Robert Pattinson Australia

PRINT & PHOTOSHOOT: Robert Pattinson & Zendaya for Interview Magazine (February 2026) #TheDrama

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The Drama promo has begun. As is typical with Interview Magazine, Rob and Zendaya interviewed each other back in December 2025 and Nadia Lee Cohen provided this original photoshoot (or a typical Rob shoot).

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From Interview Magazine:

“During the call, Rob was on vacation and wired on caffeine. Zendaya was taking a break from scrubbing grout. Neither was in promo mode, just two actors confronting the absurdity of selling something they don’t yet know how to explain.

MONDAY 4 PM DEC. 29, 2025 LONDON & THE CARIBBEAN

ROBERT PATTINSON: How’s it going?

ZENDAYA: It’s good. How are you?

PATTINSON: I’m okay.

ZENDAYA: We’re interviewing each other?

PATTINSON: I guess so.

ZENDAYA: I didn’t know that.

PATTINSON: You thought I was just interviewing you? [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: No, no, no! I thought somebody was going to ask us questions.

PATTINSON: That’s why it’s called Interview magazine, darling.

ZENDAYA: Duh!

PATTINSON: Well, I just had tons of caffeine, so I’m ready to jam.

ZENDAYA: You’re ready to jam? I’m in cleaning mode. New Year’s is around the corner and I’m getting everything in order, so I’m deep cleaning my bathroom right now.

PATTINSON: You’re deep cleaning your bathroom?

ZENDAYA: Yeah, very exciting stuff. Cleaning my grout. [Laughs] Where are you?

PATTINSON: I’m on vacation.

ZENDAYA: Good for you. You deserve it. If I’ve been working a lot, you’ve been working a lot.

PATTINSON: It’s annoying that you’re the only person in the world I can’t show off to at the moment, and you weren’t even making a big deal about it.

ZENDAYA: [Laughs] I was pretty cool about it.

PATTINSON: But you’re not working for a while, right?

ZENDAYA: I have a break until we get going for The Drama stuff, so I’m just going to chill out.

PATTINSON: Nice.

ZENDAYA: What else? I’m looking at a list of questions. “What were your preconceived notions of each other?”

PATTINSON: You went straight to that one?

ZENDAYA: I think it’s interesting, because you probably know what I thought about you before I met you, but I don’t think I asked you what you thought about me.

PATTINSON: Because Tom [Holland] had already told you.

ZENDAYA: Truthfully, I met you because we had common friends, and you were always pretty quiet and chill, which is a little different from my experience of Rob. You didn’t say much, and I was like, “Ooh, mysterious!” Then I talked to Tom and he was like, “No, he’s super fun and always laughing and joking,” and I was like, “Really? I haven’t experienced that side of him, I guess.”

PATTINSON: That’s so depressing. I wish I could stay in the mysterious. I’ve learned again and again that if you just don’t speak, people are like, “Wow. You’re really intimidating,” but I just can’t fucking maintain it.

ZENDAYA: You maintained it for a while, until we made a few movies together.

PATTINSON: Wait, I feel like I’ve only met you and stayed quiet once.

ZENDAYA: There were a couple of times I met you in the wild.

PATTINSON: I met you when you were doing a screening of Euphoria and I missed it, so I felt embarrassed.

ZENDAYA: That’s why you were quiet?

PATTINSON: I was really quiet after. Everyone was discussing the episode and I was still giving my opinion without having seen it.

ZENDAYA: [Laughs] You still haven’t answered the question.

PATTINSON: My impression of you? You know what? I can’t tell if this is kind of offensive or not.

ZENDAYA: Oh, no. Hold on. [Laughs]

PATTINSON: Do you know how people always ask, “Do you feel a responsibility to be an example to your fans?” I think you’re a good example to the youth.

ZENDAYA: Thank you, Rob. I try my best.

PATTINSON: You always seemed really nice and you are really nice.

ZENDAYA: That’s good. You’re like, “You’re nice, but you turned out to be evil and hard to work with.” I guess we have preconceived notions, but I try not to do that with people in our industry, because I wouldn’t want somebody to watch my movies and go, “She must be like this or that.”

