David Cronenberg … Still Yapping Away
Well he might not specifically talk Rob with Indiewire, he was talking being friends with Viggo, but I just wanted to reiterate this
“But having said that, I just did a movie without him — “Cosmopolis” — because you really aren’t doing an actor a favor by miscasting him. So in fact, casting is one of the main strengths a director can have that people don’t know about. It’s really crucial that you know how to cast your movie because it’s more than half the battle. If you make a huge casting error, it can destroy your film before you’ve shot a single scene. You’re juggling tons of things. Do you want this actor? Can he do it? Can he do it beautifully? Does he want to do it? Can you afford him? Is his fame such that it will support the budget you have? …”
David did, however, say this in CinemaBlend:
“Working with Robert Pattinson in Cosmopolis, is it that same process of really focusing on your actor and giving him a lot of freedom?
He’s in every scene. It’s quite a different structure from A Dangerous Method. I think the only similarity really is that there’s a lot of dialogue, but it’s a very different kind of dialogue, a completely different kind of movie. I did shoot it even more ascetically. We finished 5 days early, and I did my director’s cut in two days. That’s a record for me. And yet it seems to work really well. Basically you’re not giving your editors much to work with. At moments he was begging me to do coverage and I wouldn’t. I said I don’t need that closeup, I don’t want that. I’m confident that letting it hang in the long shot is the way to do it. There are classic mistakes that young directors make, they get so enamored of this tricky dolly shot or steadicam shot, then they don’t want to do closeups because they think they’ve done this genius shot, then in the editing room they realize all the emotion, they can’t see it. you have to do closeups. But that’s a lesson you learn very early on in your career as a director. You have to have unshakeable confidence if you’re not going to do that coverage. You have to know this is exactly what I want it to be.”
David I have no doubt that you know “exactly” how you want that film to be.
And this in Gothatmist:
“Viggo Mortensen, Magneto, and a movie with Rob Pattinson next, with all that Twilight hoopla around him. You don’t mind stars with franchise baggage it seems. It’s like with Viggo with The Lord of the Rings, frankly. We’ve talked about this a lot. He wouldn’t have been a candidate for A History of Violence if it hadn’t been for Lord of the Rings because he wasn’t well-known, he was really kind of a B actor, character actor before Lord of the Ringsmade him a star. Therefore, he would not be somebody who could get you the financing that you need. It’s something about casting that people don’t think about but as a director, you really have to think about it because your producers make you think about it and so do your distributors. You say, “I want this guy,” and they say “Forget it! Nobody knows who he is and we can’t build a campaign around him to release to movie.” So not only do you have to get the right guy, you have to figure out who that guy is creatively but he has to want to do it to, you have to be able to afford him, he has to be available at the time you want him and he has to have the star power to get your movie financed. It’s very tricky casting a movie and for a director it’s a huge part of what you do, to weave your way through this mine field and end up with the right guy in your movie. Because if you make a huge miscasting mistake, it can kill your movie before you’ve even shot a foot of film.
Have you ever made any huge casting mistakes? Yes, but I won’t talk about them! [laughs] But not enough to kill the movie, I must say. There are only one or two that I would maybe have rethought. But you get lucky sometimes and sometimes the right person not only says yes and sometimes the right person says no. In other words, for some reason you’ve decided to go with somebody and you later realize, “Thank god that guy didn’t do the movie because this guy is the right guy.” But about Rob Pattinson, yeah, of course, if it weren’t for Twilight I don’t think we could have financed the movie around him because he wouldn’t be known. But aside from that, that was a good thing not a bad thing and of course I have to think about all that.
Especially with a movie that’s so focused on one character. Absolutely. You make a bad choice and you’ve killed your movie right away or at least you’re staggering through it trying desperately to compensate for what’s not there that should have been there. I felt really lucky to have Rob, he’s fantastic, and I think people will see that it’s obvious. I don’t think it’s going to be a surprise.”
And the Huffington Post:
“Cronenberg:Â Actors need to scare themselves. When I started to talk to [Robert Pattinson for “Cosmopolis”], it became apparent that he was terrified, as Keira was terrified to do Sabina, and that’s always good.
Why did you want Pattinson for the part in “Cosmopolis“?
Cronenberg:Â Well I’d watched a movie that I think not too many people have seen called “Little Ashes,” where he plays Salvador Dali, and he plays him as a young man and plays him with a Spanish accent. So I thought, well that’s really interesting, I mean this was before he was a “Twilight” star, because, it takes a particular handsome young man to decide to play that role. And then I did watch some of the “Twilight” stuff and I watched “Remember Me” and I felt that he had a lot going on. He’s supposed to be a super smart billionaire at a young age, 28 he says in the movie. It’s intuition. I didn’t know him as a person, but I’d figured from the movies that I’d seen, like “Little Ashes,” that I could maybe interest him in doing something that’s not “Twilight” obviously.”
So yeah see Little Ashes NOT Twilight impressed David. What a freakin surprise NOT. I know there are loads of us who LOVE Rob’s performance as Dali and I knew it would get him recognised by the right people. Sorry I just get sick of people telling me if it wasn’t for Twilight we wouldn’t even know or remember who Rob is … like I said on Twitter … when I hear that all I hear is “wa wa wa wa wa”.
