Much has been written about the surprising career arc of one Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson, the handsome English lad-turned-teen “Twilight” heartthrob-turned-art house (and A-list) actor. With “The Lighthouse”—director Robert Eggers’ black-and-white follow-up to “The Witch”—Pattinson is pushing further left of center than ever before as a deranged 19th-century lighthouse keeper. Before his next career 180—reentering the world of blockbuster franchise films as the Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves’ upcoming “The Batman”—Pattinson took a quick, rapid-fire trip down memory lane with Backstage.
What performance should every actor see and why?
[Marlon Brando in] “On the Waterfront,” probably. You can watch it a billion times and it’s still quite shockingly good. It just has infinite value.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
I slept on the street once and ate a box of cigarettes. I came in with all the tobacco in my mouth, and then I kicked over the casting director’s camera. I didn’t get the job.
What is your worst audition horror story?
The only thing you had to do in the audition was be in your underpants and pretend to carry imaginary rocks from one side of the room to the other.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I don’t know, actually. I’d probably get my younger self to give me some advice now.
How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA and Equity cards?
[I got my] Equity from doing “Vanity Fair” with Reese Witherspoon, and SAG, I guess, was “Twilight.”
What performance should every actor see and why?
[Marlon Brando in] “On the Waterfront,” probably. You can watch it a billion times and it’s still quite shockingly good. It just has infinite value.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
I slept on the street once and ate a box of cigarettes. I came in with all the tobacco in my mouth, and then I kicked over the casting director’s camera. I didn’t get the job.
What is your worst audition horror story?
The only thing you had to do in the audition was be in your underpants and pretend to carry imaginary rocks from one side of the room to the other.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I don’t know, actually. I’d probably get my younger self to give me some advice now.
How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA and Equity cards?
[I got my] Equity from doing “Vanity Fair” with Reese Witherspoon, and SAG, I guess, was “Twilight.”
[Considering] the same old you
Head on fast, but it came on easy
Now I won't be gone for long, at least I'm going [home]
[I'm here for you], now you know what you lost
Now you are the thieves that you pardoned
Search for need, it'll never come
Now you have fallen
There's more for their own now
Sometimes I need a focus, I need a reason
So, so long
Stray dog
You're only
Joker no, joker no more
Oh to each their own
When you can call on your mind
It's a crime to hold back the tears sometime
And, wasted wasted, all before
You forget what you came here for
And, you need to see the signs
And, you need to stop wasting time
And, start to save that stolen
Story that you heard before.
And I waited for you, but you're long gone
Stray dog
You're only, only a stray,
Joker no, joker no more
Yeah, stray dog
Head on fast, but it came on easy
Now I won't be gone for long, at least I'm going [home]
[I'm here for you], now you know what you lost
Now you are the thieves that you pardoned
Search for need, it'll never come
Now you have fallen
There's more for their own now
Sometimes I need a focus, I need a reason
So, so long
Stray dog
You're only
Joker no, joker no more
Oh to each their own
When you can call on your mind
It's a crime to hold back the tears sometime
And, wasted wasted, all before
You forget what you came here for
And, you need to see the signs
And, you need to stop wasting time
And, start to save that stolen
Story that you heard before.
And I waited for you, but you're long gone
Stray dog
You're only, only a stray,
Joker no, joker no more
Yeah, stray dog
I should never think
What's in your heart
What's in our home
So I won't
You'll learn to hate me
But still call me baby
Oh love
So call me by my name
And save your soul
Save your soul
Before you're to far gone
Before nothing can be done
I'll try to decide when
She'll lie in the end
I ain't got no fight in me
In this whole damn world
So hold off
She should hold off
It's the one thing that I've known
Once I put my coat on
I'm coming out in this all wrong
She's standing outside holding me
Saying "Oh please,
I'm in love,
I'm in love!"
Girl save your soul
Go on save your soul
Before it's to far gone
And before nothing can be done
Cause without me
You got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on.
What's in your heart
What's in our home
So I won't
You'll learn to hate me
But still call me baby
Oh love
So call me by my name
And save your soul
Save your soul
Before you're to far gone
Before nothing can be done
I'll try to decide when
She'll lie in the end
I ain't got no fight in me
In this whole damn world
So hold off
She should hold off
It's the one thing that I've known
Once I put my coat on
I'm coming out in this all wrong
She's standing outside holding me
Saying "Oh please,
I'm in love,
I'm in love!"
Girl save your soul
Go on save your soul
Before it's to far gone
And before nothing can be done
Cause without me
You got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on
Without me you got it all
So hold on.