Here’s a new print interview with Rob.  I like Rob’s response to why he was interested in the role, I know we’ve seen him say that it was the “bad father’ role that interested him, but I like the insight of what he thought|thinks about Dennis Stock.

“SZENE HAMBURG: A talk with Robert Pattinson
During the Berlinale we met the actor, who talked about his new movie LIFE, bad fathers, and photography as art and frost bite on fingers.

What was it like to play a photographer under the direction of a legendary photographer like Anton Corbijn?
(laughs) Luckily I didn’t really see Dennis Stock as a photographer in the beginning. For me he was someone who wanted to be an artist but wasn’t sure if he had what it takes to be an artist. I had the feeling that the camera was a means for him to express himself.

How did you work with the camera? Did you only pose with it or did you really use it?
The great thing was that I got the camera a couple of months before we started shooting. It was loaned to us from the Leica museum and it’s the same camera Dennis Stock used. There aren’t many original old cameras left, but they are great and I used mine extensively.

What did you photograph?
I started doing the Werner Herzog film ‘Queen of the Desert’ right after that and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the location. I took hundreds of pics of the sets and Marrakesh. I didn’t really do it seriously or because of the movie, but more because it was fun. I figured I could ask Anton how to use the Leica correctly later, but he couldn’t really help me with that (laughs)

 

These two interviews are similar and we have seen some of the questions/answers before, but I thought I should post because there are a few new responses and it’s Rob.

From Die Presse: “I’m not wearing a mask anymore.”

Picture of life: In Anton Corbijn’s beautiful drama LIFE, Robert Pattinson plays Dennis Stock, the photographer who shot the iconic picture of James Dean on Times Square.

Boy band, TV star of movie vampire, becoming famous as a teenager sex symbol can be a blessing or a curse for young artist, but there is almost no other way to gain market values this quickly in show business. On the other hand getting rid of the reputation as a teen heartthrob is something many failed spectacularly. Contract to those who failed, Robert Pattinson seems to have been able to move past his history as a pale Twilight vampire in several ambitious movies he showed true acting talent, like in LIFE the fascinating story about the creation of one of the most famous pictures of the 20th century directed by the Dutch photographer, Anton Corbijn.

Are you a James Dean fan?
I was never really interested in him as a person, but as an actor he was huge. He was fearless in his acting and his movements were like ballet. What fascinated me, especially now where I looked at so many pictures of him, is that there is no bad picture of him. But that is not because he looked great, he played with the camera and he did that in a time where one wasn’t photographed everywhere.

What about you? Do you like playing with the camera?
I’m definitely not a natural talent like James Dean (laughs), but I’m getting there. I wasn’t able to control it. When the first Twilight movie came out I thought I had some kind of control about the pictures of me that were out there and you could see my panic over loosing that control.

Some of the questions and answers we’ve read in other interviews, but parts of this are new.

This interview with Anton from British Journal Of Photography is such a great read.  Have included a couple of excerpts below including the Rob mention & you can read the interview in full by clicking on the above link.

From what I’ve read, Dennis Stock was an irascible guy. In the later stages of his life they called him ‘Dennis the Menace’ in the Magnum offices.

That’s true. Dennis Stock didn’t take any prisoners, he was no mercy, incredible. He had five ex-wives and a few of them didn’t want to talk to us about him – he didn’t leave them on good terms. We portrayed his relationship with his son at the end of the film as more positive than it was in real life.

Did Robert Pattinson have an interest in photography when you cast him as Dennis Stock?

I don’t think so. We made sure he got a camera months in advance to familiarise himself with that and to get a sense of wanting to take a picture of moments. Of course when you shoot with film you don’t take as many pictures. When I looked at the Magnum contact sheets, the Times Square sequence for example, there are are six shots. You’re much more focused.

You considered shooting the film in black and white but decided it might impinge on Stock’s photography?

I felt like we were not giving him enough credit. Of course there were other voices saying we should do black and white, because of financial reasons, but I’m happy that we didn’t do it.

A lot of photography writing talks about technique. Dennis Stock seemed capable of putting the hours in until James Dean finally relaxed and gave enough of himself so Stock could hold the camera and click the shutter. Do you agree with that?

Obviously a drive and hard work is something that can get you somewhere. Talent is not always the top priority that people associate success with. You have to spend time with someone if you want to take their photograph. I’m not sure if James Dean knew the quality of the pictures. I think Stock saw him and thought: “There’s a guy that wants to do something, he wants to do something outside the studio system.”

 

Rob makes me laugh – there is some Rob GOLD in this interview/article.  I’ve said this a lot over the years, Rob needs his own tonight show. Imagine him interviewing his guests.  Enjoy!

From The Irish Times:

“Stormont may be in crisis and regional unemployment rates do not make for happy reading, but at least Northern Ireland can boast – albeit temporarily – one Robert Pattinson.

…

Even by Pattinson’s own account, the sun shines just a little more intently when he graces the northeast: “It’s been sunny every time I’ve been here,” marvels the heavily bearded young actor. “They tell me it rains. But I haven’t seen it.”

Pattinson has decamped to Ulster with a purpose. Following in the footsteps of Game of Thrones and the incoming Dad’s Army reboot, James Gray’s The Lost City of Z is the latest major production to shoot across various Northern Irish locations, including Methodist College, Strangford Lough and Craigavon House. Not that Pattinson has spent too much time in these stately locations. “I have mainly been on the boat that’s falling apart,” he laughs.

The Lost City of Z charts the exploits of the British explorer Percy Fawcett who, in 1925, disappeared in the Amazon while looking for an ancient lost city. In the subsequent years, as many as 100 explorers and scientists have gone missing while attempting to find evidence of Fawcett’s party.

Here’s the full interview we posted about yesterday.  Enjoy because it’s a great read.  I did think about using “narcoleptic beastilist” in my post title, but then I didn’t want to be shut down lol.  Love you Rob.

Via