According to Variety, in a recent interview with GQ Spain, Nicholas Hoult talked about losing the role of Batman to Rob. Here’s what Nicholas had to say:

“Of course,” Hoult said when asked if he would’ve liked to play Bruce Wayne/Batman. “I’m sure if you ask most people, they’ll tell you they’d want to portray that role. I think Matt Reeves’ ideas were fantastic and he made a brilliant movie. And I also think that Rob [Pattinson] did an amazing job with the character, and I loved seeing him in it. So I don’t think I would have done as good a job as him ultimately. I don’t think I could have fit as well into the world that Matt created as Rob did.”

“When they tell you for the first time that it’s not you, it’s painful, but then you have to accept it as normality,” Hoult continued. “I think that’s probably a strength of mine as an actor as well. I can accept that they didn’t cast me pretty well and when I see the chosen actor doing a great job, and I enjoy it, and it’s good, I’m like, ‘oh yeah, they made the right choice. They knew what they were doing.’ So it’s not like I’m sitting there like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to watch it now.’ It’s a good movie and Rob is brilliant in it.”

From IRK Magazine:

Chris Knight: Robert Pattinson once said the best piece of acting advice he ever received was from you, about how you always keep your ‘birthday in your back pocket’ when you’re in a scene. Can you talk a little bit about where that idea comes from and some of the most interested ways it’s manifested itself in a character for you?

Peter: That was actually an inside joke that I think people misinterpreted. When you’re an actor, teachers suggest you hold a secret in a scene to give you something interesting to play. We were talking about this one night, and I jokingly said to Rob that my secret is that it’s always my birthday. And that it works for any scene. If you’re sad in the scene, you can play “no one remembered my birthday,” If your excited, “hey, it’s my birthday,” If your jealous, “my birthday party is on the the same day as my best friends,” If you’re angry, “you hated your birthday presents,” I joked that it works for any emotion and it’s a secret no one else would know– and you could keep it to yourself. He laughed. Then said, “Actually… that’s pretty genius.” Haha. But it was kind of an inside (actor’s) joke, so when he explained it in an interview I think people took it literally.

Thanks @sallyvg for heads up.

Here’s the full interview from Alexandra Jones (who commented to me on instagram that Rob “was really great, very funny!” and 5 new photos thanks to Louie Banks. From Evening Standard:

Though he has a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes having been awake since 4am — it’s now 7pm — when I come face to face with Robert Pattinson he is quick to assure me that he is totally fine. The early rising is just because he is in the middle of shooting a new film: a film about which he is extremely enthusiastic.

‘It’s with Parasite director Bong Joon-ho and it’s like nothing I’ve ever done before,’ he says. ‘The movie is so crazy, it’s a completely different style of working.’ In the film — Mickey 17, based on a dystopian sci-fi novel by Edward Ashton — Pattinson plays two versions of himself (both clones) who team up to work together. ‘It’s so much talking,’ he says. He’s been staying in a little hotel in Bedford near a vast airport hangar where they’ve built the set. In the evenings he has been back in his room, getting increasingly worried that it might be haunted. ‘Anyway, today I just realised that I’m probably not seeing ghosts — it’s probably just because I’ve been drinking about 17 cups of coffee a day.’ So to confirm: Robert Pattinson is not going mad, he’s just very, very tired.

For a long time now, Pattinson has been one of the most consistently interesting character actors of his generation. Most recently he has moved back into blockbuster territory as a pleasingly off-beat Bruce Wayne in The Batman. In the decade before this he honed his craft on the art-house and indie circuits, often playing lowlifes, oddballs and creeps for some of the world’s most respected directors (David Cronenberg and Christopher Nolan among them). My personal favourite is Pattinson as deeply unsympathetic street hustler Connie in the frantic Safdie brothers film, Good Time. You forget that you’re watching a man once regarded as the world’s hunkiest teen heart-throb, which is basically the point. The narrative for many years now has been that Pattinson’s career choices are a reaction against the megastardom that was thrust on him during his time playing Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise.

