We thought you where done filming Cosmopolis?
Yes, but I’m keeping the hair (laughs).
Why are you wearing your hair like that in the movie?
I can’t explain it. It’s such a strange story. Luckily people will find it interesting.
You filmed the last two movies a the same time like Harry Potter did, and they’re also being split into two, what did you think about filming the movie and closing such an important chapter in your life?
I don’t know because I’ve never stopped making other films besides Twilight. I want to keep the mentality of being busy all the time. It’s not the only thing I’ve done this whole time, and now it’s over. These movies have been mostly just work for me. Having a different director in each film has helped, because I’ve had to adapt to a different way of working.
Has it been easier to play Edward as time passed by?
In a way it’s been harder because of the nature of the character, who is a vampire. That limits what you can do. You can’t sleep, you can’t eat, everyday is long. You live 100 years and you can’t relate to people, you can’t have an impulse or desire. The danger is to keep repeating yourself after awhile after playing the same character for 5 movies. You have to come up with new things to add. The great thing is that Bill Condon, everytime I was doing a scene and he felt like I was doing the same thing again, he would suggest me to change it and try something else. It wasn’t scary even if we had to do something that was not in the book.
Everybody is talking about the sex scenes…
The book is a great example on how to keep something censored, and at the same time erotic. It plays with people’s imagination. The sex scene is completely on the fans’ minds.But in a way it’s hard because when you do the scene, you need to show things, and not fade to black, or people would go nuts. It’s weird filming something people have been expecting for such a long time, knowing the expectations. I hope we do justice to it.
Your character and Kristen’s shared so many romantic times during the filming, especially the last day of filming.
The last day of filming in Saint Thomas was great. It was just Kristen and I. The only time we were able to film with a nice weather. It was literally the last day of filming, and we were filming a scene in which we’re kissing in the ocean, all night. So it wasn’t a bad way to say goodbye. Then everybody stayed to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful.
Can you share something about Kristen?
The only thing she likes to watch on TV is the cooking channel, especially when she’s on set. She has her TV on all the time in her make up trailer. That’s her only diva behavior (laughs); the cooking channel must always be on, any time, everywhere.
Do you have a favorite scene in this movie?
The birth scene is so different from the entire saga. It’s so harcore and gory, at least when we were filming it. There’s not way to tame it in the book. That was brave.
As far as I know, you had a nice time filming the scenes with Mackenzie…
For a long portion of the filming we had an animatronic baby. It was for the scene where Bella sees her for the first time. It was like Chucky (laughs) Chucky Renesmee (laughs louder).
But you also filmed with real babies right?
Yes, and I liked it. I like babies and filming with them. It’s especially funny because you’re trying a person that is like a statue the entire time. But when there’s a baby, nobody can be that tough, you can’t hold back your emotions and that’s what Edward is doing the whole time. Having a baby makes you more human. When you’re working with little kidsm they do whatever they want, so you have to improvise, which is cool.
You said you were nervous of taking off your shirt this time.
When I did New Moon, someone in the studio said I needed a six pack and I had to work out. I had to look like a vampire, it was part of the character. As soon as they told me I neded a six pack, I stopped working out and I never did it again for the rest of the series. They realized they shouldn’t have told me anything. In this last movie I spent six weeks in Baton Rouge with nothing to do, so I started running. And then I started going to the gym and I became obsessed. I ran 14-16 km everyday. I even rode a bike. Until I got bored. Plus, when you’re filming, if you want to go to the gym you need to do it at 4 am. That’s just not worth it (he laughs in a very infectious way).
You say it’s not worth it, but we’re used to young celebrities doing sacrifices to succeed. Taylor Lautner had to do it to keep the role of Jacob. How do you protect against all of that?
Being an actor and being a movie star are two different things. If you’re on the same road as me, and get the lead, you need to have some personality, or at least fake that you have one. And that’s a complicated thing to do.. Before Twiligt, when nobody saw my movies (except Potter), I actually felt I was an actor, playing different roles without having to think of them directly affecting my entire career. People just see your character as it is. But now I get the feeling that people think they know things about me, they think the know me. And I’m being judged under those terms. As an actor, the best thing you can do is have nobody know a thing about your personal life. But that’s almost impossible because there’s an entire inductry devoted to finding out things about you, And if they can’t find anything about you, they make it up.
With this fame you have and your relationship with Twilight, do you think it will be harder to get the type of work that you really like the most?
Of course. Before Twilight I did castings for so many things, and I was always left on the top 3. They gave the role to someone who was already more famous than me, and I kept thinking how unfair it was, so I thought the only way was to become more famous. But when you’re super famous, you get offered tons of bad stuff, in movies where they’re not even concerned with the cast. And if you haven’t done much work, directors look at you like an unknown and there’s not stigma attached to your name. It’s harder to get some roles sometimes. It’s weird.
So you’ve had doors closing to you…
If you’re a complete unknown, you have more chances. After Twilight, things are very different, depending where the money comes from. If there’s not a star attached, there’s no way that you can sel a movie, so that forces you to make a good movie. But if you don’t, it’s like “Since he’s involved, we need to get teens interested,” so they change the story, and you end up having that pressure. A good director will prefer not to deal with that stuff. But it’s true that if you find the eprfect role, everything will fall into place. But there’s less options. Now that I have a very specific image, it’s hard to find roles that fit into it.
That didn’t stop you from getting Cosmopolis.
It was amazing. I let my spiral of paranoia go out of control and I thought all the good directors would want nothing to do with me now. And then Cronenberg makes this offer directly to me. I had neve even met him before.. I had a grat time during filming, and I kept saying “Am I good enough? I don’t know what I’m doing,” and he said “why do you think like that? You are an actor,” and the only reason that happened to me it’s because I became this sort of celebrity, and I’m worried that people won’t take me seriously.
What did Cronenberg see in you that he chose to cast you?
Nothing. Just interviews. And he saw Remember Me. But this character looks like nothing I’ve ever done before.. When I first read the script, I thought I couldn’t play the character. I loved the script, but I was afraid. I said I called him in a week to find out if I wanted the part or not. I spent an entire week thinking how to say no. The only thing I thought was “Look, I can’t do this because I’m a coward and I don’t know how to play it (laughs really loudly). So I said yes, and told him I didn’t know what the story was about. He said he didn’t know either. So we started collaborating from that point on. I had never worked with a filmmaker that had so much confidence in himself. He just said everyday “let’s see what happens,” there were no rehearsals, nothing. It was insane.
Rob never let serious subjects like his insecurities affect his sense of humor and his desire to have fun in every circumstance. He talks openly about everything. We have now the image of an actor who, answer after answer, shows himself rebellious, unconformed and against the ideas Hollywood tries to impose on him. We shake his hand and he says goodbye. Outside, we find the best surprise ever: his dog, Bear, a half-breed he adopted in Baton Rouge. It looks like Bear takes after his master: simple, sweet. It’s the only thing that explains the reason why he jumped at us and licked out feet.
