MTV UK
While busy promoting his new flick The Rover in Cannes, MTV UK were quick to probe R-Pattz over what floats his boat on the box, leaving the Twilight actor to reveal: “I love English reality TV. I like Geordie Shore. It's like the Jersey Shore of England.
"It's amazing, one of the greatest TV shows I have ever seen in my entire life."
Pattinson went on to gush: "And it's not really laughing at people because I don't really like that kind of reality TV, the people in it, you genuinely really like them, it's crazy.”
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Direct Matin
You're not the one who plays James Dean?
No, it's Dane Dehaan but it's funny because there's similarities to my path, with the fact that everything happened in 2 months, between the moment where he was no one and this incredible success that was dropped on him. The famous picture where we see him smoke at Times Square, it was the day before the premiere of East of Eden. I was exactly at the same place the day before the Twilight premiere.
No, it's Dane Dehaan but it's funny because there's similarities to my path, with the fact that everything happened in 2 months, between the moment where he was no one and this incredible success that was dropped on him. The famous picture where we see him smoke at Times Square, it was the day before the premiere of East of Eden. I was exactly at the same place the day before the Twilight premiere.
Teen icon at the beginning of his career, Robert Pattinson definitely settled himself in the Hollywood landscape. In 'The Rover' by David Michôd, he plays a simple minded guy forced to work with his enemy to find his brother in the Australian desert. It's a controlled shift the British actor admits it was made possible thanks to his meeting with David Cronenberg.
Was it the world of 'The Rover' or its character that sparked your interest first in the project?
I found the script really interesting but I had a really strong connection first with my character, especially the way he express himself. I had never seen a character like this before.
Was it difficult to play someone who's simple minded?
Not at all, it came naturally (laughs). I approached him like a beaten up street dog that would keep on going back to his master for a little bit of affection.
The film imagines a ruined world by men's madness. Do you think this is where we're heading with our society?
This could happen but I'm more optimistic than that. I have more faith in humanity. In 'The Rover', men aren't completely lost, they all didn't become mad. Some still have hope and try to revive the Earth. But this economic collapse is totally conceivable.
Was it the world of 'The Rover' or its character that sparked your interest first in the project?
I found the script really interesting but I had a really strong connection first with my character, especially the way he express himself. I had never seen a character like this before.
Was it difficult to play someone who's simple minded?
Not at all, it came naturally (laughs). I approached him like a beaten up street dog that would keep on going back to his master for a little bit of affection.
The film imagines a ruined world by men's madness. Do you think this is where we're heading with our society?
This could happen but I'm more optimistic than that. I have more faith in humanity. In 'The Rover', men aren't completely lost, they all didn't become mad. Some still have hope and try to revive the Earth. But this economic collapse is totally conceivable.
You play, one after the other, in two movies 'against the system': 'Maps to the Stars' and 'The Rover', are you engaged in politically?
I'm more or less liberal.It's hard to be an actor and not be liberal by the way. Maybe we should be more worried about the oceans but I don't take politics very seriously. When you see that most Western countries are under the leadership of a handful of multinational companies, it seems like voting is some kind of a joke.
From teens' sex symbol to an actor seeked by the biggest directors, what was the secret to your career change?
It took some time. It's been 4-5 years that I've tried to create priviledged relationships with directors whose work I've admired and it appeared that things settled at the same time. 'Cosmopolis' changed everything. Ever since my meeting with David Cronenberg, my career took a new turn.
You were in Cannes with two movies: 'The Rover' and 'Maps to the Stars' by David Cronenberg.
It's one of the most exhilarating places to screen a movie. There's an incredible energy that dominates over there. I like doing press at Cannes. The journalists are actually interested in the movies and don't ask you questions like 'What's your favorite food?' In France, journalists love the cinema.
You just finished filming Werner Herzog's movie 'Queen of the Desert' about the spy, Gertrude Bell. Who do you play in it?
I play the young Lawrence of Arabia. He was a close friend of Gertrude Bell during WWI.
You also play the photographer, Dennis Stock in 'Life' by Anton Corbijn.
We just got done shooting. I saw the trailer the other day. I play this guy who photographed James Dean right before he became famous. James was unknown at that time.
What else do you have planned?
In November, I'm working with Olivier Assayas in a movie called 'Idol's Eye'. It's a gangster movie on the true story of a group of thieves who robbed a pawnbroker's shop that belonged to the mafia. It takes place in the 1970s. I met Olivier Assayas two and a half years ago but the project only came to be a few months ago
Guy Pearce Mentions Rob
Yahoo Celebrity Q: How aware of Robert Pattinson were you before the film and how was it working with him?
PEARCE: I was very aware of his fame, and I had only seen him for Water for Elephants, which I really enjoyed, and I really enjoyed him in it. That head is just incredible really isn’t it? That face really. And the sensitivity, it’s a beautiful sensitivity. And when David mentioned that he was interested in him for the role, and I went, ‘Oh wow, okay,’ because I think the vulnerability was something that was really crucial for me as far as I was concerned. And I didn’t want it to be, not that I am a big brute of a guy, but I didn’t want it to be too equal; I wanted it to be obviously top heavy, so that people would feel sorry for him if I really took it out on him. And I wasn’t aware of how good he was going to be, to be honest. Not that I didn’t think he would be, but certainly, on that second day, when I was watching some stuff on the monitor, and he did that scene where he crawled out of the truck and he was sitting against the tree at the beginning and he had just been shot and watching the way he was sort of trying to work out how he was going to deal with this situation, I just found it heart-breaking. So it was a great moment for me, to be honest and it just got better and better as far as I was concerned. So, it was exciting because one, you forget about all the fame business and you concentrate on the work that you are doing, but just to kind of work with somebody who is really delivering is fabulous, it’s always been inspiring.
Q: Are you glad you never quite experienced that level of fame? There were years where you were pretty well known... But it wasn’t that sort of thing. Are you glad you didn’t have to deal with that in your career?
PEARCE: Yeah, I haven’t had to deal with it. I would certainly enjoy the benefits that come with it, as far as being offered great roles all the time, and all that sort of stuff and I am sure that’s fabulous. But the sh*t you have got to deal with at the same time I reckon is pretty full on. It’s amazing how he deals with it.
Q: He seems very natural and easy-going.
PEARCE: Yeah, he’s funny and he has a good sense of humour, but I think it gets to him totally. But interestingly, and not that he actually says this, but he wants to prove himself as a good actor. All of us do, all of us want to be able to do good work and I think he sees that stuff, all that Twilight stuff, and goes blech, whatever.
20 Mins 20 minutes: And Robert Pattinson?
Guy Pearce: I spent the time on set eating sand with him, it creates links! Seriously, I was amazed by his talent and sense of adventure. He doesn't hesitate to make himself look ugly and try things. It is not a only a lmovie star: he has the makings of a great actor.
Telepro
After his escape to Cannes, where he climbed the famous steps, Robert Pattinson spoke to Télépro.
We met the young 28 year old British actor on the occasion of the release of "The Rover" (the movie will be released in France and Belgium this Wednesday, June 4)
What do you think of your experience at Cannes?
This is not the first time I'm on the Croisette, but it's still kind of an emotional shock for me (laughs). I'm surprised at how passionate people are about movies... Sometimes a little too much! I was shocked to read some reviews of the film, really virulent. I don't understand the anger of some journalists . Sometimes there such aggressiveness in this Festival. I am told that this is part of the game to Cannes but, my God, this is a film after all!
What are your favorite movies and actors?
I have seen "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (note: a Terry Gilliam film starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro) a million times. I know all replicas ! I'm also a big fan of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"(Milos Forman, starring Jack Nicholson). I also love "The Mask." Jim Carrey is one of my favorite actors. He is one of the best actors of his generation. I have great admiration for comic actors.
After the monstrous success of the saga, it shouldn't be easy to turn the "Twilight" page...
"Twilight" was an exceptional adventure. I certainly wouldn't be here without these films. I owe everything to"Twilight", but I 'm glad I turned the page. I used to feel safe in saying that if one of my projects didn't work, I always had a "Twilight" movie. Now that's no longer the case, I have to take risks in my choices. And it pushes me to be better.
We met the young 28 year old British actor on the occasion of the release of "The Rover" (the movie will be released in France and Belgium this Wednesday, June 4)
What do you think of your experience at Cannes?
This is not the first time I'm on the Croisette, but it's still kind of an emotional shock for me (laughs). I'm surprised at how passionate people are about movies... Sometimes a little too much! I was shocked to read some reviews of the film, really virulent. I don't understand the anger of some journalists . Sometimes there such aggressiveness in this Festival. I am told that this is part of the game to Cannes but, my God, this is a film after all!
What are your favorite movies and actors?
I have seen "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (note: a Terry Gilliam film starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro) a million times. I know all replicas ! I'm also a big fan of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"(Milos Forman, starring Jack Nicholson). I also love "The Mask." Jim Carrey is one of my favorite actors. He is one of the best actors of his generation. I have great admiration for comic actors.
After the monstrous success of the saga, it shouldn't be easy to turn the "Twilight" page...
"Twilight" was an exceptional adventure. I certainly wouldn't be here without these films. I owe everything to"Twilight", but I 'm glad I turned the page. I used to feel safe in saying that if one of my projects didn't work, I always had a "Twilight" movie. Now that's no longer the case, I have to take risks in my choices. And it pushes me to be better.
Le Figaro
With two films in the official selection at Cannes, actor handle serenely the "post-Twilight."
On a terrace of the Palais des Festivals swept by the wind, a man with his head tucked into his shoulders, pulls on his cigarette. A bodyguard stands a few meters from him. The anonymous smoker is Robert Pattinson. With two films in official selection, Maps To The Stars, by David Cronenberg, and The Rover, by David Michôd, the actor was one of the attractions in Cannes. When we arrive at our rendez-vous on the Croisette, he doesn't look fit. The day before, he was doing the closing of the Silencio, the Parisian club relocated in Cannes during the festival. He woke up ten minutes before his appointments with the press.
He is tired and spontaneous, willing to talk about these two filmmakers who helped bury the sexy vampire. The hero of the Twilight Saga pays first his debt to the Canadian Cronenberg. Like in Cosmopolis, in 2012, Pattinson is back in a limousine in Maps to the Stars, but this time behind the wheel. "It's a supporting role, but I said yes before even reading the script. I'd do anything with this guy." His character is a limo driver in Hollywood who presents himself as an "actor writer." "I used to say that at the beginning but not anymore," jokes the British that moved to Los Angeles several years ago. "I missed London at the beginning, but most of my friends left and Los Angeles is a beautiful city, dynamic. And at the same time very weird. All depends on the people you hang out with..."
