful that it changes in an unexpected direction.”

That’s how he describes this perfume.

So what are the busy actor’s personal fragrance tips? When asked, he replied:

“I mainly use it in the morning. I like the feeling that the scent becomes my own by the end of the day. However, if I plan to go out in the evening, I wear it at night. My way of doing things is to spray it once and let it go through. I think that the type of scent you choose is a way of expressing yourself. In my case, I would be happy if I could express that I value elegance, simplicity and passion.”

He has challenged himself to roles in a wide range of genres. His latest work is the sci-fi comedy “Mickey 17” (to be released in Japan on June 6, 2025) directed by Bong Joon-ho of “Parasite”, in which he plays the lead role of a clone human. He is constantly receiving offers from all kinds of famous directors, but what does he focus on when choosing a project?

“It’s often decided by intuition. It’s important to feel an intuitive attraction to either the script or the team involved. The process from script to screening is as mysterious as creating a perfume or preparing for a role, and involves a lot of trust and risk. I still haven’t gotten used to it, ” he says. He has also known Romain Gavras, the director of the commercial, for a long time, and says he always remembers the time they shot together while wearing the scent of Dior Homme. The experience was very adventurous and intense, but since then, he says he has been friends with Romain.

He was also impressed with the remix of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man” that was created for the campaign, saying,  It’s a dream team, an ambitious combination of geniuses. ‘I’m Your Man’ is one of the greatest songs ever made, and it made me feel like I was hearing a familiar song for the first time. There’s no better gift than that.”

In 2024, he will have his first child with Suki Waterhouse. With fatherhood now part of his career, there seems to have been some positive changes in Pattinson’s life.

“I’ve started going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Everything has become so much more enjoyable than before. Simple things like hearing a child’s first laugh have become overwhelmingly beautiful moments.” At the same time as his personal life has changed, his relationship with fragrance has also evolved. He said that being the face of Dior Homme “helped me to be taught by the best experts,” and that “my respect for fragrance has grown every year.” …

He is currently steadily working on his next project. “I’m excited about all the projects and roles. I’ve got a lot to produce and star in, but I’ll keep the details a little secret.” [My emphasis]

Pattinson has been mysterious, not revealing his private life until now. How will he evolve from now on? I’m looking forward to it.

Pattinson, who says his current hobby is  taking care of bonsai trees,” is no surprise. …

GQ: Robert Pattinson Strongly Endorses Fatherhood, Instant Coffee, and Salmon

Robert Pattinson has endorsed Dior’s best-selling Homme fragrance for more than a decade at this point, but when he tapped in with GQ over Zoom, he still can’t put the nuances of different aromas into words. “I just don’t have any of the language to describe scent at all,” he said. “I even have like, press notes, of what to say. And I’m literally like…nice!”

So while he was nervous about endorsing cologne at first (“It was not really the thing to do in 2012”), when asked to to star in Homme’s first ad, he was was drawn to the challenge of embodying something as abstract as a fragrance—and the chance to work with the French director Romain Gavras, who was at that point best known for music videos like M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” and Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild.”

“There was something in the music videos I just really loved—they kind of had a sense of pathos and humor to them, and physicality—there was one with an amazing dance sequence,” he told me. “I was like, Oh, there’s something that’d be really interesting to do about freedom in your body and stuff like that.”

Hearing Pattinson talk, you quickly understand why he’s a good “face” for a cologne even if he couldn’t tell you what it smells like, exactly. Most recently, he appeared in a short to promote Homme Parfum, the newest variation of the scent. We talk about that as well as a few other things that he should he be the face of.

Instant Coffee
“I definitely endorse hyper-loading caffeine right at the beginning of the day. You just need to basically live your entire day in a kind of manic state. But I can’t do Celsius— it’s too much. That feels like I’ve kind of gotten on a roller coaster and I can’t get off it.

My favorite thing is instant coffee, more than anything else. It’s very English. I like it when it looks like oil—that’s what my espresso is, just barely dissolved coffee granules.”

Salmon
“I’m kind of like a kid. I’m doing a lot of jobs in a row and I get very obsessed about needing to have regimented behavior—otherwise I’d feel crazy afterwards. But I was having lunch yesterday and I was like, I can’t taste salmon anymore. And I realized I’ve eaten nothing but salmon for like, months. It’s like I have a seal’s diet: I genuinely have been eating salmon three times a day.

I used to only eat tuna out of a can when I was working—I just put Cholula hot sauce on a can of tuna. Someone saw me doing it once and they were like, that’s absolutely disgusting. And then suddenly I kind of got afraid of mercury poisoning, so I switched to salmon. Someone told me I could just get mercury poisoning from salmon anyway. But yeah: I endorse.”

