Robert Pattinson has been an actor of great discussion of late, from his superb performance in THE LIGHTHOUSE through to his most recent role – Batman. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pattinson was filming Matt Reeves’ THE BATMAN and the casting caused quite the stir.
Over the years, the actor first made his name in HARRY POTTER and more notably in the TWILIGHT franchise, so there was quite (unfairly) a mixed response to him taking on the role of the caped crusader. The comic book hero has seen many an actor portray the iconic character including George Clooney, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, Christian Bale and most recently, Ben Affleck. Now it will be Robert Pattinson wearing the suit and we have a sneaky feeling he is going to be super in his next venture as Batman, despite certain critics being surprised that the former TWILIGHT alum would be the next person to portray the iconic role. Why not? Have you seen his performances in HIGH LIFE and THE LIGHTHOUSE?! Either way, Pattinson seems undeterred by some of the negative responses to his casting, which he discussed in the June/July issue of GQ.
In the interview, he of course touches on the biggest issue at the moment – COVID-19 and self-isolation but he also delves deeper into his new role. When asked why he chose to play Batman, he laughed at the mere thought of why anyone would question whether or not to do it: “What are the reasons not to do it?” A very good point…
He continued:
“I think sometimes the downsides—which I’ve definitely thought about—the downsides kind of seem like upsides. I kind of like the fact that not only are there very, very, very well-done versions of the character which seem pretty definitive, but I was thinking that there are multiple definitive playings of the character. I was watching the making of Batman & Robin the other day. And even then, George Clooney was saying that he was worried about the fact that it’s sort of been done, that a lot of the ground you should cover with the character has been already covered. And that’s in ’96, ’97?”
Pattinson reveals how he felt in good company knowing that so many others have already taken on the role and was excited about putting his own spin on the character:
“And then there’s Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck’s one. And then I was thinking, it’s fun when more and more ground has been covered. Like, where is the gap? You’ve seen this sort of lighter version, you’ve seen a kind of jaded version, a kind of more animalistic version. And the puzzle of it becomes quite satisfying, to think: Where’s my opening? And also, do I have anything inside me which would work if I could do it? And then also, it’s a legacy part, right? I like that. There’s so few things in life where people passionately care about it before it’s even happened. You can almost feel that pushback of anticipation, and so it kind of energizes you a little bit. It’s different from when you’re doing a part and there’s a possibility that no one will even see it. Right? In some ways it’s, I don’t know… It makes you a little kind of spicy.”
He also revealed that he first discovered that he got the role as was cast as Batman whilst filming Christopher Nolan’s TENET, which may see its summer release date due to the pandemic. Even Pattinson hasn’t seen the film yet, “‘I genuinely don’t know if I’d be able to… I was just thinking, I just called up my assistant 20 minutes ago: ‘What the f*ck do I say? I have no idea.’ ”
If you haven’t yet seen the trailer for TENET starring Robert Pattinson, then feast your eyes on the footage in the video player below:
TENET is scheduled for release July 17th, 2020 and THE BATMAN is slated for October 1st, 2021.
