Robert Pattinson Once Called ‘Twilight’ the ‘Hardest Part’ He Had Ever Done

Before landing the lead role in The Batman last year, Robert Pattinson spent nearly a decade starring in small, independent films. Pattinson was looking for different projects and new, challenging characters after achieving global superstardom in The Twilight Saga. He found what he was looking for in movies like The Lighthouse, High Life, The Rover, and Good Time. Still, Pattinson once called his role in Twilight the “hardest part” he has ever done.

‘The Batman’ star hates to audition because he ‘literally can’t do it’

Pattinson had to audition for the role of Reynolds in The Rover, which is something he hated doing. He once told The Guardian that he suffers about 45 minutes of “neuroses” before an audition can actually begin.

“I just can’t … I literally can’t do it,” he explained. “It’s just me looking uncomfortable, trying to put on an American accent … or sitting in the corner, making myself throw up and punching myself in the face.”

Pattinson claims he is “quite good at doing meetings.” The actor says if he is just meeting someone about a job he’s “like a dog.” If his agent tells him that a lot of people want the role, then he will do “anything” to get it.

He’s willing to go through the audition process because he loves acting. Pattinson says that for whatever reason, he believes there’s something “profoundly satisfying” about watching something he’s done afterwards. He also loves doing a scene and feeling like he had an out-of-body experience for “a second.”

Robert Pattinson called playing Edward Cullen in ‘Twilight’ the ‘hardest part’ he’s ever done

Pattinson recalled a scene from The Rover where he had that experience. He said it wasn’t a big scene, and it actually happened in rehearsal. The 33-year-old explained that he and his scene partner had “just been going nuts.”

He said they were out in the desert and they had become “crazy homeless people.” He realized in the middle of it that they weren’t acting anymore. Pattinson wondered why it felt so good and admitted that it’s “so weird.”

Pattinson also admitted that his role in Twilight didn’t hold him back from those great acting experiences. Instead, he says the role was quite challenging.

“I think Twilight’s probably the hardest part I’ve done,” he said. “Because to do it for five movies, it’s really hard to think of stuff that’s maybe not boring. Especially if you don’t die. Because what’s the drama? You’re not scared of anything! And that’s the whole essence of drama: life and death.”

Robert Pattinson still gets nervous in ‘every single movie’

Because of his huge success from Twilight, Pattinson knows that many people have already judged him before they see his performance in a different film. However, he doesn’t necessarily see that as a negative.

“It’s kind of fun,” he said. “Because people have preconceived ideas about you, and sometimes it affords you the opportunity to shock people more.”

He would also like to “shock” people by performing in a small play, but he says he could never handle Broadway. Pattinson also admits that he still gets nervous in “every single movie.” He joked with The Guardian, insisting that he doesn’t know how to act.

Pattinson described himself as a “catastrophist.” He says he’s always thinking that the worse-case scenario is going to happen. So when it does happen, he’s prepared.

He also claimed that his choice of smaller, independent films in recent years wasn’t the result of a long-term plan. Pattinson says that no one offered him big roles for years, but that changed when he snagged the role of Bruce Wayne.

The Batman is scheduled to hit theaters in 2022.