Dior Homme Parfum
“I don’t really like scents that you can identify easily—or even identify that you’re wearing a scent. This one is deceptively simple. Uncluttered. It’s weird, especially after a while, it doesn’t really smell like perfume, it just has a kind of aura around it. It kind of combines with your own scent and just smells very natural.

But yeah, it’s funny, I quite like doing these interviews to French journalists because I can just kind of say random words and someone has to just translate them and you sound way more pretentious. I like that.”

Hip Stretches
“I was like, why am I always so stiff all the time? And then this one trainer I work with showed me this thing in the gym—I don’t even know what the machine’s called. But you do a hip stretch by sitting with your legs as wide apart as you can on a bench and using a weight to stretch your hips. Absolutely life-changing. I genuinely feel like it has given me like an extra 10 years of life.”

Wired Headphones
“I don’t wanna charge anything! I find it extremely upsetting that they’ve stopped making nice headphones with wires. It’s literally impossible to get them. I don’t want to wear in-ear headphones. The fact that you can’t have headphones that last for an entire flight? It’s absolutely crazy, but that’s the reality.

I have quite strange-shaped ear holes and so the Apple ones don’t stay [in] for me. Shure used to do these running headphones—they were my favorite ones, but they literally don’t make them anymore, and the idea of buying used headphones on eBay is a little bit too gross for me. Like, that’s where my line is. Now the only ones available are the cheapest possible headphones, which is really annoying. I just wish—if there’s any headphone companies out there that want to do a retro…I could be the face of shitty wired headphones.”

Fatherhood
“It is weird: Until you have a kid, talking about kids? You’re like, I don’t care about your kid at all. Literally the only thing it represents is you’re just not gonna hang out anymore. And then as soon as you have one you’re like, Oh, this is, like, way better than hanging out with my friend anyway. [Pattinson’s fiancé Suki Waterhouse gave birth to their first child in March of last year.]

It opens up a huge world! I’ve been such a hermit—like, I never really met my neighbors before. And now because you’re just constantly, like, in the playground all the time? I’m just hanging out with my neighbors. There’s something so lovely about going to a random person’s house just because they have a kid around the same age and having, like, daytime hangouts. I can’t actually believe it’s happening to me, but like, having a barbecue on Sunday and saying like, ‘You, uh … you watch the game?’ I was like, this is dope. I love this.”

22 January 2025

GQ Spain: Robert Pattinson: “I love that people keep telling me, ‘Man, Twilight ruined the vampire genre.’ Are you still stuck on that shit?” *Translated via Google – Extract below read full article by clicking on link above.*

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“Each from his own personal life, Pattinson and Dior Homme cross paths again. And… what changes in this reunion? Everything… and nothing . From the interpretation of the Dior man to the formula of the fragrance, everything seems different, but ironically familiar. “I think I leaned more towards rebellion the first time I was an ambassador for Dior Homme,” Robert Pattinson tells us from the kitchen of his New York apartment via video conference. It is 11:30 in the morning in the Big Apple and the actor, wearing a red hoodie and his characteristic wild hair, shows a relaxed profile that, in effect, puts distance between himself and the mysterious Edward Cullen who marked the beginning of his story. “We wanted to create the opposite image of the stereotype of a man who appears in a male campaign. Now that the years have passed, the spirit of adventure remains, but it is true that there is more sincerity. A relaxed sensuality, a kind of romanticism,” he continues.

Pattinson points to a paradigm shift that Kurkdjian also shares, describing his proposition as the sweet sister of the Dior Homme family – delving into the brotherhood between iris and toffee. “ The boundaries between masculinity and femininity have blurred since the launch of Demachy’s Dior Homme,” explains a calm Kurkdjian from his Paris office, completing the geographical triangle between Madrid, New York and the French capital. “After all, one is aligned with the other and they define each other, so if one changes, the other changes in turn. Not to mention the paradigm of fluid gender, of course. And in all this complexity – because the truth is that this redefinition of gender is sometimes a mess – the idea was to translate the man of today into an essence, also taking into account that trends, molecules and aromas change every ten or 15 years.”

It makes perfect sense, then, that the nose has opted for sweetness in this new reissue of Dior Homme. Because, although it has never been considered a masculine quality, in a world plagued by hardness it is a weapon as powerful as virility or physical strength. The bet, it seems, has gone in favor of Kurkdjian, who assures that he does not feel intimidated by the legacy of Dior Homme. “A lot of time has passed between both versions, so there has been enough space to propose something new. In addition, François is from a different generation. When you create a fragrance , it is normal to take your past as a reference. For example, my likes and dislikes regarding men’s perfumes come from my father, something that I think I have been able to infuse into this project,” concludes the artist.