PATTINSON: Yeah. People used to be like, “Oh my god, he’s so intense,” but you’re not really allowed to do that in a professional context anymore. So the only thing you ever find out about people is like, “They seem nice and really they’re just a dick.”

ZENDAYA: [Laughs] That’s as far as it goes.

PATTINSON: That’s the only secret you’ll ever find out. I can’t find the fucking email with the questions. I was literally looking at it yesterday being like, “I want to ask about red flags.”

ZENDAYA: This one says, “What is a red flag in a partner that you find charming?”

PATTINSON: That’s interesting.

ZENDAYA: As I’ve matured, I think a red flag is a red flag, you feel me?

PATTINSON: What is a red flag to you?

ZENDAYA: One that works for us at work is how people treat their crews. I admire people who are kind to everyone, not just the actors, directors, or producers. A very telling thing is how a crew feels about a particular actor, because they get to see how people are when the cameras are not rolling.

PATTINSON: Interesting. So you rely on the opinions of others entirely. [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: Shut up! You know what I mean.

PATTINSON: If someone looked at your dog in a funny way, is that a red flag?

ZENDAYA: I would get into a fight over my dog, for sure.

PATTINSON: If you saw a person look at your dog in a strange way, but the dog really loved them, is that a red flag?

ZENDAYA: It could be. I don’t know. Dogs are a good judge of character. [Zendaya’s dog barks] Sorry. Tom just got home and our dog’s very excited. What about you?

PATTINSON: In terms of red flags, do you believe you can instinctively know someone, or at least have a pretty clear version of who that person is, within seconds of meeting them?

ZENDAYA: Yes and no? People are layered and complex and they make mistakes. There are cultural differences. But there are also things that are just kind of, “Well, that’s rude. That’s mean.” And there’s also the opposite. You can know someone for a long time and they can change, or you get to know them on a deeper level and you’re like, “Whoa. I didn’t see that side of you.”

PATTINSON: Do you think that’s a sexy thing?

ZENDAYA: No. I don’t like surprises. Let’s be upfront with the crazy. Are you a good judge of character?

PATTINSON: In general, I have pretty transactional relationships. [Laughs] I’ll only really talk to someone if I want something from them.

ZENDAYA: [Laughs] I’m trying to keep in mind that your humor—we have to make sure it translates into print because they can’t hear how much you laugh when you say things. Most things are said with giggle.

PATTINSON: Sometimes I don’t really mind how it’s interpreted. Also, I’m never fully joking. [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: He says jokingly.

PATTINSON: Do you think it’s possible to 100 percent know another person?

ZENDAYA: I don’t know. I feel like I’m answering all the damn questions, Rob!

PATTINSON: Fair—I’m literally just going like, “What’s a stupid joke to say?”

ZENDAYA: How about this? Do you prefer happy ending romances, or ones that have gut-wrenching endings?

PATTINSON: I’ve thought about this. My favorite romantic movies are not romantic. They’re about breakups, and I never realized that. Have you ever seen Two Lovers?

ZENDAYA: I don’t think I have.

PATTINSON: Such a great movie, but it’s really sad. Then I was thinking of the Luc Besson movie The Big Blue, and they don’t end up together. Every single movie I thought was very romantic, the couple doesn’t end up together.

ZENDAYA: That’s true. Even Titanic.

PATTINSON: What are your favorite romantic movies?

ZENDAYA: To what you’re saying, they are often devastating, and that’s just the nature of being alive. A lot of them have to do with loss, and something I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that so much of life is loss—losing people you love and grieving and getting through that, so in some weird way, love and loss go hand in hand. But because it’s the holidays, I’ve been watching a lot of romcoms. Sometimes I need them to end up together. But there is no ending. Who knows if in 10 years they’re unhappy and divorced? I guess it’s all the same movie, you’re just picking up at a different point in people’s lives.

