Robert Pattinson has nothing but love for his recent experience on the set of “Water for Elephants,” director Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of the popular novel that’s set to open in theaters Friday. It was a far cry from his current job, finishing the grueling six-month shoot for the back-to-back filming of the last two “Twilight” films, based on Stephenie Meyer’s final book in her bestselling series of young adult novels, “Breaking Dawn.”
Pattinson took a moment for a brief phone interview before he was needed on the set of a night shoot for the vampire mega-hit. He seemed downright exhausted. “I’m just arriving at set, thinking I’m going to work all night,” he said. “I’m kinda losing my mind.”
Question: Sorry to hear you’re so exhausted. Can you tell us what your time was like on “Elephants,” with Reese Witherspoon?
Pattinson: It’s easily one of the best experiences I’ve had making a film and it’s by far one of the best experiences in my life. It didn’t even feel like work and a lot of that had to do with Reese. She makes an effort to make it like that. I think she believes that it’s really important to enjoy your work, especially when you have to be there for so many hours every day. I made a great friend out of it.
Question: How did working with the animals impact the environment?
Pattinson: When you have totally unpredictable elements, and there are dangerous elements in every single scene, everyone is in the same boat. If you’re trying to herd up a pack of horses, it doesn’t matter who you are. There is manure everywhere and everyone was filthy all the time. It was an egalitarian set because of that. It’s quite inspiring to be around [the elephant]. It doesn’t really matter what your taste is, everyone is going to like being around an elephant. It’s not like being around another actor some people may not like.
Question: Reese mentioned that she found the paparazzi attention on you unlike anything she’s seen before. What do you think?
Pattinson: She’s trying to sound humble about all this but she’s in all these magazines every week. It’s a circus outside her marriage. Plus, I always see her [in them] buying her sandwiches and going to yoga…. I guess she’s kind of accepted it in a lot of ways…. It’s just a strange situation to be in if you’re a sane person to have that kind of attention put on you.
Mark Povinelli (Kinko) talks about working with Rob in an interview with Reel Movie News
How was it working with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon as costars? I didn’t know a lot of Rob’s stuff, but I was aware of him. I’d seen the Harry Potter movies but I hadn’t seen any of Twilight films. He was a name to me, and not really somebody I could closely identify with. When I went in to work with him, I was like ‘who is this guy?’ When I started to understand the Rob fascination, it turns out that Rob is a really down to earth, sweet, kind of silly, very bright young man. That was the thing that surprised me the most. I thought of him as a Tiger Beat, Teen Beat matinee idol, when actually in this film he’s a leading man. He’s a rugged leading man with still a sweet boyish face that can really carry a film. He carries two hours of this epic story on his back and I think he carries it off beautifully. One of the charming things about Rob is that when we’re not filming, often times he’s off reading a book and he’s very well read. He understood so much about the depression era in America, so much about circuses. He would reference old movies and old pictures he’d seen and done research on. He’s not just ‘what movie am I doing next?’, he really dives into a role and I think he’s an actor. He does his work and research and he comes prepared.
People are saying this is Rob’s real breakout role. It would be great to see ‘Academy-award winning actor’ before his name as well. I think at some point it’s going to be there, whether it’s for this or not, he’s got the chops to be able to be that guy at some point. It’s a matter of when, not if. The thing about this film, is that Rob is this film, in the sense that it is completely told from his characters prospective. He’s in every shot of every scene and knowing that, we knew that he was going to make or break this film. I really do, honestly, think he makes it. He looks fantastic, to no ones surprised, but he carries himself and is so committed to the character. He’s on screen with Reese and Christoph and he absolutely holds his own and totally delivers. Everyone has this big question of can he do this, and he’s got this big target on his forehead. He can, and he did.
You’ve also booked Snow White opposite Julia Roberts. Are you excited to work with her?
It’s hard for me to come up with a bigger star than Julia Roberts. Again, I’ve been following hers, and a fan of hers for 20 years. To think 20 years ago, if someone had told me I’d be able to work back to back with the Reese’s and Rob’s and Christoph’s of the world and then go right into something with Julia Roberts is very exciting.
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