But granting Kurkdjian the title of artist, as we soon discover, is in direct conflict with his view of the craft: he himself staunchly argues that perfumery mastery is not an art . An opinion that a stunned Robert Pattinson decisively contradicts. “I do think it is! [laughs]. I actually find it interesting how strangely similar it is to acting. To me it’s very tangible in a lot of ways, but I guess there are a couple of elements that are…” Pattinson thinks for a few seconds, then continues: “The process is very boring, and then you rely on some kind of metaphysical aspect to make it all fit together. I think the art… [he says with a certain sarcasm], the process of creating a fragrance, is just fascinating .”

Conclusion? Art is as subjective from a conceptual perspective – that is, what it is – as from a manifestational perspective – what is created from it. An eternal debate that also occurs in the world of cinema . Is it really art? What kind of films are? Will Mickey 17 , the sci-fi film with comic touches starring Robert Pattinson under the direction of Bong Joon-ho, be one? “ Bong Joon-ho is probably one of the five directors in the world right now who can take a project of enormous caliber and turn it into something idiosyncratic, unique and interesting,” says Pattinson, visibly excited. “There is a reason why one wants to work with masters. Bong is simply inimitable .”

Pattinson is also full of praise for the South Korean director’s relaxed yet extraordinarily productive way of working. “The set of Mickey 17 was huge, we had to shoot a huge amount of scenes, the tone was extremely particular… But with Bong, who was shepherding around 500 people every day, I was never stressed ,” says the actor. “We had a lot of time to experiment, to play,” he continues. “Because it was Bong’s film, he was in charge and I was kind of a clown saying: ‘Do you like this? I’ll do a bit of this and I’ll do that too. ’ I really tried to make Bong laugh [laughs]. And he just showed certainty and confidence. It’s incredible to see people so sure of their abilities, whether artistic or in terms of management. To this day, I still don’t quite know how he did it,” details the actor, who still says he is impressed by his way of managing the project. Compared to the process of creating Batman , another of his big box office hits of the present decade, the filming of Mickey 17 must have seemed like a spa retreat. “ With Batman, the feeling was very different . There was so much anticipation, the stress was so palpable… on top of that, we shot during Covid, which made the production very complicated. Nothing like the filming of Mickey 17 , which was fun and enjoyable.”

Another of the big questions raised by the release of Mickey 17 has to do with the need to continue the path of cinematic dystopia (when you see the project, set in space and with catastrophic overtones, you will understand exactly what we are talking about). A trend in the industry that, far from disappearing, seems to show no signs of fatigue, and which makes us wonder to what extent it is actually a mirror of a society in which, following the theory of historical cycles, we are reliving chapters that we thought were closed . Chapters that represent an attack on progress and, in general terms, on the good of humanity.

Robert Pattinson, however, is much more optimistic. “Honestly, I don’t think the world has changed that much, but rather that human beings are prone to collective thinking .” He does agree with the way in which cinema reflects a social current, as he explains, but he does not consider the action-reaction to be so explicit. “It’s strange to work in an industry based on storytelling , because you can see what people think of themselves and of culture. There was a period of about eight years when every single script that came to me was about a dystopian story. Out of nowhere, post-apocalyptic was the only topic of conversation. I think we’ve already passed that stage, but not because we live in a dystopia and need to talk about something else to distract ourselves.”

The same has happened with cinema from a broader perspective, he believes. “Many people were talking about how nobody was watching films, that nobody was going to the cinema and that it was the end of the industry. However, suddenly a wave of new directors has emerged who, super ambitious, have launched original projects that have brought back enthusiasm ,” he explains. Everything has to do, according to his reasoning, with how young people have dignified a cinematic conversation in which tastes are freely shared without fear of outside judgement. “For example, you see many kids expressing their identity on Letterboxd [a social network where opinions on audiovisual projects are shared]. When I was a child, everyone had a shelf of DVDs and CDs that represented you, but I think that expression has been lost a bit due to digitalisation. Now there is a way of exposing yourself that is very cool and that could motivate a great change in the meaning of cinema in particular and culture in general.”

These same young people that Pattinson mentions as saviors of cinema are also responsible —or maybe hostages?— for another of the great inclinations not only of cinema, but also of literature, fashion and music: the taste for remakes , or the predilection for a past that helps some of us to remember (and in the process to forget the chiaroscuros of the present) and others to understand the world of their elders. In a ‘today’ (over)loaded with ‘yesterday’, there is also the modality of reviving, in order to dignify, creative proposals that were once reviled.

