Rob’s Interview with Cine Premiere

CinePremiere How did fan idol Robert Pattinson prepare to leave his Twilight persona in the dust as Jacob the circus animal doctor in Water For Elephants? "As soon as you walked out into the desert where the set was, you were in the 1930’s," he says. "So it was very easy to lose yourself, it didn’t take so much preparation. I did look at a lot of Gary Cooper movies just for the movement from that era, because he had a similar frame to me, and I watched an incredible documentary about the Depression called Brother Can You Spare Me a Dime?"

But what about the circus itself? "I really really like the fast food at circuses, I’m a big fan of hot dogs," he jokes. "No I’ve only been to a circus once in my life and my sister told me the clown died when they did a stunt. I was only like 7 years old, so I freaked out when she said that. And then when I was about 9 she told me that she made it up. Seriously. But I was always aware that carney culture was like a world unto itself."

Its great to see Pattinson laughing, making eye contact and much more relaxed than his brooding shyness in our earlier encounters. Is he more comfortable around women in general now? What changed him? Is it the female elephant or the female fans? He laughs. "Oh definitely the female elephant. The female elephant seems more logical. She likes peppermints and she’ll do some tricks for me for peppermints. The female fans? I don’t really know how they think at all!"

CinemaPremiere | Robstenation