In Hollywood, scripts and filmmakers go to him. Thus David Michôd, whose Pattinson admires his first film, Animal Kingdom, meets and chooses him among thousands of actors. Why him? "Because his face fascinates me, he is both beautiful and atypical" the director tells us. The actor spent seven weeks in the Australian desert, a nine-hour drive from the nearest town. He enjoys solitude, a real luxury for this young 28 year old man harassed by paparazzi.
After his love story and breakup with his partner from Twilight, Kristen Stewart, who made him the favourite prey of the tabloids, the star has rediscovered simple pleasures: "I loved being able to pee peacefully in the nature." The former model has also enjoyed to break a little his icon image for teens with a borderline character. "At the first reading, I wondered if this guy was mentally handicapped. David Michôd told me he didn't know. I did a lot of improvisation to, but I think they have all been cut off!"
Since, Pattinson shot with Werner Herzog and Anton Corbijn. Upcoming films with James Gray, Harmony Korine and Olivier Assayas has been announced. He would even be one of the contenders for the part of Indiana Jones, as a replacement of Harrison Ford. A boost to his career which doesn't need one.
Didier: Watching the film I remembered something I had read somewhere saying the apocalypse is when human beings are losing their humanity. Do you think the film is speaking about that?
Rob: Yeah I mean. I guess it's also ... I was thinking a little bit about hope. People have lost the sense of hope with each character and I think it's where they are living, if the world is devastated just like that. Either it's economically speaking or extracted inside the world. There's nowhere to go for people. We're watching them and we're wondering how we can live without hope. Is there a reason to live? And I don't know if the film is telling about that but it's rather flexible how you can interpret it
Didier: I like what you are doing with your career after Twilight. I know you love cinema, we already talked about that. When you choose a project like this one or a Cronenberg, is it a way to put your love for the cinema in your work?
Rob: Yeah I mean, basically after Cosmopolis I realized that if you only work with great directors, you'll be never disappointed. No matter what the result is, it's always an amazing experience.
FilmInk Magazine
Along with local legends like David Field, Gillian Jones and Anthony Hayes ("David Michôd loves good actors," McGregor says, "and they three of the best in the country"), McGregor and Michôd also brought in highly impressive American import, Scoot McNairy (Killing Them Soflty, Argo, 12 Years A Slave, Marvel's All Hail The King), and the international big gun, Robert Pattinson, the teen heartthrob who got adolescent temperatures sizzling in The Twilight Saga. Though an unusual casting choice, Pattinson truly disappears into the role of the sweet, sad, painfully un-self-aware Rey, and etches a compelling portrait of an inherently decent young man in way over his head. "Very early in the process, I called his agent to ask if he would consider reading for the part," Kirsty McGregor explains.
"Keep in mind, we were not a studio film, and David had only made one feature. I honeslty expected the answer to be no - I didn't think that he would read for anything! But we were in a terrific position of not needing to cast for finance, and being able to cast creatively - we could just get the best person for the role. A lot of high profile actors wanted it, and auditioned, and there were also many lesser known actors who did terrific auditions. We hadn't seen anything of Rob that was in even vaguely similar territory to what we would be asking him to do, so he wasn't going to be offered the role without reading. It's a great credit to him that he was looking for a role which was out of his comfort zone, and he fought really hard for it. He's so fantastic in this movie. He shows a vulnerability that I don't think anyone has seen; he breaks my heart. I'm a very proud casting director on that one. My dad would say that pride is a sin, but I don't care!"
Michôd was equally excited about Pattinson's participation. "When you're putting a movie together, you're never unaware of the fact that there are benefits in casting commercially meaningful actors," the director says without hesitation. "I just found myself in the beautiful, lucky situation where the most commercially meaningful of all the actors was actually the one who did my favorite test. I'd had a meeting with him, maybe a year earlier, before I even knew that The Rover was the movie that I was going to try and make. I didn't know anything about him, and he wasn't what I was expecing. He was gangly and awkward and messy and smart. So when it came time to invest in the film, I knew that I wanted to get him in."
Empire Magazine
From the main article - Rob's quotes and Guy and producer Liz Watts' comments about Rob
Both of his stars took a while to get it. In the beegarden of the Marree Hotel, which the production has made its common area, the then-26-year-old Twilight star is relaxed, his scenes now completed. He explains what the trouble with Rey was. "I think David likes to look at him like he's actually a child, 'cos there's something kind of off about Reynolds. The first thing I thought when I read the script was, 'Is he mentally handicapped or something?' Because the pieces don't add up like a normal character, but in a very subtle way. He's just extremely naive and innocent, but to the point where it's not normal, like he's actually got a problem with it".
(...)
Pearce is also quick to heap praise on his co-star Pattinson, who has stepped outside any perceived comfort zone, covered in filth and a prosthetic mouthful of rotting teeth. No glittering in the sunshine here. "Rob is a really bright guy and he was keen to do whatever was necessary, whether it was to talk for three hours or get up and do stuff," Pearce says of the week spent rehearsing in Adelaide prior to shooting. "We're playing strangers in the film, so it's not lie we're bonding like we're playing brothers, but it was a great period. I had moments early on of watching him going 'Jesus, he's great.' Firstly the character he's playing is really messed up and secondly he is pulling it off with such extraordinary conviction. I was really impressed, and not that I shouldn't have been, but I haven't seen a lot of Rob's work."
Not a Twi-hard then? "No, I can't say I'm a, er, Twilighter. I had seen him in Water for Elephants, and I thought he was great, and obviously he's got that incredible head, but to play this little fucked up dude inThe Rover, I just applauded him every day basically, quietly to myself."
The praise for Pattinson's southern-US ingénue is universal. He has to audition for the part, something the actor hadn't needed to do in years. Pattinson: "There's very few scripts that have any kind of originality in them, and this was just like 'Whoa, this is being made?!' I mean it's so sparse... the writing, it's got very few characters, and their relationships are extremely odd. David's got a very specific style, and you can see it in Animal Kingdon and the shorts he's done, but with this one it's almost... like sci-fi.
"I don't really like scripts that have beats to hit in them," he continues as David Field walks past shirtless, cracking wise.
"Normally if you've got to hit a certain emotional point at page 22 and blah, blah, blah -- that's what is in almosst every single script you find. I don't even know if I can do that as an actor. I get really afraid of any kind of pressure that there's a certain expectation. And just after Cosmopolis, where the structure was so different, it was kind of quite freeing -- you could turn up to work and actually find what happens, and this is like that."
(...)
It may not have been an ideal second run, but it's been a shoot where much more has gone right than wrong. Even Pattinson's giddy fame has only drawn a single paparazzo. "The security guards on the film were happy they had something to do," quips Pearce.
"It's been an amazing shoot," confirms Liz Watts, over dinner at the pub. "We've got a top of the range crew in this film. And the cast has been fantastic. Scoot McNairy's brilliant. Rob's brilliant, Guy's amazing. It's that thing when you're away, everyone bands together and it becomes this school camp. And it's been working It could have been a nightmare."
Rey is naive almost to the point of disability. How did you get inside him?
“A friend of mine has a brother who is never allowed to be by himself. And I always found that quite interesting as he gets older – how you develop when people view you as someone who can’t be independent. I was thinking about that a lot, and also about abusive relationships. Why a wife will stay with her husband who beats her all the time – how can you interpret ‘passionate attention’ as love. If you’ve had the shit beaten out of you your whole life by your dad, then when some other guy comes along and starts beating the shit out of you, you think, ‘Oh wow, that’s ‘cos he loves me, it’s my fault’. I think a lot of what Reynolds has with Eric is that – constantly trying to please someone, when Eric is just furious at Reynolds the entire time for totally inexplicable reasons. I mean he just projects onto Reynolds all of those anger issues. I thought that was interesting.”
You auditioned for this role?
“I auditioned for this twice, which is only the second one since Twilight. It really helped, just to have a foundation. Getting ‘chosen’ for one thing is great: ‘Cool, well I’m going to go as far as I can with it’. Just by the fact that you’ve gotten approval to begin with, gives you a little bit of security. Whereas most of the time, in the first couple of weeks of the shoot, you’re like ‘Shit, am I even right for this part? I have no idea.”
How was it working with Guy?
“I get along with him really well. At the beginning when we were rehearsing, I was like, ‘Oh shit, we’re gonna bust up’, because he’ll be stubborn about everything. But he cares about it a lot. He occasionally works with people he’s been acting with for like 25 years, but he’s still really trying to find our different things that he can do. Guy’s so weird in this movie – even just the way he moves his head, he looks like an alien [laughs] - maybe that’s just his face.”
What has been the hardest part?
“Ah, just the flies!”
You have those in England, don’t you?
“You’re attacked by them here! Trying to do the scenes when you’ve got 50 flies trying to get inside your eyeballs… I think it added to it after a while – the heat, and just fly, fly, fly…”
Total Film Magazine
Transcript
Michôd had never seen the Twilight movies, and though he knew of Pattinson's clout when he agreed to meet with the star, he expected a chilsel-cheeked airhead who he'd swiftly reject. Only he liked Pattinson, dug his attitude, aspirations and taste in cinema, and offered him the chance to audition. Yes, audition.
“I’ve never worked so hard for an audition,” whistles Pattinson, who makes for a surprisingly shy and goofy presence, dressed down in a flannel shirt. “I was running lines 12 hours a day, for two weeks. I was obsessed.” Rey is timid, damaged and slow-witted, drawling his words in southern American accent; he and his brother have come to Australia to try and take advantage of mining opportunities. Pattinson, upon lading the role, was given free reign by Michôd to play Rey as he wished and create his own backstory.
“I thought he wasn’t mentally handicapped at all, but was someone who had been told he was his whole life,” he explains. “It’s more about confidence. He grew up with rough people around him. People kept telling him to shut up and they beat him up all the time – eventually you get to the point where you don’t have a personality at all. You only do what people tell you. It happens to people who are bullied. So when Eric asks him questions, it's literally the first time he’s ever had to deal with the situation. That’s why he likes Eric even though he’s a bit of an asshole.”
Eric’s questions, mind you, are mostly of the ‘where’s your no-good brother so I can kick his skinny ass’ variety. That said, a mutual trust develops between the pair, even if Michôd is at pains to not go down the Hollywood route of buddy bonding. Both Pearce and Pattinson impress in their roles, and it was their dynamic that was of the most importance to Michôd.