In this context, asking about the vindication of the Twilight saga , considered an insubstantial work in the early 2010s and conceived as cool , visionary and influential in the 2020s, is more of an obligation than a desire for that pre-teen who grew up with Bella Swan, the Cullens and Jacob Black. “I find it a fascinating phenomenon. I mean, I can’t believe it. I think this renaissance has emerged in Korea and it’s happened a bit like with K-pop , which took off in Korea, but then seduced a young Western population. I find it hard to believe the cultural relevance that these films maintain because they are so old… The first one was released in 2008, fuck! [laughs].” In passing, Pattinson takes advantage of the situation to be very explicit against those who, as he himself has said on previous occasions, did not know how to understand the background of a saga ahead of its time. “I love that people keep telling me, ‘Man, Twilight ruined the vampire genre . ’ Are you still stuck on that shit? How can you be sad about something that happened almost 20 years ago? It’s crazy,” the Brit says with a laugh.

This conception of the passage of time is shared by Kurkdjian, who recalls in detail his first face-to-face meeting with the actor. It was, in fact, during the recording of an audiovisual content linked to the Dior Homme campaign that took place in New York. “ I realized that [Robert] was very bad at interviews [laughs]. It is very impressive when you meet someone you have only seen through a screen and you realize how in a certain way you have idealized him. When we met for the first time in New York, it was very funny, because everything seemed unreal to me: we were inside a car that was not even started, since it had been placed on the platform of a truck that was the one that really moved us around the city. The fake driver was a journalist who was interviewing us… It was all very surreal, but at the same time very fun and surprisingly easy. I like things to work organically,” …

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10 Magazine: Robert Pattinson On His New Dior Homme Parfum Campaign *Extract below*

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, master perfumer and perfume creation director for Christian Dior Parfums Francis Kurkdjian has reimagined the classic, enhancing its sleek, sensual essence with a rich, concentrated formula that bears his distinctive olfactory signature. Even better, Robert Pattinson is the face of it. “I think this new chapter in the campaign has such a deep sensuality to it. And also a relaxed maturity that probably comes from being so comfortable around everyone I work with at Dior,” says Pattinson.

In a smouldering campaign lensed by Mikael Jansson and backdropped by either a city skyline or what resembles a Brooklyn loft apartment, the chiselled English actor lounges around, his hair tousled with a devil-may-care kind of attitude, looking like the picture of the versatile man. “Dior Homme is so malleable, which is important for me because I don’t want to be tied down to one identity. I want to be able to be free to adapt and Dior Homme seems to fit with any situation,” Pattinson says.

Dior Homme Parfum is great at that; bending and remoulding to fit any scenario be it a blue-light heavy day at the office or a rambunctious night on the town. With just one whiff, you’ll be enveloped in an intoxicating overdose of iris, capturing the softness of its petals and the earthiness of its roots. Kurkdjian’s fresh interpretation of Dior Homme Parfum embodies the couture spirit of the Dior man, offering a scent that is both structured and fluid, sophisticated yet deeply sensual. When and where does Pattinson apply it? “Mainly in the morning so that by the evening you’ve really made it your own. I’m more used to wearing fragrance at night when I have plans to go out. I give one spray and walk through it.”

Recalling his conversations with Kurkdjian in New York, Pattinson says, “I loved talking to Francis in New York. The process of making a fragrance from an outside perspective seems so impossible to understand, but Francis has a way of describing his art that is so evocative and accessible that I left our meeting having a much deeper understanding. I love that his process sounds like some kind of grand emotional adventure rather than being stuck in a lab.” Returning to his thoughts on the fragrance, he adds, “I like the saying that nature does not grow in leaps and while Dior Homme is always innovating and changing, it maintains the familiar while leading us gently into the new, and always with a little bit of wonder.”


Esquire Middle East: Robert Pattinson smolders with the best of them, but he is no Zoolander *Talks The Batman*

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Smoldering. There are few men who can ‘do smoldering’ better than Robert Pattinson. That sexy, broody, intense stare that on-screen is like a spark to a tinderbox. It’s the kind of look that, when mastered, you can build a career on – and, boy, has Robert Pattinson mastered it.

The face of Dior Homme fragrance since 2012, he has literally been the embodiment of the wildly popular, sexy, amber scent that this month gets re-invented thanks to the talents of Francis Kurkdjian, the artistic director of Christian Dior Parfums.

But don’t let a decade of smoldering fool you, Robert Pattinson is no Derek Zoolander. As one of the world’s most versatile and respected actors, his films include The Twilight Saga (2008-2012); The Lighthouse (2019); Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (2020) and The Batman (2022) – films that have him portraying the whole spectrum of weird and wonderful characters, normally from the very front of the film poster.

“Honestly, I find the Dior Man one of the hardest ‘characters’ to do,” says Pattinson. “Essentially you are being ask to play ‘attractive’, which actually comes with a lot of pressure when the cameras start rolling. You have to hit multiple points all at the same time.”