PATTINSON: Also, when you start a relationship with someone, you’re going to decide what your projection is, what the narrative of this person’s going to be. Oh my god, I’m literally trying to think about how I think about things and I’m starting to—

ZENDAYA: You’re trying to think about how you’re thinking about things? You’re so eloquent. [Laughs]

PATTINSON: I was listening to a podcast yesterday with a director, and when I hear someone who’s eloquent, it makes me really angry. I felt inspired by thinking that eloquence is a kind of classist act. I was like, there’s something honest about not being able to express yourself. It’s proletarian to not be able to say anything. Next question. Do you think being a public figure makes it harder to disappear into characters?

ZENDAYA: Yes and no. Something I admire about you is you keep so much of your life to yourself, which is a beautiful thing, especially having a family. I’m learning how to balance those things. At the end of the day, you’re a public figure, there’s nothing you can do, but some things are meant for yourself and for your loved ones, and then also allowing for that space between the anonymity of you, so that you can play someone else and they won’t necessarily always put you in—I mean, we just talked about being eloquent. Here I am stumbling over my words, trying to explain what I’m trying to say. But I do try to have privacy, not just for characters, but for me in real life. I try to be honest to who I am when I am in public, but I also try to keep things for myself. I don’t know how you feel about it. You have an extraordinary ability to transform. I’ve seen you do it from the outside and from the inside. What’s your relationship with that?

PATTINSON: When I was doing Twilight, there was such a cultural pushback against it, almost simultaneous to its success, so I kind of had to ride both things. I really enjoyed making the movies, but then there was such a huge marketing push behind it as well. I didn’t want to get my personal identity caught up in that, so I tried to push forward my individuality a little, and that kind of stuck with me. It was also interesting getting famous off of playing a part—people thought I was that character in the beginning.

ZENDAYA: So weird, I imagine.

PATTINSON: It was quite strange, but it also allowed me to push against it. Also, I wasn’t precious about that identity because it wasn’t my identity to begin with. It’s interesting to use the public perception of you as part of your character development, because you’re like, “I assume at least a few people in the audience are going to be expecting this,” so you can make it more dramatic. But at the same time, you never really know what people are thinking. A lot of people are very protective of, “This is who I am, this is my identity,” and I’ve never really felt that. Part of me is very certain of who I am, but I don’t feel it’s odd to just wake up one day and just be a different person. [Laughs] I think it’s positive insecurity. God, I’m just imagining what this is going to read like, and I’m like, “You sound like such a….”

ZENDAYA: [Laughs] Public perceptions! Stressing!

PATTINSON: I went to therapy once and the therapist asked me if I was on drugs because they couldn’t understand what I was talking about. I was like, “I’m trying my best.” [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: Well, I thought that was a very informative answer.

PATTINSON: I thought I was going somewhere. I got on the boat and I was like—

ZENDAYA: “I don’t know where I am! Over to you, Zendaya!”

PATTINSON: I want to get off now! [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: Too much introspection!

PATTINSON: Okay. If you could release The Drama with zero press and let it exist on its own, what do you think would happen?

ZENDAYA: I don’t know. I would hope that people would see it, but ultimately the promotion aspect of it is because we love the experience of going to the movies and we want to keep that alive. But if it was possible for people to just go see something without having to promote it, that would be great. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s our reality.

PATTINSON: When I hear actors talk about their projects, everyone sounds like geniuses to me. I can’t really communicate what I’m trying to do. On The Drama, for instance, there’s that big scene when I’m giving a speech to you—the amount of times where I feel like I’m totally insane… I can feel something so deeply and I’m trying to explain it to a director or anybody around me and no one understands. We’re trying to interpret a piece of writing that exists, and then it’s like, okay, now go out and try and—

ZENDAYA: Tell other people?

PATTINSON: I’m like, “I don’t fucking know!”

ZENDAYA: I feel you. I remember you kind of spiraled hard about that scene, but where you and Kris landed was really beautiful. But I think I would agree with you. I’m not always the best at articulating or expressing myself either. But I don’t go into a project thinking about how I’m going to explain it to people—it’s more like how it made me feel when I read it. Something happens when you do press: you have to think about thinking about it, but then you also have to divorce yourself from it at the same time because it’s no longer yours.