(…)
It was a tough shoot, with temperatures of 122 degrees, but Pattinson and Pearce were not complaining. “I kind of liked it!” laughs Pattinson. “If you were trying to play someone who wasn’t filthy and disgusting all the time, then it would have been annoying - having someone constantly get rid of your sweat or something. But when you wallow around in it, it’s kind of nice! We both got sunburned and looked like shit. There wasn’t anything to eat out there, so I’d been eating slices of bread with BBQ sauce on for six weeks. You turn into a fucking lunatic.”
LE 1945
Click on the screencap to watch. Rob at 22:30
Rencontre de Cinema
Guy: To build these charactars, you have to start from the inside in order to understand the feeling and the essence of the character. Of course you know something's happening on a larger scale. But personnally, in order to play my character correctly , I had to build him from the inside towards the outside. After that you finally understand what's happening and that's when you arrive in Cannes that you realize "Oh yeah that's it!".
Laurent: The movie has a connection with the current economic and political world. It's a post apocalyptic movie. Currently , and not only in France, but also in the USA or even in Australia , it's the same mess. You know what I mean?
Guy : How easily we're always on the verge of a global catastrophe for anybody !
Rob: It's completely ridiculous. I remember a scene we were shooting near a mine which was still active . We just stood there and realized how ridiculous the situation was. How ridiculous the mine was taking out all the ressources within the ground. Nothing will be growing up for at least 400 years. There isn't any wild fauna left. There's only birds left. We just have to sit down and play video games.
David: Yeah I felt pressure Not necessarily when we started shooting but when I decided to do this. This movie , I literally get into it. It's now when we arrived in Cannes that I could feel the audience's expectations. I don't know what other people are expecting from me for this 2nd movie. I have no idea abt what they are hoping for. So I have absolutely no control to know if my movie will meet their expections or not. So this is the aim of this week in Cannes : to try to know the place of The Rover in the world.
Laurent: Is it the same thing for you Robert?
Laurent: Eric is such an exciting character to play because its' a physical part. Guy using your body as part of your performance, was it something particular?
Guy : I love that. I'd rather let my body speak than with dialogues. I'm much more an instinctive character than an intellectual one .
David: It's amazing how much information you can send to the audience with a physical acting. Very soon during the rehearsal we talked abt using the shoulder and his way to walk. The shoulders and the neck. It's strange to think it's often the way to get a character. When I 1st realized that on the shooting it was very exciting for me since Guy's character became really lively !
Laurent : and after all it's the story of the movie. They are like animals. It's also a metaphor of our society. It's not really good currently to be a human being with the global crisis. We can really go back to our primitive instincts. Maybe I'm wrong but I think it's the movie's topic right?
David: When I was writing the script, I was projecting myself in the future as it is depicted in the movie and there were my own anguish and my own despair and in particular through Eric, Guy's character with his anger. I started imagining an older world in a few decades, completely devasted by the people who are in charge today : from the origins of the economic crisis to our inability to find a solution to fight global warming. I just imagine the Man in a few decades living in a world in which he's angry. Angry enough to commit murders.
Laurent: Do you agree with that Robert? Is it really about our society?
Rob: Yeah . When I read the script, I was thinking about all the ramifications of the story. In the movie you can see 2 stories which are close together and they are full of emotions. It's what makes me and Guy come closer.
Laurent: Yeah you're right and at the same time it's a real movie. It's really cinematographic. There's a lot of light, desert and huge landscape. Was it a hard shooting for you?
Laurent: The movie has a connection with the current economic and political world. It's a post apocalyptic movie. Currently , and not only in France, but also in the USA or even in Australia , it's the same mess. You know what I mean?
Guy : How easily we're always on the verge of a global catastrophe for anybody !
Rob: It's completely ridiculous. I remember a scene we were shooting near a mine which was still active . We just stood there and realized how ridiculous the situation was. How ridiculous the mine was taking out all the ressources within the ground. Nothing will be growing up for at least 400 years. There isn't any wild fauna left. There's only birds left. We just have to sit down and play video games.
David: Yeah I felt pressure Not necessarily when we started shooting but when I decided to do this. This movie , I literally get into it. It's now when we arrived in Cannes that I could feel the audience's expectations. I don't know what other people are expecting from me for this 2nd movie. I have no idea abt what they are hoping for. So I have absolutely no control to know if my movie will meet their expections or not. So this is the aim of this week in Cannes : to try to know the place of The Rover in the world.
Laurent: Is it the same thing for you Robert?
Laurent: Eric is such an exciting character to play because its' a physical part. Guy using your body as part of your performance, was it something particular?
Guy : I love that. I'd rather let my body speak than with dialogues. I'm much more an instinctive character than an intellectual one .
David: It's amazing how much information you can send to the audience with a physical acting. Very soon during the rehearsal we talked abt using the shoulder and his way to walk. The shoulders and the neck. It's strange to think it's often the way to get a character. When I 1st realized that on the shooting it was very exciting for me since Guy's character became really lively !
Laurent : and after all it's the story of the movie. They are like animals. It's also a metaphor of our society. It's not really good currently to be a human being with the global crisis. We can really go back to our primitive instincts. Maybe I'm wrong but I think it's the movie's topic right?
David: When I was writing the script, I was projecting myself in the future as it is depicted in the movie and there were my own anguish and my own despair and in particular through Eric, Guy's character with his anger. I started imagining an older world in a few decades, completely devasted by the people who are in charge today : from the origins of the economic crisis to our inability to find a solution to fight global warming. I just imagine the Man in a few decades living in a world in which he's angry. Angry enough to commit murders.
Laurent: Do you agree with that Robert? Is it really about our society?
Rob: Yeah . When I read the script, I was thinking about all the ramifications of the story. In the movie you can see 2 stories which are close together and they are full of emotions. It's what makes me and Guy come closer.
Laurent: Yeah you're right and at the same time it's a real movie. It's really cinematographic. There's a lot of light, desert and huge landscape. Was it a hard shooting for you?
David: We had quite a big crew if we consider the place we were shooting. We were very very far from the next city?
Laurent: From the civilized world too?
David: And it was very hard. It was so hot. There were a lot of flies. There weren't any network. We were constantly dirty.
Laurent: You mean no mobile phones, no networks?
Guy : the more up north we went, the less network we got. We just put our mobile phones on the tables and we just realized that we had to talk to each other.
David : Which was wonderful. We stuck together every nights. As we were leaving at the same place, we started to get drunk !
Laurent: Did you feel a kind of pressure on your shoulders since Animal Kingdom, your previous movie, had a huge success in the whole world. Did it add some pressure for this movie?
Laurent: Do you agree with that Guy?
Guy : I can't see what he's talking about !
Laurent: You drank too much last night
Guy: Of course I understand him perfectly ! It's interesting when we speak about the expectations surrounding a movie. What is fascinating in our job is the huge difference between the reality of what we are living from the inside , when we shoot a movie, and how is it perceived outside. At a certain level , trying to understand what people are feeling from the outside is exactly the same thing when you try to understand from the outside how we work in the inside. We can think that these two processus are ridiculous but I understand the point of view. The 1st movie David made...
David: And it was very hard. It was so hot. There were a lot of flies. There weren't any network. We were constantly dirty.
Laurent: You mean no mobile phones, no networks?
Guy : the more up north we went, the less network we got. We just put our mobile phones on the tables and we just realized that we had to talk to each other.
David : Which was wonderful. We stuck together every nights. As we were leaving at the same place, we started to get drunk !
Laurent: Did you feel a kind of pressure on your shoulders since Animal Kingdom, your previous movie, had a huge success in the whole world. Did it add some pressure for this movie?
Laurent: Do you agree with that Guy?
Guy : I can't see what he's talking about !
Laurent: You drank too much last night
Guy: Of course I understand him perfectly ! It's interesting when we speak about the expectations surrounding a movie. What is fascinating in our job is the huge difference between the reality of what we are living from the inside , when we shoot a movie, and how is it perceived outside. At a certain level , trying to understand what people are feeling from the outside is exactly the same thing when you try to understand from the outside how we work in the inside. We can think that these two processus are ridiculous but I understand the point of view. The 1st movie David made...
Laurent: Yeah Animal Kingdom.
Guy: was an incredible movie
Laurent: Absolutely.
Guy: It had an incredible success. The importance is to know if you can deal with the pressure from the 2nd movie. Are you obliged to be as good as the 1st one? Or do you do like David and you focus on the following movie and the following one and not try to compare with the first movie. It's this way you can manage to do it. Its the problem when you come to places like Cannes. People are automatically comparing movies. I want to say "Oh no don't make comparisons!".
Laurent: Is it the same thing for you Robert? Do you know exactly what is your next project or is ot the contrary? Do you say 'I've made a movie with David Cronenberg, with David Michôd, now I'm going to try something really different?'
Rob: No I think it depends on the director's choice but it took me a while to realize that. You'd be much happier working with the best directors in the world and something better will always stand out. You don't necessarily need to read the script. It'll be great to have them.
Laurent: Guy, I remembered you in Cannes for LA Confidentials. It was 17 years ago, in 1997. We were a lot younger then. G
uy : Yeah a lot younger !
Laurent: Is is always a new experience being here in Cannes?
Guy: Oh yeah absolutely. I met this morning the producers of "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert "which premiered here in 1994. Unfortunately I coudn't be here. Generally , we come here with great films. This year it's with The Rover, two years ago it was with Lawless and of course before that with LA Confidentials. It's a great experience. In Cannes, movies have always had a priviledged place so it's an honour to be here. Here people really adore films so...
Rob: I love to come to Cannes. I always try my best to come here. For the moment, it's a complete success. I got three out of three.
Guy: We are going to help you fix that. We're going to ask Jane Campion.
Rob: Yeah it's the same for me. It's here we can feel people's gratitude. It's completely different. Even for the interview. Everywhere else in the world when I'm promoting a movie, I'm only asked what is my favourite meal or something like that. It's so frustrating.
David: Noboby asks me this question !
Laurent: And screening your movie is Cannes it's a bit crazy ?
David: It's crazy when you look at that from an outside point of view. It's exactly what we think. But I realize that this festival worships the cinema with his ceremonies and his traditions, with the upcoming pressure going with each screening on several days. So when we land on the stairs we know we're going to live one of the most important moment in our lives. It's really magical .
Laurent: Thank you very much all of you. Thank you.
Guy: was an incredible movie
Laurent: Absolutely.
Guy: It had an incredible success. The importance is to know if you can deal with the pressure from the 2nd movie. Are you obliged to be as good as the 1st one? Or do you do like David and you focus on the following movie and the following one and not try to compare with the first movie. It's this way you can manage to do it. Its the problem when you come to places like Cannes. People are automatically comparing movies. I want to say "Oh no don't make comparisons!".
