He plays in two movies at Cannes, The Rover by the Australian David Michôd. In a post catastrophy world, he plays a mugger sort of naive and a little banged up. Rob: I think it’s kind of funny, I do weird movies and I like weird movies, and those little girls screaming when they’re going to see The Rover. It’s kind of hilarious.
The other movie in which plays Robert Pattinson is in competition for the Palme at Cannes, Maps to the Stars by David Cronenberg.
Yes, in Maps to the Stars he plays a limo driver who dreams of becoming an actor. A secondary part but no worries, it’s Cronenberg who two years ago, decided to give him the main role in Cosmopolis, presented at Cannes too, and let him practise his growth as an actor. Cronenberg: I like to take credit for that. He was a very, very underrated actor but I knew he was talented. My instinct told me he was a star before he had the chance to prove he was a real actor. I mean it’s like when he gave the Palme to Rosetta, everyone told us, it was terrible and now the Dardens keep coming back here and their actors have a great career. That’s when you know your instinct is right and that of course makes you feel really good.
Robert Pattinson expresses then all his gratitude to Cronenberg. Rob: It’s just someone believing in you. Someone who you really respect and who makes you think about yourself differently afterwards. I was always quite ambious when I was younger but after Cosmopolis you kind of feel like you fufilled those ambitions afterwards and you believe in yourself a little bit more.
Post-apocalyptic western, “The Rover”, thats screened out of competition, takes place in the Australian outback. But the film caused a sensation at Cannes, thanks to it’s Hollywoodian cast: Guy Pearce (“LA Confidential”) and Robert Pattinson, star of “Twilight,” that play lawless men, struggling to survive.
Yesterday we met also in Cannes for “Maps to the Stars,” by the Canadian David Cronenberg.
Cannes 2014: David Michod’s grimy road movie joins “Maps to the Stars” as an opportunity for indie-driven reinvention
After the last couple of days at Cannes, it’s easy to see why Robert Pattinson is on the cover of French Premiere with the headline “la metamorphose.”
The two movies that have brought Pattinson to the Croisette are weird, dark, supremely edgy and nothing like what we might expect from an actor who became famous as the vampire dude in the “Twilight” movies.
His reinvention (at least when he strays into the indie world) is indeed a metamorphosis. And Cannes has become an accessory to his intriguing makeover, which actually started a couple of years ago when he came to the festival with David Cronenberg’s austere and arty “Cosmopolis.”
This year, he’s back with Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars” and David Michod’s “The Rover” which premiered on back-to-back days at Cannes. Both are bloody, brutal and strange, and both are terrific.
And the remarkable thing is that “Maps to the Stars,” in which Pattinson plays a chauffeur driver and aspiring actor who ends up having sex with Julianne Moore in the back seat of his car before almost everybody in the whole movie self-destructs spectacularly, turns out to be only the runner-up in the competition to see which of Pattinson’s Cannes movies is darker and edgier.
Here’s a lovely moment of Rob, Guy, David and a few more at the beach of Cannes, moments before the release of The Rover at the Cannes Film Festival on saturday may 17th:
Robert, you’re in Cannes to present not one but two films. Is this a coincidence ? It’s a nice surprise, although I admit that I really wanted The Rover in particular to be shown here. Actually, we missed all the other festivals in the hope to be here. We focused on Cannes because it’ss the most beautiful in the world. Particularly for a movie as different as ours.
Like Maps To The Stars. It’s a film made outside the Hollywood system. Is this your way of showing where you want to take your career now that twilight is over? What guides me is the desire to work with a director. I realized that if I worked with the best in the world, the bigger the chances I’ll be happy with the result (laughs) and I’d have really satisfying work experiences. There are twenty filmmakers with whom I want to work and I just started. The next ones? This year, it will be Harmony Korine and Olivier Assayas. Then James Gray in January. We met, became friends but we waited until we found the right project.
If other young actors were in your place they would to try to land a role in a super hero movie, or at least a role in a big franchise. Did you think about it? I’ve never auditioned for this kind of movie. And I’m not even sure I would know how to play a superhero. If I had my place in this world (he thinks). It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t do a big studio film at some point. In fact, I watch so many of them. But I really struggle seeing myself in there, as an actor.
In The Rover, you play a simple-minded guy, that we don’t know much about except that he is his brother’s punching bag. How did you enter that mindset for the role? On the first reading, I would heard his voice in my head. The voice of a guy who talks so low, you have to tell him to keep his mouth shut (laughs). So much so that every word that comes out of his mouth is a pain. It was a lot of fun even though when I watched the first cut, some of my dialogue was barely audible!
You are also on Maps to The Stars by David Cronenberg. Is the Hollywood portrayed in the movie as dark as the one you know? I’ve always had a good time in Hollywood. To be honest, I like its dirty side as long as I don’t spend a whole year there, that I don’t become a caricature as we see in the film. To remain an observer: I can tell you that there are loads of weird people over there.
Do you come across them very often? All the time! Actually, might be one now…
Don’t tell me you sell your actor seats on the Internet like the young actors in the movie! Ah if I could… (laughs) To be honest, everyone in Hollywood is a little bit crazy. The actors are in essence, if you consider that we’re asked to play every human emotion, sometimes all in the same film. I assure you that you will have a hard time finding crazier people! (laughs)
Short interview from The Rover press junket + new footage from the Maps To The Stars photocall and The Rover premiere. In the end a short interview with David Cronenberg
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