Robert Pattinson revealed in a recent interview with Total Film magazine that even his agent was shocked by the news that Pattinson would be taking over the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ comic book tentpole “The Batman.” Pattinson pursued the role despite his career staying away from major Hollywood franchises in the years after he wrapped up his role as Edward Cullen in “The Twilight Saga.”
“I was aiming for quite different stuff,” Pattinson said about pursuing the role. “Obviously it’s basically the jewel in the crown of the parts you can really get as an actor. But I’d never really thought I was anywhere close to doing it, and especially with the other parts I was attracted to at the time.”
“I just kept obsessively checking up on it for the next year or so,” Pattinson added. “Even my agents were like, ‘Oh, interesting. I thought you only wanted to play total freaks?’ And I was like, ‘He is a freak!’”
Pattinson’s casting proved divisive when it was first announced, but Reeves recently told Esquire magazine, “There has been no actor, when his announcement that he was going to be playing Batman in one of the feature films was announced, that has not received a backlash. The people who were excited, I knew it was because they knew Rob’s work post-‘Twilight.’ The people who weren’t excited, I knew it was because they didn’t know Rob’s work post-‘Twilight.’”
After “The Twilight Saga” finished, Pattinson dove head first into indie film with acclaimed collaborations with the likes of David Cronenberg and the Safdie Brothers. It was the latter filmmaking duo’s thriller “Good Time” that landed Pattinson on Reeves’ Batman radar. Pattinson stars in “Good Time” as a desperate criminal trying to free his brother from jail.
“In the process of writing the movie, I watched ‘Good Time,’ and I thought, ‘Okay, he’s got an inner kind of rage that connects with this character and a dangerousness, and I can feel this desperation.’ And I became dead-set on it being Rob,” Reeves told Esquire. “And I had no idea if Rob had any interest! Because, of course, he had done all of these indie movies after he established himself in ‘Twilight.’”
“The Batman” opens in theaters nationwide on March 4.