Laurent: Is it the same thing for you Robert? Do you know exactly what is your next project or is ot the contrary? Do you say 'I've made a movie with David Cronenberg, with David Michôd, now I'm going to try something really different?'
Rob: No I think it depends on the director's choice but it took me a while to realize that. You'd be much happier working with the best directors in the world and something better will always stand out. You don't necessarily need to read the script. It'll be great to have them.
Laurent: Guy, I remembered you in Cannes for LA Confidentials. It was 17 years ago, in 1997. We were a lot younger then. G
uy : Yeah a lot younger !
Laurent: Is is always a new experience being here in Cannes?
Guy: Oh yeah absolutely. I met this morning the producers of "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert "which premiered here in 1994. Unfortunately I coudn't be here. Generally , we come here with great films. This year it's with The Rover, two years ago it was with Lawless and of course before that with LA Confidentials. It's a great experience. In Cannes, movies have always had a priviledged place so it's an honour to be here. Here people really adore films so...
Rob: I love to come to Cannes. I always try my best to come here. For the moment, it's a complete success. I got three out of three.
Guy: We are going to help you fix that. We're going to ask Jane Campion.
Rob: Yeah it's the same for me. It's here we can feel people's gratitude. It's completely different. Even for the interview. Everywhere else in the world when I'm promoting a movie, I'm only asked what is my favourite meal or something like that. It's so frustrating.
David: Noboby asks me this question !
Laurent: And screening your movie is Cannes it's a bit crazy ?
David: It's crazy when you look at that from an outside point of view. It's exactly what we think. But I realize that this festival worships the cinema with his ceremonies and his traditions, with the upcoming pressure going with each screening on several days. So when we land on the stairs we know we're going to live one of the most important moment in our lives. It's really magical .
Laurent: Thank you very much all of you. Thank you.
Hello Magazine
Transcript
Do you like the pressure of Cannes?
Definitely. It’s a different energy and not like a normal premiere, where it’s just friends of the studio or whatever. There’s a very real chance people are going to be vocal about if they like it or not. It’s exciting. I think people are more interested and people talk about the movies afterwards – they’re not just going to the screening so they can go to the party afterwards; they actually want to see it.
In The Rover, your character Rey learns how to shoot. Are you comfortable using guns?
Not really, I’m not that big of a fan. I just think it’s weird people having guns, it’s kind of silly. [Laughs] I mean, I think people should just get rid of them altogether.
How do you feel about violence in films?
I’ve never really liked films that have reveled in violence. I just think it’s kind of gross. I don’t know – I don’t want to see somebody being tortured.
You star alongside Guy Pearce. Was it fun? Was he intimidating?
No – but he’s really strong so when you’re being thrown around, it actually hurts quite a lot. [Laughs] And he was in it the whole time.
He’s recognized as a good actor. Is that important to you when you work?
Yes, 100 per cent. I hear some actors saying they didn’t read reviews or care about it and I just think they are making it up. Everybody cares about whether people think it’s good.
Did you like shooting in the Australian Outback?
I loved it. It’s so strange and there’s nothing for miles and it’s peaceful.
Do you like loneliness and open spaces?
Yeah, I like open spaces. And also incredible stars as well.
Do you get to be alone as much as you want these days?
Yeah. Well, yeah, but not like that, where you are really alone.
Have you finished with blockbusters such as the Twilight Saga?
It’s [just a case of] waiting for the right director. Nothing has come up. That’s not saying I don’t want to do it, but blockbusters take a really long time to shoot as well so I think you have to really, really, really, want to do it. There’s a lot of pressure and you just don’t get that many interesting parts in big movies, especially for young guys. It’s just the same thing every time.
There’s a lot of comic book adaptations at the moment. Is there a character you’d like to play?
I was never really that into comic books when I was a kid so I don’t really have that connection. You also have to work out like tons. It’s just a big hassle. [Laughs]
Can you tell us anything about your new project with Olivier Assayas?
It’s a true story about a bunch of thieves who rob a shop in Chicago without realizing that it’s a front for the Mafia. It’s quite simple story but it’s so densely written and it follows the real story incredibly well. It’s incredibly realistic and real ensemble thing. It’s really cool; really, really cool.
Will that bring you back to Cannes?
Hopefully. It seems like a bit of a Cannes movie but it’s really brutal. But it does feel like a totally un-cliché gangster movie, which is totally difficult do to.
You sang on Twilight and also compose music. Will you release a record one day?
I want to make one, I just don’t know about releasing one. I don’t know, I can’t really deal with criticism very well and I’ve already got it coming from one angle. I don’t feel the need to get it from somewhere else.
In The Rover, your character Rey learns how to shoot. Are you comfortable using guns?
Not really, I’m not that big of a fan. I just think it’s weird people having guns, it’s kind of silly. [Laughs] I mean, I think people should just get rid of them altogether.
How do you feel about violence in films?
I’ve never really liked films that have reveled in violence. I just think it’s kind of gross. I don’t know – I don’t want to see somebody being tortured.
You star alongside Guy Pearce. Was it fun? Was he intimidating?
No – but he’s really strong so when you’re being thrown around, it actually hurts quite a lot. [Laughs] And he was in it the whole time.
He’s recognized as a good actor. Is that important to you when you work?
Yes, 100 per cent. I hear some actors saying they didn’t read reviews or care about it and I just think they are making it up. Everybody cares about whether people think it’s good.
Did you like shooting in the Australian Outback?
I loved it. It’s so strange and there’s nothing for miles and it’s peaceful.
Do you like loneliness and open spaces?
Yeah, I like open spaces. And also incredible stars as well.
Do you get to be alone as much as you want these days?
Yeah. Well, yeah, but not like that, where you are really alone.
Have you finished with blockbusters such as the Twilight Saga?
It’s [just a case of] waiting for the right director. Nothing has come up. That’s not saying I don’t want to do it, but blockbusters take a really long time to shoot as well so I think you have to really, really, really, want to do it. There’s a lot of pressure and you just don’t get that many interesting parts in big movies, especially for young guys. It’s just the same thing every time.
There’s a lot of comic book adaptations at the moment. Is there a character you’d like to play?
I was never really that into comic books when I was a kid so I don’t really have that connection. You also have to work out like tons. It’s just a big hassle. [Laughs]
Can you tell us anything about your new project with Olivier Assayas?
It’s a true story about a bunch of thieves who rob a shop in Chicago without realizing that it’s a front for the Mafia. It’s quite simple story but it’s so densely written and it follows the real story incredibly well. It’s incredibly realistic and real ensemble thing. It’s really cool; really, really cool.
Will that bring you back to Cannes?
Hopefully. It seems like a bit of a Cannes movie but it’s really brutal. But it does feel like a totally un-cliché gangster movie, which is totally difficult do to.
You sang on Twilight and also compose music. Will you release a record one day?
I want to make one, I just don’t know about releasing one. I don’t know, I can’t really deal with criticism very well and I’ve already got it coming from one angle. I don’t feel the need to get it from somewhere else.
Rob in Les InRockuptibiles Cannes BTS Video
Rob at 0:51 and 2:27
At the Movies
TF1
Translation
Hello, Robert.
Hello.
You're here at the Cannes festival with 2 movies - The Rover and Maps to the Stars, and in The Rover you play this simple minded boy. What attracted you in this character?
The script was so different from everything I've done before. I don't know, there was something quite magical about role. I couldn't explain why but something in me resonated really early on.
Did you have to fight to get this role, because it's so different from Twilight and this image we have of you.
Hello.
You're here at the Cannes festival with 2 movies - The Rover and Maps to the Stars, and in The Rover you play this simple minded boy. What attracted you in this character?
The script was so different from everything I've done before. I don't know, there was something quite magical about role. I couldn't explain why but something in me resonated really early on.
Did you have to fight to get this role, because it's so different from Twilight and this image we have of you.
Yeah, I auditionned twice for that and I hate auditions so, so badly. It's something I'm really bad at but it was different this time, I really wanted that part. But it's so weird, I tried to play this part and the audition was at David Michôd's house, in L.A.. I was sitting in his living room and I didn't know if what I was doing was good for him or not. But, yeah, I fought really hard to get this part.
Do you feel like you still have to fight still today, to show everyone you're not this guy from Twilight, that you can play something else?
Yeah, but I think every actor has to go through that so they don't have to play the same part every time. I kinda like that but sometimes it's so disproportionate, with people like wanting you to fail but I like it, it gives me the energy to go forward, like a rage.
Is it easier to get access to the parts or do you have to fight for them?
Yeah, I mean every single part, every different part you have to audition for. I mean what's different between these two movies and Twilight is that you could finance them with just my name. I mean it does really help but you still have to audition for everything.
What was the most challenging thing in this part? We know nothing about your character, the first time we see him, he's hurt and doesn't know where to go so he'll stick to this other guy. What was the most challenging?
I think, probably, the first scene, the one where they meet for the first time. I think it was the first one I shot too. This character is sort of crazy and to have to play him in such a tense scene where he might die, it was pretty difficult. Cause he's pretty foolish and you don't know how much you can push him. It was pretty tough but it was a really fun part cause I could just let myself go in it.
------------
You're also in Cosmo - no, in Maps to the Stars with David Cronenberg after having played in Cosmopolis. How would you describe your working relationship with him?
I don't know, he's really fun. I like hanging out with him. But yes I said yes to Maps to the Stars before I even saw the script, I wanna be in all his movies. He tells really interesting stuff, the atmosphere on his sets is always so relaxed, everything seems simple and fun. His movies are really cool.
You play a struggling actor who tries to break through while driving limousines. Isn't that a little ironic to give you this part?
Yeah maybe. I mean, what's funny is that in Maps to the Stars, I'm the only one who's normal. Everyone else is totally crazy. I like playing a shitty actor. It's kinda fun.
Do you see Hollywood like in the movie? As this universe with no mercy, mean and fun at the same time, seeing as you're familiar with the place?
I guess in a way, Maps to the Stars gives a really harsh portrayal of Hollywood and lots of people think it has a dark side but most of the time it's fun and it's a great place to work in, I think.
How does it feel to be here at Cannes with these 2 movies?
It's amazing, the atmosphere is electric during the screenings. The audience isn't afraid to tell you if they like it or not. You can feel right in the first 10 minutes. Its' scary watching stuff but it's exciting though.