You know the drill, want to read the full articles click on hyperlinks. Thanks to RobPattzNews for the tip on the last three articles.
11 comments on “David Cronenberg … Still Yapping Away”
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shell
‘Little Ashes’ was brilliant. Glad to see people who ‘know stuff’ agree.
I’ve been telling people for years that Rob is a brilliant actor and not just a pretty face. I get really weary of hearing people say he’s “wooden” – I think there’s a lot of subtlety to his acting that people don’t see if they don’t watch closely enough.
Anyway, ’tis nice to read all these interviews with Cronenberg; can’t wait for Cosmopolis.
Vicky
Don’t ever stop this kind of talk David. It’s nice to hear someone with that kind of credibility confirming what we have known all along!!!!
Maria
Whaaaaaaaaaaaa? He’s wooden? Oh @shell why haven’t you clubbed these people over the head and put them out of their misery LOL. Ok I’m only kidding about that. I mean people are currently raving about some of Rob’s contemporaries and I personally don’t think they can act at all.
Can I tell you – I think I’m pretty good at judging a good actor – I mean I love Nicholson, Pacino – don’t even get me started on De Niro, but then there’s Sean Penn, Edward Norton, Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio. Oh wait to that add Meryl Street – there is noone who can even come close to her and I love Hilary Swank. Do you see a pattern on the type of actor I enjoy. And let me tell you – you cannot believe how chuffed I was hearing Al Pacino pretty much say most if not all of those names when he was asked who he liked as an actor. He didn’t mention any current contemps so I’m happy to say he didn’t snub Rob, but if he’s agreeing with me on those then I doubt he won’t see the brillance that is Rob.
Vertigo you can back me up on this …
Jules
Oh, nice Maria!! Very cool 🙂 Totally agree with everyone – he’s an amazing acting talent who is only going to go from strength to strength. And yeah, Cronenberg is love. Just saying – these quotes are just fantastic. I love him!! LOL I didn’t think it was possible to be more excited about this movie but every time he says things like the above?? Yeah, the excitment levels ramp up a bit more.
Maria
@Shell you are not going to believe this but someone just said to me they couldn’t handle seeing Rob on screen. I’m like what the hell – have you seen him in anything other than Twilight? No they say – I said yeah well next year you come back to me after you’ve seen him in Cosmopolis or Bel-Ami and then we will continue this conversation. The nerve of these people.
Cindy
@Maria and Shell pass me the club and I will do the honors for you!! WTF???? Thank goodness for Mr C and you girls and all the true Rob fans who visit……*shakes head* but I really should not be surprised by some folks stupidity…….Great article too by the way Thanks ox
shell
@Maria, oh the hands were twitching for that club believe me. Who you calling wooden now punks? Foolish, foolish people. I can’t think of many actors of my generation that I particularly care for, perhaps with the exception of Ben Whishaw, who’s not quite as young as Rob anyway. I had this conversation with a friend about WFE – asked them to name who they’d cast instead of Rob – they couldn’t come up with anyone.
Not being able to handle seeing him on-screen? That’s quite incredible; unless that person was just completely overwhelmed by the combination of talent AND good looks lol.
I’m already practicing my “I told you so” speech for once Bel Ami and Cosmopolis are released.
Michelle
I can never ever ever get enough of seeing/hearing all this wonderful praise for Rob. Makes me smile from ear to ear. No one deserves it more than Rob. Anyone that doesn’t see the BRILLIANCE that is Rob Pattinson doesn’t have a brain in their heads.
I hear ya girls re: hearing stupid people say negative things about Rob. I too have heard crap from people. Seriously my blood boils & it takes me all my willpower not to punch them in the face. Morons they are, don’t have the ability to appreciate such talent. I loathe people that down others & especially when it is Rob who deserves nothing but praise. Ugh it makes me so angry even typing about it. Their loss, not ours. They are missing out on so so much by being such ignorant imbeciles grrrrrr.
Little Ashes – oh I just ADORE Dali. We wouldn’t even know who Rob was if it wasn’t for Twilight – what a freakin’ joke. Um yeah, go back to the rock you crawled out from under! I wouldn’t know nor care who EDWARD was if it wasn’t for Rob – that’s actually the truth!
I just cannot wait for Cosmopolis – squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Carmel
@Maria – what a great collection from David. Thank you.
The timing couldn’t be better for Cosmopolis. With Twilight ending those ridiculous blind people will have their eyes opened to what Rob is capable of. He was amazing as Dali & Tyler plus he has a few more valuable years experience under his belt now. I can’t wait for Eric.
Sue
Keep ‘yapping’ about Rob, Mr C ….. it’s music to my ears! (and almost as wonderful as Rob playing piano!) I need to get the house to myself to watch Little Ashes sometime this weekend …I’m SO in the mood for it now!
shell
” .. I wouldn’t know nor care who EDWARD was if it wasn’t for Rob – that’s actually the truth! …”
Same here, Michelle!