He hasn’t read the novels, has no idea what happens in Breaking Dawn and he’s only seen Twilight for the first time on TV this month… You probably know more about Twilight than Robert Pattinson, check out our interview…
Even though he’s one of the most coveted movie stars, Robert Pattinson gives the impression that the fame goes right over his head. Outside of premieres he manages to avoid the whole Twilight frenzy, treating it as a regular job, he’s not read the book or the script for the upcoming Twilight – Breaking Dawn. Read our interview with the heartbreaker below…
Q: What new skills did you have to learn for Eclipse?
RP: “I guess I had to learn how to run properly. In the last two movies I’ve always run with a kind of limp/skip and I had to sort of look like I could run more solidly this time. So I spent a lot of time on a giant treadmill, like one of those wheels mice run around and got filmed doing it to improve my form. I guess that was one of the big things.”
Q: The role is considered a romantic hero but he’s also very possessive. Do you think Edward Cullen has changed over these three movies?
RP: “Yeah, I mean in the first two movies he was alienated from reality, so when he finds one thing to hold on to, that’s where the possessiveness comes from. I think as the series goes on he accepts more and more that he’s part of the contemporary world. I think all the things that were deemed to be flawed before start fading away. I mean, that’s how I’m trying to play him. I think he’s coming out of his shell a little bit in Eclipse, so hopefully by the end of Breaking Dawn I’m hoping he’ll be basically a normal 17-year-old guy, just a little bit pale.
Q: Have you ever gotten in a fight with someone for the love of a woman?
RP: “Umm, have I? I think. Yeah probably. Yeah. But I don’t know if it was about love. It’s just more about pride (laughs).”
Q: What was it like working with David Slade when you’ve had a new director with each film?
RP: “It’s interesting, after doing Twilight, everyone had very specific ideas and everyone was butting heads the entire time, and you can kind of feel it in the movie. It’s a different energy where everyone’s like, ‘No, this is what it’s about.’ Then when Chris Weitz came in for New Moon he came in with the opinion that he liked the first one, he liked what the actors were doing so just follow along that road. Then when David came in he was like ‘I want to do everything completely different, not do it like the first two.’ So we talked about the character development and consistency from the two and he was like ‘It doesn’t matter, let’s just do something completely different’ which is good because then it’s challenging. It’s easy to get stagnant if you play the same character. In New Moon I felt like I was developing something a little bit deeper and then with Eclipse I felt like I was doing a completely different movie, and a completely different character in a lot of ways. So yeah it was nice and challenging.”
Q: You were on the first soundtrack, would you contribute again on any more of the movies?
RP: “I’ve done a couple of things. I mean, I’ve always just been playing around. As for the soundtracks, I’m not sure. It was nice to be involved in the first one. I just saw Twilight on TV for the first time a few days ago.”
Q: You’d never seen it before?
RP: “No [laughs] apart from the commentary. When my song came on I was just thinking that is so bizarre that I actually had a song in the movie. I’m kind of amazed Catherine did it. It really shows how none of us thought it was going to be so massive. I didn’t know anyone was going to buy the soundtrack or anything. So it’s a little more nerve-wracking now.”
Q: In the tent scene, did you or Taylor crack up during the serious moments? Was it hard to keep a straight face?
RP: “For some reason on that day (we re-shot it as well) but the first time we did it, I was really freaking out – I don’t know why. I think it had to do with claustrophobia or something, because we were actually shooting in a tent. And I just couldn’t get it together! I kept forgetting my lines and getting so nervous. I just wanted to punch anyone who was near me in the face! We did about three takes and Kristen is supposed to be asleep on the floor and she saw that I was freaking out, I don’t know why. Halfway through the take she suddenly opened her eyes. She kept staring at me and kept trying to make me laugh through the entire take, and it’s like the most serious scene in the whole movie! I just wanted to strangle her for the first two seconds, but then the entire scene I was playing, I almost could not stop laughing the entire time. We got literally one take where it went kind of right and it was because of that, when I was trying to hold back laughter. I guess it made me more alive or something. They did re-shoot the scene in the end, so maybe I’m a little bit mistaken.”
Q: Edward and Victoria have a great fight scene. How much training did you and Bryce have to go through? And what was it like having to fight a girl?
RP: “Weirdly one of the producers told me the other day, ‘Wow you look so enthusiastic in that fight scene, much more so than any other one in the series.’ I did a bit of practice with Bryce. It’s really hard to do stuff with her because she’s the gentlest person and she’s always laughing whenever you do anything. So we did a little bit, kind of halfheartedly and then she’d be afraid of hurting me for some reason even though she’d only be hitting very lightly. I thought something was going to go wrong at some point and we basically waited for the day. Most of the vicious looking stuff I did with her stunt double who was really, really tough. But the bits with Bryce you can really notice if you just watch the fight scene, we’re just kind of rolling around a bit and grabbing on to each other but it was fun doing that.”
Q: What do you think of Edward in Breaking Dawn?
RP: “I haven’t read it yet! I mean it’s weird to do because I’m starting it a month after this job and it’s something I’m quite glad I haven’t read it yet. I didn’t intend to not read it until now, but it’s quite exciting. I have no idea, I just heard brief rumors about what happens in the story but I don’t really know what happens at all.”
Q: What’s the one part of your costume that always transforms you into character?
RP: “Probably the contact lenses because it makes me miserable as soon as I put them in. That’s what creates sort of the pouting and brooding character.
Q: How are you going to go about getting your long hair back for Breaking Dawn?
RP: “I’m thinking maybe Edward had a haircut, it might be easier, but yeah I didn’t even think about that when I got it cut, that is a bit silly. Vampires can cut their hair though, so I like the idea of Edward having a shaved head in the last one. That might be pretty cool.”
Q: There are so many fan sites not just to you, but to Edward. Do you check any of those fan sites and are there any that stand out for you?
RP: “It’s kind of incredible the information they get so quickly. Sometimes I’ll check them to see what my schedule is on stuff, especially on the weekend when I can’t get through to my agency, they know way better. But yeah it’s strange.”
Q: Are you afraid that everything else you do is compared to Edward Cullen?
RP: “I’m not sure. I’ve always been of the opinion that if something explodes really quickly it takes the same amount of time for people to think of something else. I mean, I don’t know, I hope not. Maybe it’ll be a good thing, I have no idea.”
Also check out more of our Twilight content.
Watch
our video interview with Robert Pattinson
Watch
our video interview with Kirtsten Stewart
Interview
with Sam Uley/Chaske Spencer
Watch
our video interview with Peter Facinelli (Dr Carlisle Cullen)
Interview
with Billy Burke (Charlie Swan)
Interview with Charlie Bewley (Demetri)
TWILIGHT ECLIPSE is now showing in Irish cinema