Scoop with Raya
Verissimo
BBC America
ET Canada
Few things in life are as nerve-wracking as auditioning for a movie role. Even for Robert Pattinson, one of the most successful and popular actors in the world, auditioning for a role can be an almost unbearably stressful experience. To get the lead role in The Rover, for instance, Pattinson had to audition in front of director David Michod (Animal Kingdom), and by his own estimation, the audition did not go well.
"I'm so bad at auditioning, and I was terrified that I wasn't going to get it," Pattinson tells ET Canada exclusively. "I really, really fought for it."
What made Pattinson—an actor with no shortage of scripts coming his way—fight so hard for this particular role? As Pattinson explained, the role of Reynolds (a naive, simple-minded drifter) was simply too good to pass up.
"It's a character that doesn't really have any constraints," he said. "It's not really specified where he's from or what his desires are or even his mental state and I felt really relaxed doing it because you could just do whatever you wanted, basically."
Unlike during his audition, Pattinson was completely at ease playing the character during filming—an experience which the Twilight star says was a first. "It felt for a second that I knew what I was doing because I just sort of fell into acting and I never really felt like that before," he said.
"I'm so bad at auditioning, and I was terrified that I wasn't going to get it," Pattinson tells ET Canada exclusively. "I really, really fought for it."
What made Pattinson—an actor with no shortage of scripts coming his way—fight so hard for this particular role? As Pattinson explained, the role of Reynolds (a naive, simple-minded drifter) was simply too good to pass up.
"It's a character that doesn't really have any constraints," he said. "It's not really specified where he's from or what his desires are or even his mental state and I felt really relaxed doing it because you could just do whatever you wanted, basically."
Unlike during his audition, Pattinson was completely at ease playing the character during filming—an experience which the Twilight star says was a first. "It felt for a second that I knew what I was doing because I just sort of fell into acting and I never really felt like that before," he said.
Les Inrocks TV
Starts 1:55
Le Nouvel Observateur
BFMTV France
Cine Series
France Inter
Starts at 1:00
He plays in two movies at Cannes, The Rover by the Australian David Michôd. In a post catastrophy world, he plays a mugger sort of naive and a little banged up.
Rob: I think it's kind of funny, I do weird movies and I like weird movies, and those little girls screaming when they're going to see The Rover. It's kind of hilarious.
The other movie in which plays Robert Pattinson is in competition for the Palme at Cannes, Maps to the Stars by David Cronenberg.
Yes, in Maps to the Stars he plays a limo driver who dreams of becoming an actor. A secondary part but no worries, it's Cronenberg who two years ago, decided to give him the main role in Cosmopolis, presented at Cannes too, and let him practise his growth as an actor.
Cronenberg: I like to take credit for that. He was a very, very underrated actor but I knew he was talented. My instinct told me he was a star before he had the chance to prove he was a real actor. I mean it's like when he gave the Palme to Rosetta, everyone told us, it was terrible and now the Dardens keep coming back here and their actors have a great career. That's when you know your instinct is right and that of course makes you feel really good.
Robert Pattinson expresses then all his gratitude to Cronenberg.
Rob: It's just someone believing in you. Someone who you really respect and who makes you think about yourself differently afterwards. I was always quite ambious when I was younger but after Cosmopolis you kind of feel like you fufilled those ambitions afterwards and you believe in yourself a little bit more.
TG5 Italy
Le JT
M6
Translation: "It's amazing and surprising to me that people are still following my career because I make really weird movies. It's nothing like Twilight, I even try to make myself look different. I don't have to make movies for money anymore. I'm so, so happy."
France 2
Translation: It's the only reason I can live like this. It's really amazing. I don't quite understand how it happened. I was really, really into films when I was younger. I would love every movie shown at Cannes. They're masterpieces, they aren't made just for entertainment.
First Coast News
Guy Pearce Talks about Rob
RTL - Audio
Rob's Audio Interview at 7:40
It's Robert Pattinson who is playing amazing this low mind
Rob: He's always been treated as someone who has a low mind by all the people surronding him so he never had to take any kind of responsability. it's the same thing when he kills people. For him it's not real. He doesn't understand what's happening and it's like a game. No one is nice towards him so since no one takes care of him , he doesn't care about anything. The importance of killing someone doesn't matter
Metro News
It's a nice surprise, although I admit that I really wanted The Rover in particular to be shown here. Actually, we missed all the other festivals in the hope to be here. We focused on Cannes because it'ss the most beautiful in the world. Particularly for a movie as different as ours.
Like Maps To The Stars. It's a film made outside the Hollywood system. Is this your way of showing where you want to take your career now that twilight is over?
What guides me is the desire to work with a director. I realized that if I worked with the best in the world, the bigger the chances I'll be happy with the result (laughs) and I'd have really satisfying work experiences. There are twenty filmmakers with whom I want to work and I just started. The next ones? This year, it will be Harmony Korine and Olivier Assayas. Then James Gray in January. We met, became friends but we waited until we found the right project.
If other young actors were in your place they would to try to land a role in a super hero movie, or at least a role in a big franchise. Did you think about it?
I've never auditioned for this kind of movie. And I'm not even sure I would know how to play a superhero. If I had my place in this world (he thinks). It doesn't mean that I wouldn't do a big studio film at some point. In fact, I watch so many of them. But I really struggle seeing myself in there, as an actor.
In The Rover, you play a simple-minded guy, that we don't know much about except that he is his brother's punching bag. How did you enter that mindset for the role?
On the first reading, I would heard his voice in my head. The voice of a guy who talks so low, you have to tell him to keep his mouth shut (laughs). So much so that every word that comes out of his mouth is a pain. It was a lot of fun even though when I watched the first cut, some of my dialogue was barely audible!
You are also on Maps to The Stars by David Cronenberg. Is the Hollywood portrayed in the movie as dark as the one you know?
I've always had a good time in Hollywood. To be honest, I like its dirty side as long as I don't spend a whole year there, that I don't become a caricature as we see in the film. To remain an observer: I can tell you that there are loads of weird people over there.
Do you come across them very often?
All the time! Actually, might be one now...
Don't tell me you sell your actor seats on the Internet like the young actors in the movie!
Ah if I could... (laughs) To be honest, everyone in Hollywood is a little bit crazy. The actors are in essence, if you consider that we're asked to play every human emotion, sometimes all in the same film. I assure you that you will have a hard time finding crazier people! (laughs)
Europe 1
Portrait. Robert Pattinson is unrecognizable in his new roles. This year, the american (?) actor known for his role in the Twilight saga is at Cannes with two (?) movies in competition.
First, Maps to the Stars, the latest Cronenberg. In company with Julianna Moore, Robert Pattinson plays a limo driver whose dream is to become a scriptwriter.
The actor is also in The Rover by David Michôd, in which he plays a hunted criminal.
New direction. Robert Pattinson's career has taken a new direction for the past two years. The actor played a young billionaire in Cosmopolis, already directed by David Cronenberg. A collaboration that revealed him to art films' directors.
"I'm open to everything". "I don't think I've really changed, I've just been lucky", the actor confides to Europe 1's mic. "It's unbelievable what's happening to me, it's completely crazy", the actor assures that he's not shutting himself down from big production movies, or to a sequel to the Twilight saga. "I'm open to everything but I'm too old now. That being said, if Tarantino directs it, I'd have to say yes!"
Jacques Audiard. "I don't chose the movies I make depending on money or affluence anymore and it makes me really happy," Robert Pattinson continues that he would love to work with Jacques Audiard. A new direction that doesn't keep teenagers from worshipping the actor. On Sunday, some waited for him for hours in front of his hotel where he was giving out interviews.
David Michôd Talks About Meeting & Casting Rob, Cannes and Reynolds
Yeah, there were moments where I realized that none of them were actually pointing at me [laughs].
It does boast the lightest scene of Cannes, where Pattinson's character sings along to a Keri Hilson jam alone in a car.
You're the first person to bring that up! I kind of half expected it would be a thing. When I was doing press for "Animal Kingdom" every press person would ask me about "All Out of Love."
What went into selecting that song?
One of the things that was challenging for this movie was it was set in a period of the future, so it makes musical choices really kind of difficult. I'd imagine that maybe there's a sense that pop is still some kind of functioning genre, like the equivalent to classic rock. I wanted at that point in the movie to remind people that Rob's character is a lost kid, one who in different circumstances would have favored pop songs. I just wanted that moment in the film to be a strong reminder of the fact that he just wants to be a kid.
About his performance, he's a true revelation in "The Rover." What led you to cast him?
It was a meeting. I still haven't seen the "Twilight" films. I don't feel I need to. I had a meeting with him before I knew I was going to make "The Rover," and found him instantly beguiling.
Why did you meet with him if you weren't familiar with his work?
I'd seen nothing. It's that weird thing that happens after a movie you've made has gotten some attention — you go on a billion blind dates. And this was one of them. I didn't really know anything about him, but I really liked him. He was really smart, funny and open. He seemingly had great taste. He had a really interesting and eclectic knowledge of cinema. When it came time to cast for "The Rover," I just had this weird feeling that he was the one I wanted to see the most. Fortunately he really wanted to do the movie.
I mean I put him through the wringer. We worked for three of four hours during our camera test, but I felt I knew within the first few minutes that I found the guy for the character. The next few hours were just us exploring. He helped me find the character.
Vanity Fair
Robert Pattinson knows a thing or two about the price of fame, so it’s worth listening when he says he worries about the child stars he meets in Hollywood. “When you see these kids, there is only one way: you either get in therapy now or become a serial killer, or kill yourself. I mean, you can see it really early on—it’s terrifying.”
There is just such a kid at the center of Maps to the Stars, one of two Pattinson films debuting at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Evan Bird, whom you may recognize from The Killing, plays Benjie, a vicious and entitled 13-year-old TV star, and Pattinson plays a chauffeur looking for a break in show business. Directed by David Cronenberg, who previously collaborated with Pattinson on 2012’s Cosmopolis, the film is a savage satire of Hollywood that also stars Julianne Moore as a hysterical over-the-hill actress, John Cusack as a diabolical life coach, and Mia Wasikowska as a warped avenging angel of sorts.
Pattinson has a meatier role in David Michôd’s post-apocalyptic road movie, The Rover, portraying a not-very-bright hoodlum who falls under the spell of Guy Pearce. As the two make their way across the Australian Outback, Pattinson’s character grows more confident—and more deadly—by the minute.
VF.com spoke to Pattinson at Cannes, where his ex-costar and -girlfriend Kristen Stewart also has a film debuting, and quizzed him about how he prepped for the roles, what he finds most ridiculous about Hollywood, and how he handled sudden superstardom at the tender age of 21.
VF Hollywood: David Michôd has talked a lot about the back story for The Rover, which is set “10 years after the collapse.” How much did he tell you about your character?