PATTINSON: Right.

ZENDAYA: This is our first interview, which is why it’s going to be all over the place, because it’s our first time trying to talk about making the movie, and the first interview is always so hard because I don’t know.

PATTINSON: They see this interview in combination with the photo shoot and it’s like, what are they talking about?

ZENDAYA: Exactly. The theme was I don’t know.

PATTINSON: What’s the most Hollywood thing about you that you’re actually embarrassed by?

ZENDAYA: Me?

PATTINSON: Yeah. You’re so not Hollywood.

ZENDAYA: I’d say quintessential Hollywood shit is probably how I am with my dog. They get their fancy meals with the vitamin supplements. It sounds very ridiculous when I talk about it, but I love my child. That’s probably the most ridiculous Hollywood thing about me, how my dog be living. I’ve super-duper stayed to myself, and most of my core friends are my family and people who I’ve known since I was literally born. But I feel like over the past couple of years, I’ve been able to make friends with other actors like yourself whose work I admire and who I think are really cool people, so that’s been nice, to just be like, “Does this life also feel so strange to you guys?” And be like, “Oh, yeah. I’m not the only one that feels that way.” And sometimes your ridiculous complaint, where people are like, “Girl, what are you even talking about?” makes sense to someone who’s like, “No, I get it. Your turnaround.” That’s been cool.

PATTINSON: To be able to talk about your turnaround.

ZENDAYA: I’m like, “Yo, I’m exhausted. My turnaround again.”

PATTINSON: That’s ridiculous.

ZENDAYA: So Hollywood. But you know what I mean? It’s these specific things where you gotta explain it to somebody. I feel very silly talking to people about my job. Yes, I know how special it is, but I also know how silly it is. What did I do today? I pretended to throw up in front of other actors who pretended to be disgusted by my fake throw-up.

PATTINSON: [Laughs] An exhausting day.

ZENDAYA: It’s like, what are you talking about?

PATTINSON: Have you ever watched Entourage?

ZENDAYA: Yes, I have.

PATTINSON: Does that kind of lifestyle ever appeal to you?

ZENDAYA: I’m good. How about you? What’s your most Hollywood thing? I feel like you’re the most Hollywood not-Hollywood person.

PATTINSON: I’m never really allowed in. I’m always knocking at the door like, “Hey, guys. Where the party at?” And everyone just gets younger and younger. It’s so scary when you don’t know who anyone is anymore. I’m completely out of the circle.

ZENDAYA: [Laughs]

PATTINSON: This one is about the difference between working with Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and Kristoffer Borgli. It’s so weird we’ve done all these movies together in a row.

ZENDAYA: It’s also weird because prior to last year, we had never worked together at all and then you just couldn’t get enough.

PATTINSON: What do you reckon?

ZENDAYA: I don’t know. I’m grateful I’ve had the coolest experiences on all three. It’s kind of wild to wrap your head around.

PATTINSON: They can handle a lot of stress.

ZENDAYA: That’s a very good point. I didn’t get to spend as much time with Nolan, but watching Denis and him and the amount of people that they are responsible for—if I get asked what I want for lunch, my brain just doesn’t work. So the amount questions they answer a day is really impressive. What’s really cool with Kris is that he’s earlier in his journey as a director and he’s so collaborative, but also very clear in what he felt worked and didn’t work.

PATTINSON: In the rehearsal he was like, “Let’s all discuss stuff, but I will tell you when you’re wrong.”

ZENDAYA: Which I appreciate. He definitely had answers for us, but also you did ask so many questions. [Laughs]

PATTINSON: I really enjoyed prepping The Drama with you.

ZENDAYA: It was good vibes all around.

PATTINSON: This is the first time I played English in many, many years and I think I was more aggressive towards my preconceived ideas of certain types of English people. For a character who’s not really a despicable person, I was so aggressive towards him.

ZENDAYA: Yeah, you were pretty intense on Charlie. I was like, “Dang.”

PATTINSON: [Laughs] Right from the beginning.