But anyway, he’s here in his capacity as a Dior fragrance ambassador as the fashion house relaunches Dior Homme Sport and adds a shaving cream to the best-selling line. He has worked with the brand for 10 happy years, such that now he tells me he’s become close friends with many of the people at the company. ‘I’m not even just saying it to be nice. It’s been one of the most enjoyable work, and personal, experiences that I’ve ever had in my life.’ In terms of fragrance, he says he is bad at identifying what his favourite smells are, ‘but — I mean, it’s kind of cheesy — if you’re in love with someone, their smell becomes very particular to you… so yeah, something like “girlfriend in a dressing gown”.’ His girlfriend is the model and musician Suki Waterhouse. The pair have been together for a number of years though they only recently went ‘red carpet official’ and, given the public interest in his previous relationships (first with Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart, then with the musician FKA twigs), it’s perhaps little wonder that they’ve stayed under the radar for so long.

1 October 2022

Lol at Rob’s choices

17 September 2022

We didn’t have to wait that long. I loved hearing Rob’s interpretation of some of the paintings he chose. Sit back, watch and listen – my only complaint was that it’s only 5 minutes of insight.

14 September 2022

Patiently waiting for this interview / video footage. Remember information about the auction is available at Sotheby’s website.

Flock

12 September 2022

Chris Floyd photographer shares some new photos taken by him of Rob for Sotheby’s. LOL at the first one.

Edition recently interviewed John Boyega and this is what he had to say about Rob:

What actor demonstrates this type of versatility?

Versatility is all I talk about these days! I like how Robert Pattinson switched his choices after doing the Twilight films. If you put him in three different roles, he’s three completely other people. I like actors who change every single time. That is just so cool to me. …

via @sallyvg

10 July 2022

IndieWire picked up this little tidbit from Claire Denis’ recent interview with The Playlist below. I can’t believe I missed it.

“Denis revealed that they almost collaborated on a stage play. After speaking about her passion for working with actors, Denis was asked if she has considered directing theatre. Not only did she say yes, but she revealed that she was once developing a play that would have starred Pattinson.

“Yeah, I have thought about it,” Denis said. “There was a moment when I was talking about doing something like that with Robert, before he was our Batman.”

6 July 2022

The Playlist recently spoke to Claire Denis “at a tiny Upper East Side hotel to discuss her shyness about sex, the profound impact that Batman has had on the logistics of her next film” and Rob. This is what Claire had to say:

I’ve been looking forward to speaking again. We’ve sat down once before, for “High Life” after the premiere in Toronto back in 2018.

On that huge screen in that huge theater. Fuck me up. When I think of it, I was seated by Robert [Pattinson], and for me and Robert, that was like a nightmare. I told [Toronto International Film Festival CEO] Cameron [Bailey], “You cannot do that to film.”

…

Robert Pattinson was set for the lead role, but then he dropped out. How’d things play out there?

No one saw COVID coming, of course. The plan was he would finish “The Batman,” and I’d wait for him, and he’d be free by September of that year. That was good for me as well, because it would be the right season in Nicaragua. Then in one moment, COVID came, and Robert was working in London. I couldn’t even go and see him. Then Nicaragua went through a terrible thing: Daniel Ortega, the President, wasn’t supposed to re-present himself in the election. But he did, and he isolated Nicaragua even more. So there was an issue, I didn’t know what to do. And Robert was still in the middle of the Batman process at this point, which was a painful moment because I love both Robert Pattinson and Nicaragua a lot.

I was losing every part of the film, except for Margaret [Qualley]. Because she told me, “I’m waiting,” I decided I had to do this. Every morning, I’d wake up and say, “I quit.” But I’d think of Margaret, and she’s been waiting without complaining, so I kept on. I thought Panama could be our plan B, not totally sure. As soon as I could travel, I went to Panama, and at this time, Robert is still in London playing Batman. I must cast someone else, which at first made me feel like I was dying. But I did it! Because Margaret was still there.

28 May 2022

Claire Denis’ The Stars at Noon debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. She told Reuters the reason why Rob had to drop out of starring in the film:

“The pandemic came and ‘The Batman’ shooting took him almost two years and Robert was very tired. He said ‘I can’t’. And then I was lucky, so lucky, that Joe was interested,” said Denis.

Thanks @Monsieur_HJ for heads up.