The newly released video for the re-imagining of Dior Homme sees Pattinson dancing, laughing, shadow boxing, smoldering in the mirror, smoldering in the throes of passion, smoldering up the fire escape of a Manhattan red brick, and smoldering while riding a motorcycle on an empty beach while being straddled by a beautiful woman. Does anyone do it better? We’ll wait…

Shooting a fragrance campaign can be a lot trickier than a film, because the character is so much more abstract and ephemeral so there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ it’s done more on feel. Sometimes it feels like a roll of a dice, but as most of the work is done by the director, editors and crew, that dice is usually heavily weighted to a six!” he laughs.

If you’re wondering which variety of smolder Pattinson actually is in real life, you’d be surprised to hear that its, well, none of them. During our multi time zone call, with him in New York and Kurkdjian in Paris, Pattinson spends most of it chuckling, cracking wise, and constantly running his hand through his floppy hair (another asset that he has tamed, mastered and built a career on).

Through today’s eyes, it’s hard to believe that back when Pattinson fronted his first Dior Homme campaign, the whole ‘actor as a brand ambassador’ thing was out of favour. With a legion of fans built off the back of the Twilight and Harry Potter series, Pattinson’s profile was rocketing and he had a tricky decision to make.

“At the time, there was this stigma attached to actors doing fragrance ads. It was considered a bad look, and had that whole Zoolander thing attached to it,” he pauses to do his best ‘Blue Steel’ face and laugh. “But I remember being really frightened about those first meetings with Dior, like I was crossing an unspoken divide. But now, twelve years on, being the face of a fragrance is almost part of the package of being a lead actor, and working with Dior has turned out to be one of the best career decisions I ever made. It’s actually the longest relationship that I’ve ever had!” he laughs.

For Kurkdjian, the task was to talk to the modern man. Something that he describes as constantly balancing the dualities of being fragile and strong; powerful and charismatic but also sensitive.

“That’s what we try to capture with my character,” adds Pattinson. “He is someone who wants to experience everything, but never feels quite at home. He’s constantly trying to define himself in quite a passionate way. It’s funny because over the past 12 years of being one of the faces of the Dior Man, I’m probably one of the worst people to describe what masculinity is – because I don’t know myself!”

“If you do an iteration of something that already exists there will always be a comparison because there exists a point of reference,” explains Kurkdjian. “However, as that framework already exists it creates a great challenge to explore your own interpretation of the project. I love the comfort of being in someone else’s shoes and walking with them at my own pace and rhythm.”

It’s a line that rings true with Pattinson as the Caped Crusader.

“There have been many wonderful different actors who have interpreted Batman before, and so there is certainly a template to follow should you want to,” adds Pattinson. “However, I’ve found that when it feels like they have exhausted all the ways of interpreting the character, you end up going deeper into it because of the ‘restrictions’ and coming up with something fresh that you wouldn’t have considered originally.”

To avoid Kurkdjian nods enthusiastically before further adding to the weight that pre-existing expectations can have on the role of creativity.

“Before joining Dior I thought a lot about the pressure that comes with the role and how I would be able to handle it,” he explains. “But I came to the realization that it is a job that you can’t or shouldn’t do with pressure, because if you do, you’ll f*** it up. Perfume is about pleasure. It’s like cooking. Yes, creative jobs are intense and challenging, but it can’t be too stressful as your energy must be saved for more meaningful things. Your energy must fuel your creativity, not your worry.”

As our time winds up, we loop back around to the campaign video and ask Pattinson about the scene of him riding the motorbike on the beach. Now that is come classic masculinity.

“I actually had to learn how to ride a motorbike for The Batman, I had never ridden one before – well, apart from when I was 15, and my mum caught me riding dirt bikes in the countryside with my cousin. I got in a lot of trouble for that!”

“Essentially, Dior asked me if I could ride one and I was, like, sure,” Pattinson explains. “However, I was not expecting they meant, that I needed to ride a vintage motorbike on the beach across wet sand in freezing cold temperatures… it’s extremely difficult!” again, he chuckles. “Oh, and by the way, you have to do it with a girl sitting on your lap with her legs wrapped around you, and, if you could to that all while looking cool and composed, that would be great!”

Advice on pulling it off? “Just smolder and style it out”.


Harpers Bazaar: Robert Pattinson Says Suki Waterhouse Is the Best-Smelling Person He’s Ever Met

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Pattinson is as delightfully honest and refreshing as ever. Ahead, the actor spills his hair-color regrets, the one health supplement he really loves, and more of his fragrance and wellness secrets exclusively to Bazaar.

You had blond highlights in my favorite film, Tenet, a mustache in The Lighthouse, and darker, longer hair in The Batman, and then in the upcoming Mickey 17 I imagine there had to be slight physical differences between the multiple versions of you. So how does beauty, grooming, or scent play a role in how you conceive of the characters that you’re playing?