Robert Pattinson: Well, not a lot. I kept questioning that aspect of it. “What is this economic collapse? I want to know the details about it.” Then I realized it didn’t really make any difference to my character.
Guy Pearce’s character refers to your character as a “half-wit.” Were you playing him as someone with a real disability, or just someone who hasn’t been that well educated?
I was thinking he’s almost like someone who’s been told there is something wrong with him and there actually isn’t—but he has been told there is so many times that he has just sort of accepted it.
He reminds me a bit of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.
Yeah, I think there is a similar trajectory. But even if he does prove himself in a dark situation, he really really never wanted to do that in the first place—and it sort of breaks him.
What about those brown stains on your teeth? Was that a process every day?
Yeah, I mean, initially it was [supposed to be that] they didn’t have fluoride in the water so everyone’s teeth were messed up, but then I end up being the only one with really messed-up teeth. I put it down to, he was just one of those kids who didn’t brush his teeth. I think it’s quite a distinct person, and I knew a few of them in school—kids who had brown teeth at 11 and were always, like, really weird.
Are you an end-of-the-world guy? Do you think the end is near unless we change our ways?
Um, not really. Probably because I’m just quite ignorant and I have a nice life. I think everything is quite cyclical. There are definitely some incredibly worrying things—and for the sake of what? So you can play video games all day? It’s kind of ridiculous.
It does seem like there might be a comeuppance at some point. Especially if we behave like the people in Maps to the Stars.
I think they will just eat each other. I don’t think they will affect anyone else. They’re too self-absorbed.
So when David Cronenberg called and said, “Let’s do another movie together,” were you excited?
Yeah, I hadn’t even read the script and I was like, “Yep.” That was another character who didn’t have any kind of back story or anything. I said, “What kind of guy do you think he is?” And he said, “I don’t know, what do you think?” And we are shooting in two days and I’m like, Great. It’s exactly what happened on Cosmopolis. We don’t talk about it at all and then turn up and every single scene I did was one take. It’s ridiculous.
So he just lets you read the script and find the character yourself?
With Cosmopolis, he knew exactly what he wanted. With Maps, he just liked what I was doing on the first take.
Were you guys worried at all that there may be some backlash in the community if you’re making fun of Hollywood people?
I don’t think we were really making fun of it. Though I like how basically the only bad review we got was from The Hollywood Reporter.
You struck a nerve.
I don’t really think it’s taking the piss out of Hollywood. It’s very specific [to these characters]. I think Benjie is probably the truest character. I’ve met a lot of kids like him. The scene with him and the little girls bitching about everybody—you just see that a lot. When you see these kids, there is only one way: you either get in therapy now or become a serial killer, or kill yourself. I mean, you can see it really early on—it’s terrifying.
You got famous pretty early on. How did you cope with that weirdness of being so wealthy and famous at such a young age?
I did Harry Potter when I was like 17, and nothing really happened after that. I mean, I made loads of money compared to anyone my age—it was incredible. But I mean, then I just did little TV things afterwards. But I got to live from 18 to 21, you get your own apartment and basically I didn’t star in Twilight until 21. It’s different because you’re still young, but you’ve had a life beforehand. Where as if you are 10, it’s a totally different thing.
Did you meet Justin Bieber at the Vanity Fair party the other night?
I didn’t, actually. I’ve met him before, though, on his party bus. [Laughs.] I’ve met him a couple of times. He’s all right. [Laughs.]
If you were going to direct a satire of Hollywood, which part would you single out?
I don’t know. People do a lot about aging women, but have you ever read this book called Money by Martin Amis? I thought the old actor, Lorne Guyland, was such a great character, where you can’t let go of being an alpha-male movie man but you’re like 78 years old. It’s funny, because it’s such a feminine trait. It’s so funny how your entire life is being a macho man, but only in movies.
You do a little singing in The Rover, and I hear you’re working on an album. Can we expect to hear some music soon?
I don’t know where that came from. Every few years, something comes out about that. I’m always trying to work on stuff, but I don’t know. I’m kind of like, way too sensitive to criticism; I’ve got enough criticism on one front.
There is just such a kid at the center of Maps to the Stars, one of two Pattinson films debuting at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Evan Bird, whom you may recognize from The Killing, plays Benjie, a vicious and entitled 13-year-old TV star, and Pattinson plays a chauffeur looking for a break in show business. Directed by David Cronenberg, who previously collaborated with Pattinson on 2012’s Cosmopolis, the film is a savage satire of Hollywood that also stars Julianne Moore as a hysterical over-the-hill actress, John Cusack as a diabolical life coach, and Mia Wasikowska as a warped avenging angel of sorts.
Pattinson has a meatier role in David Michôd’s post-apocalyptic road movie, The Rover, portraying a not-very-bright hoodlum who falls under the spell of Guy Pearce. As the two make their way across the Australian Outback, Pattinson’s character grows more confident—and more deadly—by the minute.
VF.com spoke to Pattinson at Cannes, where his ex-costar and -girlfriend Kristen Stewart also has a film debuting, and quizzed him about how he prepped for the roles, what he finds most ridiculous about Hollywood, and how he handled sudden superstardom at the tender age of 21.
VF Hollywood: David Michôd has talked a lot about the back story for The Rover, which is set “10 years after the collapse.” How much did he tell you about your character?
Robert Pattinson: Well, not a lot. I kept questioning that aspect of it. “What is this economic collapse? I want to know the details about it.” Then I realized it didn’t really make any difference to my character.
Guy Pearce’s character refers to your character as a “half-wit.” Were you playing him as someone with a real disability, or just someone who hasn’t been that well educated?
I was thinking he’s almost like someone who’s been told there is something wrong with him and there actually isn’t—but he has been told there is so many times that he has just sort of accepted it.
He reminds me a bit of Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.
Yeah, I think there is a similar trajectory. But even if he does prove himself in a dark situation, he really really never wanted to do that in the first place—and it sort of breaks him.
What about those brown stains on your teeth? Was that a process every day?
Yeah, I mean, initially it was [supposed to be that] they didn’t have fluoride in the water so everyone’s teeth were messed up, but then I end up being the only one with really messed-up teeth. I put it down to, he was just one of those kids who didn’t brush his teeth. I think it’s quite a distinct person, and I knew a few of them in school—kids who had brown teeth at 11 and were always, like, really weird.
Are you an end-of-the-world guy? Do you think the end is near unless we change our ways?
Um, not really. Probably because I’m just quite ignorant and I have a nice life. I think everything is quite cyclical. There are definitely some incredibly worrying things—and for the sake of what? So you can play video games all day? It’s kind of ridiculous.
It does seem like there might be a comeuppance at some point. Especially if we behave like the people in Maps to the Stars.
I think they will just eat each other. I don’t think they will affect anyone else. They’re too self-absorbed.
So when David Cronenberg called and said, “Let’s do another movie together,” were you excited?
Yeah, I hadn’t even read the script and I was like, “Yep.” That was another character who didn’t have any kind of back story or anything. I said, “What kind of guy do you think he is?” And he said, “I don’t know, what do you think?” And we are shooting in two days and I’m like, Great. It’s exactly what happened on Cosmopolis. We don’t talk about it at all and then turn up and every single scene I did was one take. It’s ridiculous.
So he just lets you read the script and find the character yourself?
With Cosmopolis, he knew exactly what he wanted. With Maps, he just liked what I was doing on the first take.
Were you guys worried at all that there may be some backlash in the community if you’re making fun of Hollywood people?
I don’t think we were really making fun of it. Though I like how basically the only bad review we got was from The Hollywood Reporter.
You struck a nerve.
I don’t really think it’s taking the piss out of Hollywood. It’s very specific [to these characters]. I think Benjie is probably the truest character. I’ve met a lot of kids like him. The scene with him and the little girls bitching about everybody—you just see that a lot. When you see these kids, there is only one way: you either get in therapy now or become a serial killer, or kill yourself. I mean, you can see it really early on—it’s terrifying.
You got famous pretty early on. How did you cope with that weirdness of being so wealthy and famous at such a young age?
I did Harry Potter when I was like 17, and nothing really happened after that. I mean, I made loads of money compared to anyone my age—it was incredible. But I mean, then I just did little TV things afterwards. But I got to live from 18 to 21, you get your own apartment and basically I didn’t star in Twilight until 21. It’s different because you’re still young, but you’ve had a life beforehand. Where as if you are 10, it’s a totally different thing.
Did you meet Justin Bieber at the Vanity Fair party the other night?
I didn’t, actually. I’ve met him before, though, on his party bus. [Laughs.] I’ve met him a couple of times. He’s all right. [Laughs.]
If you were going to direct a satire of Hollywood, which part would you single out?
I don’t know. People do a lot about aging women, but have you ever read this book called Money by Martin Amis? I thought the old actor, Lorne Guyland, was such a great character, where you can’t let go of being an alpha-male movie man but you’re like 78 years old. It’s funny, because it’s such a feminine trait. It’s so funny how your entire life is being a macho man, but only in movies.
You do a little singing in The Rover, and I hear you’re working on an album. Can we expect to hear some music soon?
I don’t know where that came from. Every few years, something comes out about that. I’m always trying to work on stuff, but I don’t know. I’m kind of like, way too sensitive to criticism; I’ve got enough criticism on one front.
LA Times
The Los Angeles-based trades Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, have given it tepid reviews, in part citing it as being "severely negative," while the foreign press has been more kind. The film's producer, Bruce Katz, says this is not a coincidence, wondering if it hit a little too close to home for Hollywood-oriented publications.
Pattinson, who after the "Twilight" series has been on his share of big Hollywood sets, said he was surprised at some of the naysayers.
"Are people saying it's mean?" he asked when told of some early reactions, adding, "The child actor part felt very real. Almost every set I've been on has had someone like that."
Asked about his experiences with some of the more narcissistic portrayals, he said, "Well, Hollywood attracts crazy people, and then you add a lot of money, so…" his voice trailing off.
"Maps" will screen again at a festival, likely in Toronto, before opening in the U.S. in the fall via the Canadian-based independent distributor eOne.
Pattinson, who after the "Twilight" series has been on his share of big Hollywood sets, said he was surprised at some of the naysayers.
"Are people saying it's mean?" he asked when told of some early reactions, adding, "The child actor part felt very real. Almost every set I've been on has had someone like that."
Asked about his experiences with some of the more narcissistic portrayals, he said, "Well, Hollywood attracts crazy people, and then you add a lot of money, so…" his voice trailing off.
"Maps" will screen again at a festival, likely in Toronto, before opening in the U.S. in the fall via the Canadian-based independent distributor eOne.
