Robert Pattinson joins our Zoom from a hotel in Boston, where he’ll be spending the next few weeks shooting a movie with Zendaya, officially making this the coolest, sexiest moment in the nearly 400-year history of Boston. It’s the start of a busy stretch for the new-ish father, who has a 23-month-old daughter with his partner, Suki Waterhouse. This month he’s headlining a new fragrance campaign for Dior Homme, and he’ll be back in movie theaters this spring in Mickey 17, the long-awaited sci-fi black comedy from Parasite director Bong Joon Ho. Below, Pattinson takes our ELLE Man questionnaire.
Your Work With Dior Homme Made Me Wonder How Acute Your Sense Of Smell Is
I can weirdly turn on and off my sense of smell. I think I have a scent dyslexia, where I think something smells like something that no one else thinks it does.
Do You Have Any Vivid Memories Attached To A Particular Scent?
Since I had a kid, I’ve definitely become more attuned to that. I remember my mom always saying, “Oh, the smell of babies!” And I’d be like, I don’t know, they all smell like genetically modified piglets. But then you have your own kid, and it’s, “Oh, this is the best smell I’ve ever smelled.” Another one that comes to mind was the smell of the mask in The Batman. Once you put the cowl on, you have to get someone else to take it off, so there’s something about being locked into it. You’re like, “Okay, I’m gonna be dealing with this smell for the next 12 hours.” It’s funny—when I did the audition, I tried on all the different [cowls] and I wore Val Kilmer’s, and it still held a human scent.
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It Still Smelled Like Val Kilmer?
Yeah, Val Kilmer. And a bit of what Clooney’s head smelled like 20 years ago.
Does Your Baby Have A Particularly Identifiable Scent To You?
I mean, like, if there was a pen of babies, I think I could probably snuffle her out. [Laughs.] Yeah. She’s got quite a unique scent.
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Speaking Of Smells: Bong Joon Ho, Your Director On Mickey 17, Says The Movie Is About “How Pathetic Humans Can Be. It’s Almost Like You Can Smell Every Human Character In The Film. Their Piss Stains And Their Smelly Socks.”
Wow! He told me before we started shooting: “It’s not science sci-fi—it’s sniff-your-armpit sci-fi.” When you compare Bong’s Average Joe to a Hollywood Average Joe—the Hollywood Average Joe invariably realizes that they’re actually special. Bong’s Average Joes remain average, and maybe even get a little bit lower than Average Joe by the end of it. With Mickey—it’s like when Arthur pulls the sword out of the stone and everyone’s like, “Oh my God, you’re the chosen one.” And he’s like, “Fuck, no, no,” and then eventually puts the sword back in. Like, he’s so much happier once he’s put the sword back in stone.
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Is It True That You Originally Based Mickey’s Voice On Steve-O from Jackass But Bong Thought It Sounded Too Weird?
I used to love, and I still do love, Jackass. I remember listening to an interview with Steve-O years ago and he was talking about how much they got paid for these dangerous stunts on the first season, and he said a hundred bucks. Like, you can die from doing this, and he was like, “Nah, I’ll just do it for a hundred. It’s fine.” And there was something about that—actually being really brave and not ever acknowledging that it’s bravery. I thought there was an element of that to Mickey. So I spent a long time kind of figuring out an impression of Steve-O’s voice. And the first time I did it, Bong was just like, “Whoa—what’s that voice you’re doing?”
How Do You Take That As An Actor? How Do You Know When To Really Dig In And Say, “No—It Must Be Steve-O” Versus When To Be Like, “No Problem, It Was Just An Idea”?
I mean, it was definitely a big swing [laughs]. And when you haven’t prepared someone, at all—it was at a script read through, and there’s like 40 people around the table, and every single person looks up, and they’re like, “Oh! Oh, you’re doing a thing?” I realized quite quickly that maybe this was too large a swing. But if they ever make the Steve-O biopic, I’m ready.
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Did You Practice Your Voice Around The House?
I was walking around doing it all the time. One of my favorite things in the world is to walk around in public pretending to be on the phone and doing someone else’s voice. That’s like my hobby.
Your Partner, Suki Waterhouse, Pulled A Prank On You, With ELLE’s Help, In Which She Pretended She’d Been Asked To Host Love Is Blind, With You As Co-Host. I Loved How Gracefully You Handled What You Clearly Thought Was A Terrible Idea.
It did worry me how good she was at doing it. Especially when I saw the video. I’m like, “Wow, you can lie to me so easily! And you can really, really keep a very straight face.” There’s no way I would never have been able to do that—she would’ve called me out in two seconds if I was doing it to her. And for some reason I was very convinced that she thought it was a good idea. But, I mean…maybe it is a good idea! I honestly don’t know! I always think that when someone comes to you with enthusiasm about something, never break their dream.
What’s Something About Women That You’ve Had To Learn The Hard Way?
Don’t try to win an argument. It is not going to happen. If someone says, “We need to sit down and talk about this,” they’re not asking for you to talk. You just have to sit there and listen.
Men Don’t Necessarily Have The Best Reputation When It Comes To Breakups. Looking Back On Your Romantic History, How Would You Rate Yourself?
Obviously I rate myself 10 out of 10 for sensitivity. [Laughs.] I’m an angel, completely. And I always somehow end up on the moral high ground.
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Read the original article in ELLE USA.