Being a working actor can be pretty fun! You get paid to play make-believe. Much of that time is spent waiting around (depending on the medium). Compared to… most jobs, being a working actor can be a piece of cake. Still, it has its downsides, even when you’re at the peak of success. The more successful you are, the harder it can be to lead a “normal” life. Then there are press junkets!
Having to answer questions about a movie or show you made doesn’t seem torturous on its face. People are often excited to chat about their work. There can be a sense of pride surrounding a new project. However, actors don’t love everything they make, nor should they. Sometimes, a job is a job. And, even if they’ve made something they like, answering the same questions about it over and over for days at a time can be crushing. Actors will sometimes combat this by making things fun for themselves and hoo boy, did Robert Pattinson take that aspect and run with it.
I was not a Twilight person. I watched The Batman once and have no desire to return to it. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t seen any of the numerous independent films Robert Pattinson has been in. But, I dig his vibe, man. His career has gone in interesting directions after being a worldwide heartthrob. Like Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe, Pattinson took his success and used that to fuel smaller projects. He also told Matt Lauer that he once saw a clown die at the circus.
I was not familiar with this in the slightest. However, the moment stuck in people’s brains because ole R Patts is still getting asked about it. “There was absolutely no hesitation at all [in my voice],” the actor said during a recent sit down with The New Yorker, highlighting my favorite aspect of the moment. Pattinson doesn’t flinch or anything. He lies so effortlessly that it would seem psychotic were he not sitting across from piece of s*** Matt Lauer.
Pattinson went on to explain that the mundanity of the interviews caused him to tell the shocking lie. “The only thing people would ever ask me about was being famous. You go into, like, a fugue state,” he noted. I don’t blame him. It isn’t as silly as Paul Rudd and Jason Segal getting completely stoned before an interview, but I’m down for actors making press junkets more fun for themselves.