Q & A from Robert Pattinson with the Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune spoke to Robert Pattinson about Water for Elephants:

LOS ANGELES — When many of you think Robert Pattinson, tabloid headlines and all things vampire come to mind. Pattinson, even more than any of the other main actors in the popular "Twilight" movie series, seems to be purposefully creating a body of work outside of his tween following.

This weekend, Pattinson shows that there's a lot more depth to him as an actor than we've seen in his "Twilight" character Edward, as he co-stars with Reese Witherspoon in the adaptation of the best-selling novel "Water for Elephants." When we talked recently, I wondered if there was a lot of pressure on him because of his "Twilight" success.

"I think it's actually a little less pressure. It's a little weird. There's a kind of a strange thing that happened and it's the same thing that happened when I did first did 'Twilight,'" he said. "I'd never heard of the 'Twilight' book series. I didn't know anyone who'd read it. I just kind of did it, so I wasn't nervous at all. Later on, it became this huge thing. With 'Water for Elephants,' again, I'd never heard of the book. … And then, I accepted the part and suddenly noticed people sitting next to me were reading it on three different airplane rides. So I guess I just missed the thing again and therefore also missed the nerves again. Now I just love it. Kind of everything about it. I could really connect to it all."

Q

Not a lot of men connect with the movie so passionately. It's not really what might be called a "chick flick," but it's very romantic and very beautiful.

A

I know. It's strange. My dad loves it and he never reads anything. I think maybe because the reality of working in a circus? And then it can be so harsh ... maybe (it's) more relatable to men. But it's not really a totally romanticized story. It's impossible to romanticize.

Q

You've worked with werewolves in "Twilight." What was it like working with Tai the elephant in this?

A

She's incredible. She's one of the best actresses I've ever worked with. She plays Rosie in the book, and that's an incredible difficult part to play. It's really integral to the story. It's really difficult casting to find an elephant that could pull it off. ... Plus, she does impressions.

Q

Seriously?

A

She does impressions of chickens and stuff. And her general attitude is crazy, but she was also just so calm. She could be in a massive crowd of people … but she just stayed totally calmed, looking quite cheerful all the time. She just needs a bit of hay and that's it.

Q

You two have that in common, right? I've seen you very calm in massive crowds of screaming teenagers.

A

Yes, but I complain about it afterwards. She doesn't complain about it; she is an incredible creature.

Robert Pattinson & Taylor Lautner Talk Love And More To "The Chicago Tribune"

Robert Pattinson & Taylor Lautner Talk Love And More To "The Chicago Tribune"

LOS ANGELES — Ask many a teenage girl to which team are they most loyal and it's unlikely you'll hear about the Blackhawks, White Sox, Bears or Cubs. You'll probably get an earful about "hits" of a different kind from the new movie "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse." You're Team Edward if you love the moody vampire Edward Cullen, played by Robert Pattinson. Team Jacob is for fans of the usually shirtless, chiseled abs of Taylor Lautner's werewolf persona, Jacob Black.

Recently, I was a guest of Summit Entertainment in Los Angeles, talking with both actors, who are now on their third installment of fang-filled love tug of war.

You both have been through three different directors on these movie adaptations. What's been the difference for you?

Robert Pattinson: I don't know necessarily if it shows in the final film, but the difference between Chris Weitz ("New Moon" director) and David Slade ("Eclipse" director) is dramatic. Chris saw the first one and just thought that he wanted to follow along the road. David wanted to do it completely different from the first two. It all felt so fresh right from the first day. Edward's movement and such, from every single part of the performance, it just really shook it up a little bit.

Taylor Lautner: Well, Jacob gets a little more frustrated and a little heated in this one. It was very emotional for me. There are a lot of emotional scenes between Jacob and Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) and Jacob and Edward. He becomes very close to Bella, there's the much-talked-about kissing scene — but also all of the fighting scenes, so it was good ... it was much more dramatically challenging.

And what about that kissing scene with Kristen? I know that you're both very good friends. That has to be a little awkward.

TL: We are very close friends, but I wouldn't say it was awkward. After we finished a take of the kissing scene that was kind of steamy, there would be a moment of silence and then we'd look at each other and she'd go, "Ewww, we just kissed … weird." And then we had to do it again and again. After a while, it got kind of mechanical.

In the movie, your characters are both in love with Bella and in hot pursuit of her interests. She doesn't know which way to turn and even is at the core of the battle that breaks out in this film. In real life, could you be in a relationship that was so difficult to have?

RP: Oh, no way. I'm terrible at that. I can't even deal with people shouting at each other. The slightest bit of conflict and I'm gone immediately. It's one of the challenges of this movie for me. It's balancing the emotional aspects with the physical demands. Occasionally, there come moments where you have to portray a big story within a fight scene and it does become quite complicated.

Source Chicago Tribune