It’s massive and kind of an unusual thing as well. It’s funny, because in your everyday life, if you’re an actor, you’re like, “Oh, if I wear these clothes or wear this or whatever, everyone’s gonna think I’m, like, this kind of person as a normal person.” No, they don’t. No one is thinking anything. No one even notices you change your hair. But it’s such a funny thing when you’re on a set and doing a camera test and you’re saying, “Oh, what is this saying, this slightly different hair?” It sort of does do something. It definitely makes me feel very, very different.

The blond highlights in Tenet—I was really obsessed with Christopher Hitchens at the time. And there’s something about a very blond person who’s a heavy drinker; it’s a very particularly kind of English thing, and you always see it in a gentlemen’s club. I kind of associate very blond hair with a kind of childishness, and there’s something like a sort of angelic-ness about you—like a fallen-angel kind of thing. That’s what I was going for.

Was it your decision, then, to go blond for that film?

I initially dyed my hair really blond, and it looked a little crazy. I toned it down a bit. Highlighting your hair is funny. I did it the other day, when I went to Coachella for the first time in like a decade. I kind of had a nervous breakdown beforehand, thinking I was too old. So I got frosted tips put on, and then I wore a hat the entire time anyway because I was too self-conscious about it.

You’re like…this was a bad choice.

But when I was by myself, I was like, “Hey, I look like how I wanted to look when I was 15.”

Let’s talk about scent for a second. So, describing scent is tricky for us non-perfumers. How would you describe this new Dior Homme iteration in a few words? Does a song or music come to mind? Does it make you think of a location or a memory?

I don’t really like scents where, if you walk into a room wearing it, everyone’s like, “Oh, what scent are you wearing?” And you can kind of identify certain notes to it. [The new Dior Homme eau de parfum] is very subtle and kind of close, and it kind of synthesizes with your body quite easily. You can’t immediately tell that you’re wearing a scent, which I thought was really lovely. It seems very simple. There’s something very uncluttered about it, which I really, really liked.

But, yeah, when I was talking to Francis [Kurkdjian, Dior’s perfume creation director], we did this behind-the-scenes making-of-the-scent video, and they asked me to describe it. And like every single ingredient I said had nothing to do with the scent—at all. In fact, both this one and the last Dior Homme, I was like, “It smells like pencils,” and Francis was like …“Okay?”

That’s why we’re not perfumers and Francis does what he does!

[In a joking voice] Some scents I like are tomato ketchup and, uh, maybe some steak? I don’t know, toast?

You’ve previously mentioned that you have an affinity for sheet and eye masks. Are there any other self-care beauty habits you think have made a difference in how you look?

This stuff called L-glutamine, which is like a workout supplement. I was having it and was like, I feel great when I take this stuff. Then I looked it up after and learned it was really good for skin and things like that. I think every single supplement says it does everything, but for some reason, for me, L-glutamine really does do something.

I definitely moisturize quite a lot. I can tell when I am working that I get full facial dysmorphia. I think, “If I just put on half a tube of moisturizer, maybe tomorrow I’ll look 12!”

It’s in the hope of it all!

I also realized that there was a thing that Jennifer Lawrence had told me to do when we were in Calgary. It’s really high altitude. I’ve never really had altitude sickness, but I was exhausted all the time. She said to get these little oxygen-canister things that you can spray on your eyes. It apparently does something. I got really obsessed with doing them. I think I just liked having a little toy to play with that you can just spray on your face.

My whole sense of smell changed after having my son in 2022 [???? Maria: I think they mean his daughter in 2024]. Has becoming a dad changed your sense of smell or your scent preferences at all?

Everyone said, “Oh, the smell of babies!” And I really didn’t get it—until you have your own baby. My baby smells great! I really still don’t really like the smell of other babies. I think my baby smells different from other babies. It’s not a generic baby smell. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

I think it’s different for women. Once you’ve had a baby, it actually does a physiological thing. I definitely have noticed, though, that I never had candles and stuff. Now I’m like, why am I keeping them in my hotel room all the time and lighting all these little candles? What happened to me? I tidy it up all the time. I make my bed. It’s, like, bizarre.

You’re an adult now.

It just suddenly happened!

Right there with you. Who is the best-smelling person you’ve ever met?

Suki.

That’s really sweet. And what does happiness smell like to you?

Suki. [Laughs] Scored some points.

Gourmand scents are fragrances inspired by food, and they’re trending right now in beauty. So, what food do you think should be bottled up and sold as a scent?

It’s weird. Foods, when you take them out of the context, they’re always gross. If you smelled a person that smelled like a sausage, you’d be like, what the fuck is wrong with you? But a sausage smells really nice. In any condition, it has to be associated. They have to be linked. You can’t separate.

Iris flower is at the root of this new Dior Homme scent. What is your favorite flower to give?

There’s this florist in London. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I like giving really unusual flowers. It’s not just a pretty bouquet. I like it when you get things that are like, whoa, they look like they’re from an alien planet. I always like giving something like that.

