Robert Pattinson talks to Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times, below is an extract, but you can click on link to read the full interview:
When Robert Pattinson signed on to play the antagonistic Dauphin of France in Netflix’s medieval epic “The King,” he knew it was a juicy role that would give him the pleasure of taunting Timothée Chalamet. Still, Pattinson hadn’t quite figured out his character until he saw hair-and-makeup photos of his co-star Lily-Rose Depp, who was cast as a royal ingénue.
“I was like, ‘I want to play a princess, too,’” Pattinson said. The hairdresser capitulated by giving him long, honeyed locks, but Pattinson had one more surprise in store: On set, he unfurled a French accent so deliciously over the top that his scenes became charged with a camp jolt. At first, “I couldn’t quite tell, is this ridiculous?” Pattinson recalled. But after the first take, he found another co-star, Joel Edgerton, doubled over in laughter. “And then I thought, ‘I love this! This is the best.’”
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Is it fair to say you’re drawn to eccentric characters? I’ve always thought that the only reason you’d want to play a good guy all the time is because you’re desperately ashamed of what you’re doing in real life, whereas if you’re a pretty normal person, the most fun part of doing movies is that you can explore the more grotesque or naughty sides of your psyche in a somewhat safe environment. And it’s always more fun if you’re shocking the people in the room. If you end up being boring, that’s the lowest of the low.
Do you think you’ve been boring before? All the time. You can bore yourself! On “The Lighthouse,” I’d do two out of 17 takes that work, and on the other ones, I’d roll the dice in a different direction that leads me nowhere. But it’s more fun doing that than making a plan and sticking to it.
David Michôd talks about how switched on Robert Pattinson is
With the upcoming release of The King this Friday in select cinemas, GQ caught up with David and here’s what he had to say about Rob:
GQ:Do you enjoy giving really handsome actors terrible haircuts? David Michod: [Laughs.] Yes, I do. It brings me great pleasure. But Rob [Pattinson]’s haircut in The Rover was entirely his creation. …
Do you have a favorite? Rob’s in The Rover was one I actually started seeing on everybody. That was way ahead of its time. That’s how plugged in Rob Pattinson is. But I think Timmy’s in The King is kind of cool. I’m almost half-tempted to get one myself.
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Your last three movies have starred Robert Pattinson, Brad Pitt, and Timothée Chalamet. What qualities do the three of them share that drew you to them?
They are incredibly respectful of me. They’re actors who love directors and who love being directed. And they understand that any performance comes as a result of a rigorous collaboration between an actor and a director. My experiences of working with them at various stages of their careers was kind of the same. Timmy—I’ve got to stop calling him a kid, but he was basically a kid. Rob had come out the back end of a franchise that he was desperately trying to shake off. Brad had nothing to prove, but he wants to make good movies and take risks. But in all three cases, the experience for me was one of working with actors who wanted to work, and who understood that part of that work was surrendering themselves.
David and the cast talk about Robert Pattinson and The King
Timothée Chalamet at the beginning talks about his fave moment of the film that happens to include Rob. At 3.17 they talk about Rob’s French accent. Watch and enjoy. Ben also mentions Rob right at the very end.
David talks Rob – starts at around 10.07 and below is a short transcript. Sit back to watch and listen – the whole interview is interesting. If the video doesn’t play click on Variety link below.
“Pretty much in ways that I fully 100% endorse and love, that character is a Robert Pattinson creation,” the film’s director, David Michôd, said on this week’s episode of Variety and iHeart’s “The Big Ticket” podcast. “A lot it was kept under wraps.”
Michôd continued, “The great fear always is that you end up with ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ and ridiculous French accents. But at the same time, I kind of needed his character to be kind of absurd.”
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“His whole purpose is to be a jerk and to just torment Timmy,” Michôd said. “So I kind of needed him to be a larger-than-life jerk. He needed to be ridiculous. He needed not to have a lot of substance underneath him. He’s just there to annoy.”
David Michôd and TimotheeChalamet talk working with Robert Pattinson
David and Timothee talk about The King but at 2.41 they talk about working with Rob. And yes Timothee that was nice work asking David for you to work with him and Rob again – fingers crossed for another collaboration.
#TheKing's Timothee Chalamet on Robert Pattinson's French accent and the "male ego function around your power, your worth, and we can say sizing" pic.twitter.com/PpGHaKbrH0
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