NEW Interview with Robert Pattinson for Crash Magazine

Thanks to Pattinson Art Work we have a translation of Crash Magazine's interview with Robert Pattinson.

If you want your own copy of the magazine can order Crash Mag issue (80) with Robert Pattinson on the cover here. In English or French.

Translation:

Robert Pattinson, who became an international star at the age of 22, thanks to his role as a vampire in the Twilight saga, definitively changed his image in 2012 with his masterful interpretation in Cronenberg's 'Cosmopolis'. Since then, he's looking for working on indie projects and movies that are different. At Cannes, he plays a marginalized character in 'Good Time' by the Safdie brothers. This highly anticipated independent production is in the official selection of the Festival. After Cannes, it’s a shoot with Claire Denis that is waiting for him. For Crash, he accepted to play along with the artist Torbjorn Rodland and again he didn't hesitate to break his image ... As for Torbjorn Rodland, he will have an exhibition in Paris in June, at La Galerie Air de Paris. 

How was the photoshoot with Torbjorn Rodland? He's a real artist. Usually he shows his work in art galleries or museums. He isn't a classical fashion photographer.

Rob: It was funny. It was interesting and really different from usual photoshoots. Yes it was a really interesting shoot. I really love his work and he also gave me his book. He's really brilliant.

Let’s talk about your upcoming movie 'Good Time'. How did you meet the directors, Josh & Ben Safdie? 

Rob: I saw 'Heavens Knows What' a long time ago. There was something magical with Arielle Holmes' energy, the star of the movie. So I contacted Josh and Benny and met them in LA. I really liked them. They have an incredible energy and I really felt like something good could be done. I really made myself the promise to do anything they would ask me during this first meeting. Considering what they have done until now, I think I was right. 

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the interview

We can feel this energy from the beginning of the film. It's really dramatic, the soundtrack is excellent, the film is very original and different... And it's also totally an indie project. 

Rob: I got the same feeling about the film: it is very unique compared to all the movies that are released right now. We no longer make movies like they do. So I really can't wait to see how the audience will react. The shoot went really well. 

And it's also a small production ... 

Rob: Yes a very tiny one. But we put tons and tons of energy in it. It was really an intense shoot: at least 16 hours of work a day. In the end, we could have made three or four movies with the footage we had! 

Would you want to work with them again? 

Rob: Of course I would! I would do anything with them. With a snap of a finger! 

Good Time is a very moving film. It follows two brothers, one of them has a mental disorder and his big brother tries to help him. How do you see their relationship? 

Rob: One of the brothers, Nick, is mentally disabled and Connie, my character, is kind of mentally crazy too! He's not a reasonable guy who takes normal and rational decisions. He convinced himself that he can do everything he wants, as soon as it's for his brother. But in fact he is always taking disastrous decisions. He isn't normally connected to the world. Before the shoot, we worked really in depth on the relationship between Nick and Connie. Our idea was that Connie and Nick are in fact not really that close. Connie just came out of jail and he is aware he has to recreate a bond with his brother, but he doesn't know him very well. 

So it's an unusual relationship. Connie doesn't have a real family. He only has his bother. 

Rob: Yes. And if you take a look at his character, he's really the sort of guy who is rejected by his family. I think everybody knows somebody like him, someone who keeps testing the limits of people around him just to see what they will be able to accept. His family rejected him a long time ago. 

Is it important for you to see a movie like this one being selected at Cannes? 

Rob: Oh yes of course! Especially when you know how the movie saw the light of day. It began like a very small project and it proceeded very well. I really loved it the first time I saw it. And Cannes is also my favorite place to show movies. It's really a different experience, even when you compare it to other film festivals. I think the Safdies really deserve to be there, especially in competition. I was so happy when they were selected in the official competition. 

You also worked in big productions. Is it important for you to work on smaller indie projects? 

Rob: Yes, even if I haven't made any blockbuster movies for a long time. It's really difficult to find interesting small projects. Someone can have a really good script, but doesn't have what is needed to make a good film. The Safdies are really fascinating artists. Everybody wants to work with people like them. I was extremely lucky.

You also did two movies with David Cronenberg. How was it to work with him?

Rob: I did Cosmopolis with him about five years ago. It was a totally new experience for me. I would never have thought I would be able to do movie like this one and work with people like Cronenberg. And because David believed in me, my destiny took another path and it has completely changed my life. David is really the best. 

Is he the best director you have worked with? 

Rob: They're all very good, but David's movies are really different. I watched 'Videodrome' the other day. He made movies in the early 80' that are totally out of the ordinary, even today. But all the directors I worked with are amazing. His 80' movies are completely crazy. Their style was really edgy for this time and they still are today. 

