David Cronenberg Tells GQ UK About The Secret To Filming A Sex Scene, Robert Pattinson Fans & Lots More

I don't know about you but I've gotten to love David Cronenberg more & more after reading/seeing all the interviews with him and getting to know him and his sense of humour throughout the "Cosmopolis" promo.

Here he talks to GQ UK about the secret to filming a sex scene, Robert Pattinson fans, the best pick up lines & lots more!



His room in London's Corinthia hotel is as quiet as the hermetically sealed limousine in which Robert Pattinson travels through New York's riot-torn streets. David Cronenberg, the 69-year-old Canadian director and undisputed master of "body horror", AKA the man who taught Keira Knightley to love spanking (Kate: O.O) and turned Jeff Goldblum into a "Brundlefly", has the manner of kindly professor. Whether discussing his new big-screen Don DeLillo adaptation or his thoughts on the insane levels of Twilight fan adoration, he treats every question with a detached wry amusement.(Kate: Gotta love him!) To mark his new film Cosmopolis arriving in cinemas, Cronenberg sat down with GQ.com to talk about some very uncomfortable topics…

GQ.com: Over the years you've appeared in London as everything from a tabloid sensation to a red carpet celebrity. What was your earliest memory of the city?
David Cronenberg: The city has been a constant in my life really since the mid Sixties. I saw the Rolling Stones at the London Palladium in 1965, as well as the Unit 4 + 2 and the Moody Blues. The Stones were fantastic - "Satisfaction" was their big hit at the time and it was great when they started to unleash it on the fans. It was funny being in Portugal with Rob because we had a red carpet that went on for about a solid kilometre straight, lined by literally a thousand girls screaming. It reminded me of the Stones in London.

What's the secret to filming a sex scene? (Kate: *waveshand* I know the answer to this one..... Have Robert Pattinson in it!)
Being aroused yourself is good. The idea that you can be clinically objective is ridiculous. You're clinically professional in the way that you work but if it's not turning you on as a man, how is it ever going to do that to an audience? Assuming that's the point of the scene - if the characters are aroused and its erotic for them, then that obviously is to be communicated to the audience and they are going to participate. But there are sex scenes you can do that do not have that function and that becomes quite a different thing.

Do you think Eric Packer is the most stylish character you've ever created?
Actually, I think Dr Jung in A Dangerous Method was pretty darn stylish. There is a contemporary quality to Eric that is certainly timely and cutting-edge in that sense. On the other hand, he's a guy who, like a lot of the financiers that we read about now, the "London Whale" being one of them, really want to be anonymous. They don't want to cut a great figure in the public eye. Part of their power as investors is anonymity and so although Eric Packer does have a bodyguard in this movie, the bodyguard is there to protect his life, not keep the fans away.

What's been your worst date?
I never really dated. The thing is I've been married for about 37 years and it's kind of a strange thing because I've never done this tradition of dating and pick-up lines. Somebody in Berlin said, "What's the worst pickup line you've ever heard?" I said, "I've never given one, at least not consciously". Rob said his answer for that is "I would look good in your clothes". I thought that was a pretty good one. (Kate: {giggles} Classic Rob)

Check out David's Full Interview (it's a great read) over at GQ UK