USA Today
Robert Pattinson has terrible, rotted teeth and is caked in dirt for his leading role in The Rover. The star could not be happier with the transformation after years of being a heart throb in the Twilight films.
"I am trying to eliminate any bit of vanity," says Pattinson of his grimed up role. "I want to avoid any opportunity to pose (for the camera). Or whatever. Because if you get that opportunity to pose, you will probably take it."
The results have been impressive. Pattinson has earned some of the best reviews of his career in the David Michod film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and opens in the USA June 13.
The post-apocolyptic story features a grimy Pattinson joining up with a former soldier (Guy Pearce) who is trying to get back his last precious possession on Earth — his stolen car.
The unglamorous lead role, along with a supporting role in David Cronenberg's film Maps to the Stars, has earned Pattinson a return trip to the Cannes festival which he attended for the first time in 2012 (with Cronenberg's Cosmopolis).
Pattinson says the 2012 trip set in motion a game plan to return to Cannes as much as possible.
"I decided right then I wanted to get every film into Cannes. It was something I have been specifically aiming for, 100%," says Pattinson. "It's just the best place to promote movies and this festival has this cachet."
In Cannes 2012, the press conference monitor had to warn journalists before Pattinson took to the stage that he would not entertain questions about vampires.
This year, Pattinson seems to have finally gotten past that. He feels like a fixture at Cannes rather than a novelty. The word Twilight was not even mentioned in his press appearances, even if one Japanese television reporter asked Pattinson to simply say something to his fans back in Japan during a press conference (it was awkward).
"It's strange. I have a disassociation now. It's odd to live that same life," says Pattinson of hisTwilight past. "But I have always had that disassociation. I've never understood the crowds screaming. This is a job."
The Rover also gave Pattinson the distinct advantage of being deep in the Australian Outback, where Pattinson was able to shoot a movie outdoors without fear of paparazzi jumping out of bushes.
"So there wasn't some jackass trying to get a picture of me making a stupid face," says Pattinson. "We were in a town of 50 people. They wouldn't know who to sell a picture to even if they wanted to."
He says the freedom allowed him to feel completely at ease out in the open and aided his performance."It changed the whole way I worked completely," says Pattinson. "It was totally losing self-consciousness. It was like working underwater. It was nice."
He talks excitedly about working with director Olivier Assayas on their next, untitled film.
"His stuff always gets into Cannes and it's such a great script," says Pattinson. "But I don't want to speak too soon."
"I am trying to eliminate any bit of vanity," says Pattinson of his grimed up role. "I want to avoid any opportunity to pose (for the camera). Or whatever. Because if you get that opportunity to pose, you will probably take it."
The results have been impressive. Pattinson has earned some of the best reviews of his career in the David Michod film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and opens in the USA June 13.
The post-apocolyptic story features a grimy Pattinson joining up with a former soldier (Guy Pearce) who is trying to get back his last precious possession on Earth — his stolen car.
The unglamorous lead role, along with a supporting role in David Cronenberg's film Maps to the Stars, has earned Pattinson a return trip to the Cannes festival which he attended for the first time in 2012 (with Cronenberg's Cosmopolis).
Pattinson says the 2012 trip set in motion a game plan to return to Cannes as much as possible.
"I decided right then I wanted to get every film into Cannes. It was something I have been specifically aiming for, 100%," says Pattinson. "It's just the best place to promote movies and this festival has this cachet."
In Cannes 2012, the press conference monitor had to warn journalists before Pattinson took to the stage that he would not entertain questions about vampires.
This year, Pattinson seems to have finally gotten past that. He feels like a fixture at Cannes rather than a novelty. The word Twilight was not even mentioned in his press appearances, even if one Japanese television reporter asked Pattinson to simply say something to his fans back in Japan during a press conference (it was awkward).
"It's strange. I have a disassociation now. It's odd to live that same life," says Pattinson of hisTwilight past. "But I have always had that disassociation. I've never understood the crowds screaming. This is a job."
The Rover also gave Pattinson the distinct advantage of being deep in the Australian Outback, where Pattinson was able to shoot a movie outdoors without fear of paparazzi jumping out of bushes.
"So there wasn't some jackass trying to get a picture of me making a stupid face," says Pattinson. "We were in a town of 50 people. They wouldn't know who to sell a picture to even if they wanted to."
He says the freedom allowed him to feel completely at ease out in the open and aided his performance."It changed the whole way I worked completely," says Pattinson. "It was totally losing self-consciousness. It was like working underwater. It was nice."
He talks excitedly about working with director Olivier Assayas on their next, untitled film.
"His stuff always gets into Cannes and it's such a great script," says Pattinson. "But I don't want to speak too soon."
Le Parisien
Post-apocalyptic western, The Rover, thats screened out of competition, takes place in the Australian outback. But the film caused a sensation at Cannes, thanks to its Hollywoodian cast: Guy Pearce (LA Confidential) and Robert Pattinson, star of Twilight, play lawless men, struggling to survive.
Yesterday, we met Kristen Stewart's ex boyfriend, who's 28, and also at Cannes for Maps to the Stars, by the Canadian David Cronenberg.
We didn't expect you in The Rover (out on June 4), this violent road trip by the Australian director David Michôd...
ROBERT PATTINSON: Me neither... I've been very lucky since I finished the Twilight Saga. You can't imagine the number of interesting scripts I get, like The Rover. I loved Animal Kingdom, the last film by David Michôd. So when I was offered the character of Rey, this young American man severely wounded by soldiers left in the desert, who ends up faced with a bitter and withdrawn Australian farmer played by Guy Pearce, I rushed into the adventure . It's a merciless face-to-face!
Was it difficult filming in the Australian outback?
Quite the opposite, it was terrific ! We spent seven weeks in the most beautiful and wild areas, that where completely remote from civilization. It was a nine-hour drive from Adelaide. Just us, With no cellphones, no tv etc... And with no paparazzi! It was like another life, in the depths of the desert. This inhuman atmosphere is felt throughout the whole movie, this feeling of end of the world like in Mad Max.
You are also at Cannes with "Maps to the Stars"...
I think I would do all of Cronenberg's films if he asked me. Two years after Cosmopolis where my character lived permanently in his big limousine, it amused me that he gave me the role of a driver of the stars in Hollywood. It's a secondary role, but oh so significant, alongside the great Julianne Moore.
For an actor of your calibre, what does Hollywood mean to you?
A sort of bonfire of vanities. A fierce place, full of money , where ego and jealousy are terribly intensified. Where everyone wants to be famous at any cost. It's very, very hard to live there. Especially, if you do not have a serious professional environment and real friends to keep you from all temptations. Me, I 'm doing fine. I managed to live my life and fame. Probably, because I know its dangers and pitfalls ...
Twilight is well and truly over...
Ah yes! It is well and truly over! I'm too old now to play vampires! There are so many directors with whom I really want to work with.
Which ones?
Brady Corbet, a young director who will direct me in The Childhood of a Leader, Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers) soon. And the French director, Olivier Assayas for a gangster movie that I'll shoot at the end of the year in the United States. I also hope to work one day with Quentin Tarantino...
Yesterday, we met Kristen Stewart's ex boyfriend, who's 28, and also at Cannes for Maps to the Stars, by the Canadian David Cronenberg.
We didn't expect you in The Rover (out on June 4), this violent road trip by the Australian director David Michôd...
ROBERT PATTINSON: Me neither... I've been very lucky since I finished the Twilight Saga. You can't imagine the number of interesting scripts I get, like The Rover. I loved Animal Kingdom, the last film by David Michôd. So when I was offered the character of Rey, this young American man severely wounded by soldiers left in the desert, who ends up faced with a bitter and withdrawn Australian farmer played by Guy Pearce, I rushed into the adventure . It's a merciless face-to-face!
Was it difficult filming in the Australian outback?
Quite the opposite, it was terrific ! We spent seven weeks in the most beautiful and wild areas, that where completely remote from civilization. It was a nine-hour drive from Adelaide. Just us, With no cellphones, no tv etc... And with no paparazzi! It was like another life, in the depths of the desert. This inhuman atmosphere is felt throughout the whole movie, this feeling of end of the world like in Mad Max.
You are also at Cannes with "Maps to the Stars"...
I think I would do all of Cronenberg's films if he asked me. Two years after Cosmopolis where my character lived permanently in his big limousine, it amused me that he gave me the role of a driver of the stars in Hollywood. It's a secondary role, but oh so significant, alongside the great Julianne Moore.
For an actor of your calibre, what does Hollywood mean to you?
A sort of bonfire of vanities. A fierce place, full of money , where ego and jealousy are terribly intensified. Where everyone wants to be famous at any cost. It's very, very hard to live there. Especially, if you do not have a serious professional environment and real friends to keep you from all temptations. Me, I 'm doing fine. I managed to live my life and fame. Probably, because I know its dangers and pitfalls ...
Twilight is well and truly over...
Ah yes! It is well and truly over! I'm too old now to play vampires! There are so many directors with whom I really want to work with.
Which ones?
Brady Corbet, a young director who will direct me in The Childhood of a Leader, Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers) soon. And the French director, Olivier Assayas for a gangster movie that I'll shoot at the end of the year in the United States. I also hope to work one day with Quentin Tarantino...
Associated Press
For the past year, Robert Pattinson has been trying to disappear. He says he's been actively avoiding having his photo taken, trying to erase a tabloid persona.
"I'm just trying to not be in stupid gossip magazines, basically, and I think the best way to do it is never be photographed ever," says Pattinson. "As I get older, I just get more and more and more self-conscious about getting photographed. I don't know why. I've done it too many times and now I feel like everyone can see through me."
Not being photographed isn't an option for Pattinson at the Cannes Film Festival: The annual Cote d'Azur extravaganza is famous for its walls of photographers and its rabid hunger for celebrity.
In "The Rover," which opens in the United States on June 13, he gives arguably his best performance yet, playing a bloodied half-wit who travels across a near-future Australian Outback with a terse man bent on revenge (Guy Pearce). With a halting Southern accent, he's a mangy, wounded puppy dog of a man, loyal to his companion.
More than any film before, "The Rover" announces the 28-year-old former "Twilight" star as a talented actor of range, capable of disappearing into a complicated role.
"It's literally exactly what I wanted," Pattinson said of his Cannes, smiling atop the Palais des Festivals.
His performances have been eye-opening for many, including Pattinson's co-stars. "I wasn't aware of what he was capable of," says Pearce. "On the second day, I said to David, 'He's really (expletive) good, isn't he?'"