The idea of 'Cosmopolis' was also very new: to shoot an entire movie inside a limo and that is only focused on you. 

Rob: The writing was so incredible. But I like people who have an original way of thinking. 'Good Time' is like this too, considering it doesn't give you any indication of the way you have to take it. Clearly there is no good and evil. I try to work with people that can detect the grey areas of existence. In the end they're more intelligent. There are lots of similarities between the way the Safdies see the existence and the way Cronenberg does. 

Do you want to work more in Europe than in the United States now? 

Rob: Yes, I'll play in a movie by Claire Denis this summer, in Germany. I think I'll be there for three months or so. I don't why it took me so long to work in Europe. It just happened. 

Do you live in the UK or in the United States now? 

Rob: In fact I'm living between London and LA. 

Can you tell us more about this Claire Denis' movie, 'High Life'? Is it in English or in French? 

Rob: It's in English. It takes place in a spaceship. It's about a group of criminals who serve a sentenced to life imprisonment and they are given the opportunity to go on a space mission. But it's also about a father/daughter relationship. There are lots of psychosexual questions in this movie. All Claire's movies are very intense and interesting. I'm really looking forward to shoot it. I have waited about three years before the movie could be done. 

Will it be the first time you'll work with a French director? 

Rob: Yes I think so. I was about to work in an Olivier Assayas' movie, but it was stopped the day before the shoot. Twice in fact. So yes I think Claire will be the first French director. 

What happened to Assayas' movie? It was cancelled? 

Rob: The movie was in the middle of the pre-production. I was doing the rehearsals for about two months. And then the day before the shoot, the funding of the project was rejected. And I came back a few months later and the same thing happened again. This kind of stuff happens very often with indie movies. People are looking for money everywhere they can, but nothing is ever safe. But I really loved the project. Maybe one day we'll work together again. 

It's crazy how some projects are cancelled at the last minute. Are you also involved in producing movies? 

Rob: I would like to be involved in some specific projects. It has not been long since I started to trust directors completely. A few years ago, I would never have been able to commit myself 100% to someone else's ideas. I realized that if you let the director being the director and that you're the actor and only the actor, it's strangely very liberating. I think you learn to do much better. But I'm always looking for things I could produce. I haven't found the perfect project yet. 

It can be very interesting to be involved in production, but it's a different kind of work ... 

Rob: On 'Good Time', I liked the producers' open-mindedness with me. It feels great to be part of a whole process rather than just doing your job as an actor and that nobody talks to you until the premiere. I'll certainly try to produce, but later. 

You're really young to do all these things at the same time ... 

Rob: But I'm getting older! (Laughs) I always think that I'm young, but I'm not so young. 

You began to do movies very early ... 

Rob: It helps when you're doing a movie like 'Good Time', when you're shooting at night and during hours. A life won't be enough to do movies like that. It's a lot of responsibility towards other people. But once again, the other day I watched 'King of New York'. You feel like this movie delivers a totally wild energy but Abel Ferrara begins to get older now. 

Are you going from a movie to another or do you take breaks? 

Rob: I want to go from a movie to another, but the projects I like take so much time to be made. I ended walking around my living room for months and months, praying the project would begin soon. I wrapped 'Good Time' a long time ago and it is only released now. 

Are you able to have a normal life now that you're famous?

Rob: A few years ago, it was much more intense, but I have a normal life now. I don't do a lot of stuff apart from walking my dog and reading books occasionally. I do absolutely nothing ! I'm really a home-lover. Since I'm starting a way of living, I can do exactly the same stuff for weeks. It makes other people crazy but I can eat the same meal, do the same thing and go to bed at the same hour for a year. 

Are you working on other projects?

Rob: I'll do a movie with Antonio Campos, 'Afterschool'. It's a kind of gothic thriller from the South. 

Do you start the filming of Claire Denis' movie just after Cannes? 

Rob: Yes and it'll take a lot of time. I think I'll shoot until the fall. 

So it means no summer holidays for you ... 

Rob: Living in LA is like being always on a holiday. I have already had too much! (Laughs) 

You're lucky! One last question: do you remember when you decided to become an actor? Was it a clear decision that you took at a specific moment? 

Rob: I did my first audition when I was 16 or something like that, just a part of me wanted to be an actor. Gradually, I began to take this more seriously. And during every shoot, I thought it would be probably the last one, so I wanted to make the best of it. I don't think that one day I thought 'This is what i want to do'. But I can't imagine doing something else now. Today, I can say I did this for half of my life. It's kind of crazy! 

Do you know how many movies you did? 

Rob: 23 or something like that? In fact I have no clue! 

It's not too many. Actually you need to do a bit more ... 

Rob: Yeah! I need to increase the number!

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