Robert Pattinson Talks About Preparing for The Batman by “Barely Doing Anything”
JB Augustine
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Twilight and Good Time’s Robert Pattinson’s admission of how he is prepping physically for The Batman amid quarantine in London might raise some eyebrows.
Interviewing with GQ, the actor revealed he’s stuck in an apartment provided to him by the production with his girlfriend, making interesting use of his time. He confessed to “just barely doing anything.”
His trainer gave him a weight and a Bosu ball he is not using. He ignores the trainer and “a sincere plea” to work out because, in his view, actors “working out all the time” are “part of the problem” Hollywood has with body image.
Said Pattinson:
“You set a precedent. No one was doing this in the ’70s. Even James Dean—he wasn’t exactly ripped…the one time they told me to take my shirt off [working on Twilight], I think they told me to put it back on again.”
He’s not wrong but his costar Zoe Kravitz is showing the opposite initiative by doing exactly what Pattinson is critiquing – “working out all the time.” She works out, as we learned, five times a week.
Pattinson learned that and this was his reaction: “Literally, I’m just barely doing anything.”
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Reclusive, Pattinson is, on the other hand, used to life on lockdown or dodging people, he says, unlike many others:
“I spend so much time by myself, ’cause you’re just kind of always forced to, that I can’t really remember what it was like not really having that kind of lifestyle. I just realize, everyone is so, so vulnerable to isolation. It’s quite shocking.”
He told director Claire Denis (High Life) via text he can stand confinement, GQ noted. Denis said:
“I asked him if it’s not too terrible to be in confinement. And he said, ‘Oh no, Claire. I can stand it.’ It’s so great to be able to say that.”
Pattinson goes running on occasion which he was spotted doing, so gets exercise in, but he worries about getting arrested:
“I went for a run around the park today. I’m so terrified of being, like, arrested. You’re allowed to run around here. But the terror I feel from it is quite extreme.”
At home, he’s on a meal plan assigned by the production with the food they give him. “I’m essentially on a meal plan for Batman,” said Pattinson. “Thank God. I don’t know what I’d be doing other than that.”
Pattinson laughingly admitted he is used to eating “like a wild animal…out of a trash can.” And he cops to eating stuff out of the can, like tuna with a dash of Tabasco:
“I’ll have oatmeal with, like, vanilla protein powder on it. And I will barely even mix it up. It’s extraordinarily easy. Like, I eat out of cans and stuff. I’ll literally put Tabasco inside a tuna can and just eat it out of the can.”
He also stooped to microwaving pasta which “really, really isn’t a thing.” He added, “It’s really actually quite revolting.” Pattinson tries to cook at the end of the article and it goes disastrously. Wearing gloves, he accidentally sets one on fire.
GQ pictured him in a “self-portrait” with a cereal box and a can of beans lying around to convey the mood of his lifestyle and quarters.
Related: Robert Pattinson Jokes He Will Do “Art-House Porn” if Batman Doesn’t Work Out
Midway through the interview, he chases Nicorette gum with Coca-Cola. “So disgusting,” he says, though doing it anyway.
Asked about playing an archetypal character in Batman, something he tends to avoid, that’s been done and redone, Pattinson revealed his research includes looking into Batman & Robin (1997). Back then, George Clooney was saying Batman was played out.
Pattinson said this:
“I was watching the making of Batman & Robin the other day. And even then, George Clooney was saying that he was worried about the fact that it’s sort of been done, that a lot of the ground you should cover with the character has been already covered. And that’s in ’96, ’97?”
He continued:
“And then there’s Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck’s one. And then I was thinking, it’s fun when more and more ground has been covered. Like, where is the gap? You’ve seen this sort of lighter version, you’ve seen a kind of jaded version, a kind of more animalistic version. And the puzzle of it becomes quite satisfying, to think: Where’s my opening? And also, do I have anything inside me which would work if I could do it? And then also, it’s a legacy part, right? I like that. There’s so few things in life where people passionately care about it before it’s even happened. You can almost feel that pushback of anticipation, and so it kind of energizes you a little bit. It’s different from when you’re doing a part and there’s a possibility that no one will even see it.”
Will Robert Pattinson find that gap? We shall see in October of 2021.