Robert Pattinson‘s entire post-Twilight career has been one long attempt to shed his heartthrob image and drive a stake through the heart of sparkly vampire Edward Cullen, and his newest film continues that theme.
In the indie heist thriller Good Time, which debuted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in contention for the Palme d’Or, the British actor plays a bank robber trying to bust his brother out of jail.
In a recent interview with News Corp, Pattinson explained how he went method for the film, transforming himself into a dirty, scruffy vagabond so he could truly inhabit the character of a man on the run.
Of course, living rough is a relative concept when you starred in one of the biggest franchises of all time, so Pattinson’s version of rock bottom sounds rather like you living your best life.
“I literally lived in the same basement apartment [as the character] in Harlem,” he said. “I never opened my curtains, didn’t change the sheets the entire time I was there, for those two months, and I would just sleep in my clothes.”
“There was this woman who lived upstairs and she kept trying to see what was going on because she thought I was such a weirdo,” he continued. “I kept really weird hours and I would run in and quickly close the curtains.”
“I was like this freak living in the bottom of the basement. I was by myself the whole time.”
Yes, two months is a crazy long time to go without changing your sheets … it’s … practically barbaric, right? Not to mention the sheer existential horror of having neighbours who live so close you sometimes have to see and interact with them.
As for his diet, Pattinson said: “I only ate cans of tuna the whole time. I probably have mercury poisoning now because I ate it just out of the can. That’s all that was there: tuna, hot sauce, and Nespresso capsules.”
What’s that, you say? Fancy single-serving coffee pods that you use once and then chuck away? Old mate might as well have been drinking International Roast through an old sock.
Of his drastic transformation from glamorous film star to unwashed garbage person, Pattinson said:
“In Twilight they were like, ‘You are so beautiful.’ Literally, the amount of times that I’ve been walking down the street, looking disgusting, and then someone who is a Twilight fan would say, ‘You’re so beautiful!’ And [I wanted to say], ‘You are literally, actually not seeing reality.’ And there are other people who got furious over it, saying, ‘What are you talking about? He’s ugly!’ … So stupid! I can’t believe I just talked about that.”
So true, so moving, I think I’mma put that on Instagram when I’m done here:
So there you have it: celebrities are really just like us, although also, in a very real and tangible sense, they are extremely far removed from us.
Source: News Corp.
Photo: Pierre Suu / Getty.
