Warner Bros. and © DC Comics(LONDON) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) After spawning countless tween crushes thanks to his role as sparkly vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight trilogy, Robert Pattinson deliberately diverted from big-budget projects, honing his craft with acclaimed turns in far less hyped dramas like The Rover and The Lost City of Z.
Now 33, the actor says he’s ready for what was apparently a childhood dream of his: playing Batman. “I think I probably would have been a little bit nervous to have gone straight into it immediately [after Twilight],” he admits to Variety.
As for the Caped Crusader, he admitted, “When I was a kid, it was the only outfit that I had.”
He won’t admit where and when he wore it, however. “If I actually said it in an interview, I would definitely have a lot of abuse afterwards. If I successfully play the character, I can say it at the end.”
However, Pattinson says he was convinced he’d never wear the cape and cowl on film. He explained to the trade that when news broke he’d gotten the Batman role he was on a flight to the Cannes Film Festival — and he hadn’t even auditioned for Warner Bros. “When that thing leaked, I was f***ing furious,” he tells Variety. “…Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.”
He recalls googling himself “for hours,” fearing the news would scare the studio away from him.
And as for the online reaction to his eventual casting? “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he says. To any naysayers, he added, “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog.”
Pattinson will be seen next in theaters in The Lighthouse on Oct. 18; The Batman hits theaters in June of 2021.
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