Robert Pattinson is present at this year´s Berlinale with not one, but two movies. In one of them he plays the photographer of James Dean. In our interview the former vampire-star tells how he used to perceive the Hollywood legend.
Berlin. At the luxurious Hotel de Rome in the heart of Berlin, hidden away in a parlor behind the lobby, Robert Pattinson gives interviews for his Berlinale-movie “Life” on Monday. Full beard, tousled hair, on the table in front of him a bottle of Coke. Before we get started on the first question, the 28 year-old quickly pops a stick of gum into his mouth.
In Anton Corbijn`s “Life” Pattinson plays the young photographer Dennis Stock, who discovered James Dean before he had his big break-through in Hollywood. Stock snapped the famous picture of James Dean walking down rainy Times Square in New York with a cigarette between his lips and a popped-up collar. In this interview with German press agency dpa Pattinson talks about his own James Dean-phase and his heartthrob-image.
Q: James Dean is one oft the big icons of our time. What is your image of him?
RP: I think every actor at some point goes through a James Dean-obsession. When I was 16, 17 years old you were practically always imitating James Dean, no matter what the role was… I think James Dean liked people looking at him. But there are other actors who don´t exactly know why they became actors (laughs). I think I´m rather one of those.
Q: What did you do when you imitated Dean?
RP: It´s mostly about body language. For example, something like this (he props his elbow on his thigh and briefly rests his head on his hand). Whoever saw me pretending to be James Dean probably wondered what I was doing!
Q: Since the end of the Twilight Saga you´ve worked with directors like David Cronenberg, Werner Herzog and now Anton Corbijn. Do you think of Twilight as a door-opener for new projects or is it more like a curse because it gave you the image of a heartthrob?
RP: It really only ever brought good things for me. Everybody has to deal with something. There´s something positive about people accusing you of being type-cast; it helps you to try and be casted for different things. It energizes you, in a way. It´s fun to refute such an image.
Even after two Cronenberg-movies many still doubt the acting skills of Twilight-star Robert Pattinson. On Monday he presents his latest movie “Life” at Berlinale – together with director Anton Corbijn. In this interview the former vampire-star explains how he connected with the movie and why he feels his career is in a good place.
Q: Mr. Pattinson, is James Dean still an icon to your generation?
RP: Definitely. Especially when I was young. I knew James Dean before I even knew I wanted to act. I had read many of his interviews. He was style-defining and has an influence on every actor, simply through his physicality. Anyone who´s leaning forward, trying to look cool, is copying James Dean, really (laughs)
Q: You playing a photographer has a certain irony since in real life you often clashed with photographers who sometimes made your life hell. What was it like, playing a photographer?
RP: They´re still doing it. But to be honest, I had a very preconceived notion of photographers. Just like Anton Corbijn. Our ideas couldn´t have been more different. For Anton, the whole movie is about the nature of the photographer. I didn´t see Dennis Stock as a photographer, but someone, who under all circumstances wanted to be an artist. He saw an artist in James Dean just like he saw himself as an artist. To me the movie is about those petty jealousies: why is Dean perceived an artist and not me. That´s what I liked about it.
Here are the full production notes of LIFE. There are a lot of quotes from Rob about the movie, his character and the cast&crew and comments about Rob from director Anton Corbijn, co-stars Dane DeHaan and Joel Edgerton, screenwriter Luke Davies and procucers Iain Canning and Christina Piovesan.
Pearce found film shoots the perfect place to write songs: “No dogs to walk, no family to visit”. But it was always done somewhat in secret. Which begs the question; who else is in this secret songwriter society? Who is the best actor slash songwriter too self-conscious to “come out”? “Rob Pattinson,” Pearce says, naming the Twilight megastar he recently acted alongside in The Rover.
“He’s got an amazing voice and his songs are really contemporary.”
The rationale that, like Pattinson’s songwriting, his was a hidden passion and the concealment was for the best, became a story he told himself and others.
Can you tell us more about your next movie ‘Queen Of The Desert’ ?
In less than ten days, I will start the mixing. The filming and editing are completed and I should be able to put an end to the movie in the first days of december.
I don’t know where or when it will be shown for the first time.
“Robert’s looks belie who he is inside. He has this formidable, very beautiful face. He’s such a gorgeous guy. He looks like he would be remote, but the minute I met him, he was very chatty. He’s very funny. He’s knowledgeable about film. He loves acting, actors and movies.
“Robert talked the entire time. I have to say I was shocked because I didn’t expect it. I mean, he’s so friendly, truly delightful, smart and talented. I loved him right away!”
Robert Pattinson
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Robert Pattinson
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