Robert Pattinson talks to Variety about his career and The Batman

Not only has Variety spoilt us with Rob on the cover and a new interview, but they’ve also included a new photoshoot. Below is an extract from the interview on his thoughts about the role of The Batman:

Robert Pattinson couldn’t stop Googling himself. In mid-May, the 33-year-old actor found himself obsessively refreshing his phone on a flight from Los Angeles to the south of France. Pattinson was headed to the Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of his new movie, “The Lighthouse,” just days before he was set to start shooting the next Christopher Nolan film, “Tenet.” But someone had tipped off the press about another top-secret project, one the entire world was now reporting on: Pattinson had been cast as the next Batman.

The stories were premature — Pattinson hadn’t even auditioned yet — and he was horrified that all the chatter would spook Warner Bros. executives into not hiring him. “When that thing leaked, I was f—ing furious,” Pattinson recalls on a recent rainy afternoon in London. “Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.”

As he scoured the internet for any clues that he’d been cut from the studio’s wish list, the man next to him leaned over to say hello. “I was sitting next to Christopher McQuarrie,” Pattinson says. “I’d never met him before. Oh, God! He’d seen me Googling myself for the past hour!” Pattinson tried to explain to the director behind the latest “Mission: Impossible” films what had happened. “No worries,” McQuarrie said, nodding. “I’d probably be doing the same thing.”

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This is Pattinson’s first interview since being formally anointed as the Dark Knight. And he still seems to be pinching himself about being next in line to put on the latex boots after Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck. Growing up in England, he watched the Tim Burton “Batman” movies. “When I was a kid, it was the only outfit that I had,” Pattinson says. But he won’t reveal where he used to wear his Batman costume. “If I actually said it in an interview, I would definitely have a lot of abuse afterwards,” he says with an outburst of nervous laughter. “If I successfully play the character, I can say it at the end.”

When Pattinson was named as the front-runner for the role, the backlash on social media was intense — a petition even surfaced on Change.org asking WB to reconsider. “This will ruin my childhood and my dreams,” one commenter posted. But Pattinson is surprisingly upbeat about the mixed reaction. “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he says. And he’s not deterred by the doubters: “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”

Head on over to Variety to read the full interview.