It’s said that men rarely get gifted flowers outside of funerals. So when was the last time you received flowers?

Kim Jones always gives nice flowers. And it’s funny because I normally wouldn’t really appreciate flowers. It’s kind of like, uhhhh, thanks? But Kim gives really nice flowers. He sends them for my birthday and thank-yous and things, and they’re always lovely. And it made me start putting them in my house more. I would never have flowers just like around before. He sent this amazing bouquet once, and I had it in my entryway, and I was like, this is actually delightful! I like having flowers and plants everywhere.

Iris flower can symbolize faith and hope. So you’ve been the face of Dior Homme for a decade. What is something you hope for the next 10 years?

I guess I hope nothing really bad happens. But you know, if it’s really bad, it’s never that bad. You get over it! I hope the world doesn’t end. That’d be nice.

Wouldn’t that be lovely?

I hope everyone just has a great time.

I love that. So in 10 years, if the world doesn’t end and there’s another fragrance launch, then maybe we’ll talk again!

[Laughs] It will be made from literally some radioactive flower. We found the last flower left.


ELLE USA: Robert Pattinson’s Sense of Smell Will Blow Your Mind

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Robert Pattinson joins our Zoom from a hotel in Boston, where he’ll be spending the next few weeks shooting a movie with Zendaya, officially making this the coolest, sexiest moment in the nearly 400-year history of Boston. It’s the start of a busy stretch for the new-ish father, who has a 23-month-old daughter [??? Maria: Obviously 23 months is incorrect seeing as she was born in 2024] with his partner, Suki Waterhouse. This month he’s headlining a new fragrance campaign for Dior Homme, and he’ll be back in movie theaters this spring in Mickey 17, the long-awaited sci-fi black comedy from Parasite director Bong Joon Ho. Below, Pattinson takes our ELLE Man questionnaire.

Your work with Dior Homme made me wonder how acute your sense of smell is.
I can weirdly turn on and off my sense of smell. I think I have a scent dyslexia, where I think something smells like something that no one else thinks it does.

Do you have any vivid memories attached to a particular scent?
Since I had a kid, I’ve definitely become more attuned to that. I remember my mom always saying, “Oh, the smell of babies!” And I’d be like, I don’t know, they all smell like genetically modified piglets. But then you have your own kid, and it’s, “Oh, this is the best smell I’ve ever smelled.” Another one that comes to mind was the smell of the mask in The Batman. Once you put the cowl on, you have to get someone else to take it off, so there’s something about being locked into it. You’re like, “Okay, I’m gonna be dealing with this smell for the next 12 hours.” It’s funny—when I did the audition, I tried on all the different [cowls] and I wore Val Kilmer’s, and it still held a human scent.

It still smelled like Val Kilmer?
Yeah, Val Kilmer. And a bit of what Clooney’s head smelled like 20 years ago.

Does your baby have a particularly identifiable scent to you?
I mean, like, if there was a pen of babies, I think I could probably snuffle her out. [Laughs.] Yeah. She’s got quite a unique scent.

Speaking of smells: Bong Joon Ho, your director on Mickey 17, says the movie is about “how pathetic humans can be. It’s almost like you can smell every human character in the film. Their piss stains and their smelly socks.”
Wow! He told me before we started shooting: “It’s not science sci-fi—it’s sniff-your-armpit sci-fi.” When you compare Bong’s Average Joe to a Hollywood Average Joe—the Hollywood Average Joe invariably realizes that they’re actually special. Bong’s Average Joes remain average, and maybe even get a little bit lower than Average Joe by the end of it. With Mickey—it’s like when Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone and everyone’s like, “Oh my God, you’re the chosen one.” And he’s like, “Fuck, no, no,” and then eventually puts the sword back in. Like, he’s so much happier once he’s put the sword back in stone.

Is it true that you originally based Mickey’s voice on Steve-O from Jackass but Bong thought it sounded too weird?
I used to love, and I still do love, Jackass. I remember listening to an interview with Steve-O years ago and he was talking about how much they got paid for these dangerous stunts on the first season, and he said a hundred bucks. Like, you can die from doing this, and he was like, “Nah, I’ll just do it for a hundred. It’s fine.” And there was something about that—actually being really brave and not ever acknowledging that it’s bravery. I thought there was an element of that to Mickey. So I spent a long time kind of figuring out an impression of Steve-O’s voice. And the first time I did it, Bong was just like, “Whoa—what’s that voice you’re doing?”

How do you take that as an actor? How do you know when to really dig in and say, “No—it must be Steve-O” versus when to be like, “No problem, it was just an idea”?
I mean, it was definitely a big swing [laughs]. And when you haven’t prepared someone, at all—it was at a script read through, and there’s like 40 people around the table, and every single person looks up, and they’re like, “Oh! Oh, you’re doing a thing?” I realized quite quickly that maybe this was too large a swing. But if they ever make the Steve-O biopic, I’m ready.