The new chapter for Pattinson really began with his first collaboration with Cronenberg in the 2012 stylish Don DeLillo adaptation "Cosmopolis." Since then, he says, he's been choosing parts solely by director.
"I sort of had a bit of a list," says Pattinson. "The things I'm going to do next I've said yes to them before I've even seen a script."
Along with Michod ("Animal Kingdom") and Cronenberg, Pattinson has shot movies with Werner Herzog and Anton Corbijn. He's lined up films with Harmony Korine ("Spring Breakers") and Olivier Assayas ("Carlos"). All are widely acclaimed filmmakers who mostly operate far from the mainstream.
"It takes so much of the responsibility off you," says Pattinson. "I don't like the idea of trying to make movies as, like, a vehicle. Also, I don't really know who my audience is. I don't know if I have an audience. Outside of 'Twilight,' I don't know."
"Playing the lead in 'Cosmopolis' was not at the time what he wanted to do," says Cronenberg. "I had to talk him into it. He was really looking forward to playing a smaller role in an ensemble piece. In a way, ('Maps') is kind of a perfect continuation of our relationship, which I really value."
Pattinson auditioned for Michod for "The Rover," though the screenplay's scant backstory made it difficult. Exposition is largely resisted on the characters and the nature of the "collapse" that destroyed Australian currency. Pattinson went in in character.
"But then I had to sort of ask a couple questions half in character at the beginning, like: 'Is he mentally handicapped? Before I completely make a fool out of myself?'" he recalled laughing.
"The second he started doing the character, I was getting excited," says Michod. "I was getting excited about the performance he would give, excited about the character as invented by him and excited by the prospect of taking a possibly very underestimated franchise star and letting him demonstrated what he's actually capable of."
Pattinson says relished playing a more physical part.
"I had done so many parts where I was super still — like the whole of 'Twilight,'" he says."It's so restrictive. You do something where you have blood all over your face, you can't be expected to fit into any kind of mold."
Drafted into a global franchise at a young age, Pattinson has previously said he wasn't even sure if acting was meant for him. For one of the more famous people on the planet, he doesn't exude confidence or self-seriousness, but rather has a squinty, bemused manner and is quick to laugh at himself. Now, he acknowledges his confidence is growing.
"I'm very, very good at lower expectations," says Pattinson. "Lower expectations and over-deliver."
David Michod Talks About Rob with HitFix
Michôd burst on the scene in 2010 after "Animal Kingdom" became, arguably, Sundance's greatest foreign success of the past decade. Not only did it launch Michôd's career, but it earned star Jacki Weaver her first Academy Award nomination and long=deserved recognition outside of Australia. And directing an actor to an Oscar nomination in your first film is sort of big deal. Instead of being swooped up by a major studio project, however, Michôd reunited with his "Kingdom" colleagues and friends for "The Rover," which premiered Sunday as a midnight selection in Cannes.
Set 10 years after "the fall," the new thriller is set in an Australian outback reeling from a global economic collapse. This isn't "Mad Max" or an increasingly familiar post-apocalyptic setting you've seen in theaters or on TV. Lawlessness abounds, people are barely surviving, but there is some structure to the world. The storyline centers on the unlikely pairing of Eric (Guy Pearce) and Rey (Robert Pattinson). The former is attempting to get his car back from the latter's brother for reasons that are not revealed until the final scene in the film. It's a harsh, dark film with some stellar set pieces and committed turns by both leads. More importantly, there's no sophomore slump for Michôd here.
The 41-year-old filmmaker had worked with Pearce in "Animal Kingdom" and both he and Joel Edgerton, who received a shared story-by credit, created Eric with him in mind. Pattinson, on the other hand, was a different story. Michôd had a general meeting with the actor before he "The Rover" became his follow-up and says he just immediately liked him.
"I found him really beguiling and I loved his physical energy, and he was smart and had a wonderfully open face," Michôd recalls. "When it came time to start testing for the character, I knew I wanted to see him, but yeah, I didn’t know what he was capable of. I think he knew that people didn’t know what he was capable of as well and so he was very willing to work and work hard. But very quickly when he came in to test for me I could just see this skill set that he just hasn’t been able to showcase."
Those instincts paid off. Pattinson's work is clearly the best of his career as he makes sure the slightly "off" Rey isn't just Pattinson playing the big screen "Robert Pattinson." Many audiences, however, will be surprised to find the Brit is playing an American in this setting. Obvious box office benefits to having American characters aside, Michôd says it was more important that "The Rover" felt vaguely international.
"I felt like [a few Americans] would assist in creating this world that suggested a kind of global economic meltdown, if suddenly people were just moving everywhere or doing what people had done for centuries," Michôd says. "If you think about the Australian gold and American gold rushes of the 19th Century, there were people from all over the world, people from China and Europe, every corner coming to strange corners of the planet to try and eke out a living pretty desperately."
Pearce probably won't get the credit he deserves for his work in the film, but it's another four-star performance to add to a resume that already includes excellent turns in "L.A. Confidential," "Memento," "The Proposition," "The King's Speech," "Prometheus" and the aforementioned "Animal Kingdom." Pearce's focus is most remarkable once you realize he has flies camping out all over his face in scene after scene and never blinks.
"He was quite happy to have them crawling all over his face," Michôd jokes. "The only time he’ll react is when they’re actually crawling on his eyeball. He’s had them going up his nose."
Michôd will spend the next month or so on a publicity tour for "The Rover" Down Under and across the US. Once that ends he'll return to New York to finish up the pilot for the upcoming Starz series "Flesh and Bone." Set in the world of an American ballet company, it's 180 degrees from any thing he's done before. Not that he was completely alien to the subject matter.
"I actually had a very close friend of mine who worked for the Australian Ballet Company for quite a while and would invite me to shows when they were having premieres of shows," Michôd says. "And I would go just because I thought it was a weird thing to do. But no, I didn’t really know anything about it but that was one of the things that intrigued me about it. One of the things I love about making movies is that for a small period of time I get to throw myself into a world I know nothing about and it was fun to shoot really amazing classical dancers."
Ballet artists are quite critical when movies and TV shows tackle their profession. Considering how unrealistic some of th0se depictions of the art form have been, you really can't blame them. Michôd admits he felt a little pressure to make sure "Flesh and Bone" gets it as "right" as possible, but recruiting professional dancers as the principle company worked wonders.
He notes, "I felt like I had those critics all around me every day, actively making the thing with me."
Melbourne crime drama, outback thriller, ballet drama series. What's next for Michôd? He says he has a couple of projects in the works, but one thing's for sure. Expect the unexpected.
Sydney Morning Herald
Within that environment, two contrasting characters meet and join forces – for reasons that only gradually become clear. Michod wrote one of the roles with one of his Animal Kingdom stars in mind: Guy Pearce. Pattinson, however, was far from his thoughts until they had an unrelated meeting in Los Angeles.
‘‘I like to meet actors, and I like to meet actors whose work I’m not necessarily familiar with,’’ Michod says. He had never seen any of the Twilight films, the hugely successful vampire romance franchise that made Pattinson a household name and a paparazzi target.‘‘But I heard a couple of people say that he’s interesting.’’ When they met, he found Pattinson ‘‘very smart and not the sort of pretty boy I was expecting’’.
Talking to Pattinson, in the final stages of the shoot, it is clear he was more than enthusiastic. He was already aware of the members of Blue-Tongue and had seen several of the films. ‘‘I like the way they work together and keep it quite tight. It reminded me of me and my friends, and I knew it was the kind of environment I wanted to work in – with a bunch of young people who were ambitious."
What's more, he loved Animal Kingdom.When The Rover came his way, he was in.
‘‘It was such a startlingly original script. When I read it, I thought, this is one of those parts where you think, 'I’d love to do this, but I know I’m not going to get it.'’’ He did a couple of tests in Michod’s Los Angeles house. ‘‘They were exhausting, they were about three hours long, but it was kind of fun. I liked the way he worked in the audition. Normally, they’re such horrible experiences.’’
Pattinson's character, Rey, is an American. He and his brother have come to Australia to work, but have fallen on hard times. He is naive and trusting ‘‘in a really strange way. He was brought up to believe he’s not capable of being independent. [He is] someone who has always been looked after and he has taken it with him into adulthood.’’
So when he loses contact with his brother at the beginning of the film, he is stranded. ‘‘He grabs onto the first person who comes along’’ – and this happens to be Pearce’s character, who has an ulterior motive for joining forces. ‘‘No matter how he gets treated, Rey just wants to please him. There’s something so strange and disturbing about the whole relationship.’’
(...)
The Rover will screen as part of the Sydney Film Festival, which runs from June 4-15. David Michod will discuss the film with Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson and producer Liz Watts at Sydney Town Hall on June 8.
‘‘I like to meet actors, and I like to meet actors whose work I’m not necessarily familiar with,’’ Michod says. He had never seen any of the Twilight films, the hugely successful vampire romance franchise that made Pattinson a household name and a paparazzi target.‘‘But I heard a couple of people say that he’s interesting.’’ When they met, he found Pattinson ‘‘very smart and not the sort of pretty boy I was expecting’’.
Talking to Pattinson, in the final stages of the shoot, it is clear he was more than enthusiastic. He was already aware of the members of Blue-Tongue and had seen several of the films. ‘‘I like the way they work together and keep it quite tight. It reminded me of me and my friends, and I knew it was the kind of environment I wanted to work in – with a bunch of young people who were ambitious."
What's more, he loved Animal Kingdom.When The Rover came his way, he was in.
‘‘It was such a startlingly original script. When I read it, I thought, this is one of those parts where you think, 'I’d love to do this, but I know I’m not going to get it.'’’ He did a couple of tests in Michod’s Los Angeles house. ‘‘They were exhausting, they were about three hours long, but it was kind of fun. I liked the way he worked in the audition. Normally, they’re such horrible experiences.’’
Pattinson's character, Rey, is an American. He and his brother have come to Australia to work, but have fallen on hard times. He is naive and trusting ‘‘in a really strange way. He was brought up to believe he’s not capable of being independent. [He is] someone who has always been looked after and he has taken it with him into adulthood.’’
So when he loses contact with his brother at the beginning of the film, he is stranded. ‘‘He grabs onto the first person who comes along’’ – and this happens to be Pearce’s character, who has an ulterior motive for joining forces. ‘‘No matter how he gets treated, Rey just wants to please him. There’s something so strange and disturbing about the whole relationship.’’
(...)
The Rover will screen as part of the Sydney Film Festival, which runs from June 4-15. David Michod will discuss the film with Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson and producer Liz Watts at Sydney Town Hall on June 8.
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