This interview had been translated before for a Mexican magazine (Twist) but here it is below in case you missed it.
After seeing this movie I just have to ask: how do you want to be remembered? I don’t want to be remembered in any particular way. For many reasons, I prefer to go unnoticed and that my death is something completely clean so nobody has to feel bad about it.
You’ve said that Remember Me is the most personal project you’ve ever done. Yes, because I’ve become involved in every aspect of the movie. I thought I could play this character as close as possible to me, but as soon as I got into the role I realized that we’re very different.
Do you regret getting so immersed in the role? In a way I do, yes. Because I had an idea in mind of how I wanted to play him before making the movie, and in the end I played a completely different character. I always forget that scripts change once you start shooting. I’ve tried to give the best of me and the final result is not what I expected. Still it’s been a great experience for me because I’ve learned so much.
Your character is rebellious, do you relate to him? Yes, but what happens is that the character reminds me more of my sister and her friends. They were my inspiration when it came to playing the character.
Have you had a personal crisis now that you’re in your twenties? Of course! We’ve all lived our adolescence like it was some sort of period of freedom and we don’t accept the world like it is, but when you reach 20 or 21 years old you realize that you have adapt yourself and accept reality. There’s no teenager that doesn’t have an identity crisis. When I was 22 I got that crisis when I thought I wasn’t young anymore, and I obsessed with thinking that I was a fake for playing characters that have nothing in common with me. Luckily I’m over that phase.
How do you live knowing that everybody wants a piece of you? The most important thing is to take control of your life, trying to control it as much as you can. On one hand, you have fans chasing you, photographers, and that can make you feel anxious, but at the same time you have the luck of being offered amazing projects like Remember Me which was the project that I wanted for so long and not many actors had access to it. But I have to confess, so much attention makes you paranoid.
Are you afraid of being who you are? Of course! Now I’m so aware of every step I take, I have less freedom too, I can’t afford to make a mistake, but I’m also afraid of being successful. I end up losing either way.
Many people say that your career is taking off exactly like Leonardo Di Caprio’s career after Titanic, what do you think about that? It’s weird because I’m starting to work in many independent movies and DiCpario was nominated for an Oscar when he was like 11. The situation is different. He always knew he wanted to be an actor, and I just had the opportunity come to me by chance. The downside is that with so much attention around me I feel like I don’t have the opportunity to learn like he learned when he was a kid in Hollywood, and I have to guide myself with my better judgment and my team’s.
The pressure of being Robert Pattinson must be very strong, being an actor expected to make millions and millions of dollars now. You’re almost a brand now. I can’t deny that that’s the true monster and it doesn’t work in my favor, it works against me. I mean, the more people think they know me, the more I want to hide and identify myself with other things. People ask me a lot if I’m afraid of being type cast, but what really scares me is making a bunch of money with just one character, because it will limit my career. In Hollywood is all about the box office results. As soon as you make a movie that bombs, a lot of people are going to label you and say you’re done. And I don’t think that’s fair, because not everything you make is going to turn into gold, and I definitely want to choose movies with different colors.
What kind of movies do you want to make?I would make only small movies, however that can lead to me being unemployed in ten years. So I have to think carefully about every step I take. I know I can’t completely turn my back to blockbuster movies.
Is there an actor that you look up to?Joaquin Phoenix, and Ryan Gosling has done great movies. But Joaquin is my hero because all his cards are wild, and he doesn’t care what people think about him or the industry.
Now tell me the truth… are you single?And with that we’re done (laughs), am I single?
Source for scans and translation