Robert Pattinson may have been cast in Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” for the “crazy thing in his eyes,” according to director Bong, but it was Pattinson’s voice that soon went viral after the first trailer dropped.
Pattinson is now detailing the unexpected inspiration behind his unique vocal tone — and explaining why Bong shut down his original idea.
“My initial idea was to do impressions of Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville [from ‘Jackass‘],” Pattinson told Empire . “I love Steve-O’s voice. We did it on the first read-through. And Bong was like, ‘That voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard.’ I was like, ‘Is that a good thing?’ He was like, ‘No.’”
Instead, Pattinson turned to animated series “Ren & Stimpy” for his voice as the titular Expendable Mickey 17 (there are, as his name suggests, 17 other identical Mickeys who have died previously; an 18th is also played by Pattinson in the film.) The Nickelodeon show “Ren & Stimpy” aired for five seasons starting in 1991. The series followed the misadventures of a psychotic chihuahua dog named Ren and dimwitted cat Stimpy.
“It’s a little like Stimpy,” Pattinson said of how Mickey’s voice differs between the various Expendable iterations. “When 18 comes in, it’s a little bit more like Ren.”
And the animal parallel extended to how Pattinson also approached the roles of Mickey.
“I just had this idea that he’s kind of like a dog with a complete lack of self-worth,” Pattinson said. “He just keeps turning up, reporting for duty. But then I hope the reveal is that it’s a combination of deep, misguided guilt, and also survival. It’s him just saying, ‘I’ll just keep lowering my expectations the whole time.’”
“Mickey 17” is Bong’s long-awaited follow-up to his Best Picture-winning “Parasite.” The film is adapted from Edward Ashton’s novel “Mickey 7,” with the project being first announced in January 2022. The film was originally set for a March 29, 2024 release before being pushed to January 31, 2025.
“Mickey 17” centers on Pattinson’s title character Mickey, who is a disposable employee called an Expendable. Mickey is sent on a human expedition sent to colonize ice world Niflheim; any mission that is considered too dangerous for humans is a task for Mickey.