ZENDAYA: Are you good at saying no?

PATTINSON: I guess so.

ZENDAYA: Says the man who hasn’t stopped working since—

PATTINSON: I get told that I’m very anti-confrontational, but when I say no, I only mean it partially. My no is a yes in disguise.

ZENDAYA: I want to avoid confrontation. I want to make people happy, so if I have to do something to make everything good, I’ll probably do it. But I usually know pretty quickly if I want to do something or not when I read a script. I read this one and was like, “Yeah, I want to do this.” I don’t know if you have the same thing with scripts, but I really struggle to get through them. I don’t know if it’s an attention span issue.

PATTINSON: Do you think the movie ended up different than what you thought it was going to be?

ZENDAYA: I’m really happy with it. It’s better than what I could have made up in my head. I really appreciate the way Kris edits. There are odd cuts that make for great comedic moments and awkwardness and discomfort that I don’t even remember being on the page. How about you?

PATTINSON: I’m quite looking forward to seeing it again, which is odd for me.

ZENDAYA: Do you usually not like watching your films?

PATTINSON: No, I’m not a purist. I can let something go quite easily, unless I’m really bad in it. It’s so exciting, especially when you do big movies. When we were doing Dune, I was like—

ZENDAYA: “This is very far from where we just were.”

PATTINSON: Yeah, and like, “I have no clue how this is going to be put together at all.” But with this, I was quite invested. It’s rare to have the pre-production period we had on this, where we’re really discussing and arguing about it. It does make you feel pretty invested in the end product, and I think that’s why it makes it more difficult to promote it, because I don’t know what I would say about this movie to make someone go and watch it. I think it’s going to be entirely dependent on how they react to the trailer.

ZENDAYA: For sure. And I wouldn’t know how to classify it either. Romantic dramedy?

PATTINSON: I don’t know. I like the world they’re all living in as well. I really like the apartments. [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: I agree. I like the outfits. [Laughs]

PATTINSON: I took my entire closet.

ZENDAYA: You’ve done a 360 from hating Charlie so much to being like, “He’s really cool and I’m invested in his life.”

PATTINSON: Literally last night, I was wanting to wear a pair of fake glasses so much.

ZENDAYA: [Laughs] You were very against them for a moment there. Let’s see. “After working together on three films, what’s a habit of mine you’ve picked up on?” This I can do because I’ve been studying you. Tom is right, you laugh at everything you say, so it’s very hard to tell when you’re being serious and when you’re not. And then you’ll start a sentence and you’ll say it really fast, and then you’ll stop yourself and go, “Nevermind.” And then you’ll always eventually end up saying it, but I have to be like, “No, what is it, Rob? What are you thinking?”

PATTINSON: That sounds terrible. That’s not even true. [Laughs]

ZENDAYA: You’re like, “It was stupid, stupid. It was stupid.” And then eventually it’s completely fine, a normal conversation, or a note on the scene, and I’m like, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” You interrogate things.

PATTINSON: I wasn’t doing that so much on Dune.

ZENDAYA: No, no, no. You were chill on that.

PATTINSON: What I noticed on The Drama was that you come in on your day off and watch the monitor and talk to all the different department heads. It’s very impressive. I literally can’t even function. I can only do tiny little bursts of energy. I had to go and lay down on my fainting couch.

ZENDAYA: Yeah, I love what we do and it’s one of my favorite places to be. You should try it sometime.

PATTINSON: We keep doing every movie together, so it’ll just look like I’m copying you.

ZENDAYA: I’m going to tell everybody that you’re just following me to work like, “You don’t even work today, Rob. What the hell? Stop being weird.”

PATTINSON: We’re both not working. We’re like, “Let me just watch the monitor over your shoulder.”

ZENDAYA: Well, I think we did a good job interviewing each other.

PATTINSON: Oh my god. They better have a good editor.

ZENDAYA: Yeah, someone cut this shit up.

PATTINSON: Cool, man. I’ll talk to you soon.

ZENDAYA: See you on the next seven movies we do.”

Sources: Melzy