Did you practice your voice around the house?
I was walking around doing it all the time. One of my favorite things in the world is to walk around in public pretending to be on the phone and doing someone else’s voice. That’s like my hobby.

Your partner, Suki Waterhouse, pulled a prank on you, with ELLE’s help, in which she pretended she’d been asked to host Love Is Blind, with you as co-host. I loved how gracefully you handled what you clearly thought was a terrible idea.
It did worry me how good she was at doing it. Especially when I saw the video. I’m like, “Wow, you can lie to me so easily! And you can really, really keep a very straight face.” There’s no way I would never have been able to do that—she would’ve called me out in two seconds if I was doing it to her. And for some reason I was very convinced that she thought it was a good idea. But, I mean…maybe it is a good idea! I honestly don’t know! I always think that when someone comes to you with enthusiasm about something, never break their dream.

What’s something about women that you’ve had to learn the hard way?
Don’t try to win an argument. It is not going to happen. If someone says, “We need to sit down and talk about this,” they’re not asking for you to talk. You just have to sit there and listen.

Men don’t necessarily have the best reputation when it comes to breakups. Looking back on your romantic history, how would you rate yourself?
Obviously I rate myself 10 out of 10 for sensitivity. [Laughs.] I’m an angel, completely. And I always somehow end up on the moral high ground.


21 January 2025

From Vogue: Fatherhood, Doing his own Stunts and Dior Man

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Robert Pattinson isn’t new to this. And by this, we mean Dior Homme Parfum and all the sexy, ambery energy that comes along with it. “We have been together for longer than a decade,” the actor says with a laugh on a fall morning. “This was before everybody was working with a fragrance.”

When describing Homme, which was recently re-invented by the fashion house’s creative director of perfumes Francis Kurkdjian, Pattinson says “the scent feels like more of an aura than spraying some perfume on.” With notes of iris flower, vetiver, patchouli, and amber, it’s something he likes to spray on for moments when he’s looking to make a good first impression. Like when he met with director Bong Joon-ho, director of his upcoming project Mickey 17, set to be released in March of this year. “Bong is one of maybe five directors in the world who have his level of expertise and influence. He is a really special artist.”

The actor also points out he’s not new to the more daring moments of the scintillating advertisement for Homme, which involves him riding a motorcycle on a beach. “I learned how to ride a motorcycle for Batman, so when Dior asked if I could ride, I said yeah. Well, I could sort of ride a motorcycle-ish. But even trying to even start a motorcycle in wet sand is literally impossible. I just thought, ‘I’m going to die on this.’”

Add the girl in his arms (literally) and Pattison just has to laugh. “If the Dior man can do this easily, well it’s very impressive.”

Pattison says, though, that none of that—driving fast, daring stunts—is what he’s like IRL. “I’m very anxiety-prone, I don’t like driving fast in real life at all,” he says. “I can’t even parallel park! I need it to be valet-only like in Clueless. But there’s something about my pride that comes out when I’m being filmed. All of a sudden, I’m like ‘yeah, I can drive 120 miles an hour through this tiny little gap.’”

The stunts he’s performing in Mickey 17 are much more in his natural skillset, Pattison jokes “It’s the kind of stunt where you’re just hurting yourself a lot. It just involves falling off ledges and being uncoordinated. It’s really in my wheelhouse.”

Though recent changes in his personal life—the actor welcomed a baby with partner Suki Waterhouse in March of 2024—have him leaning toward being even more risk-averse than before. The life milestone also introduced a new scent into Pattison’s life that he’s obsessed with. “I remember people used to be like ‘oh, don’t you like the smell of babies, but I thought they were just smelling the baby powder,” he said with a laugh. “But then I had a baby, and I was like ‘my baby smells incredible.’ There’s something there, I can identify her. She doesn’t smell like other babies.”

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Rob’s Films
Mickey17 Role: Mickey17
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Release Date: 7 March 2025 (US). | Check out all upcoming release dates at our Film Page by clicking on News below

Die, My Love Role: Jackson
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Release Date: Expected 2025 | Current Status: Post Production as at 16 October 2024

The Drama Role: TBA
Director: Kristoffer Borgli
Release Date: Expected 2025. | Post production as at 14 December 2024.


The Odyssey Role: TBA
Director: Christopher Nolan
Release Date: 17 July 2026. | Filming February to August 2025 Sicily, UK, Moroc Check out all upcoming information at our dedicated Film Page by clicking on News below

The Batman Part II Role: Bruce Wayne | Batman
Director: Matt Reeves
Release Date: 1 October 2027. Check out all current info at our dedicated Film Page by clicking on News below


Icki Eneo Arlo Robert Pattinson Producer
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