How did fan idol Robert Pattinson prepare to leave his Twilight persona in the dust as Jacob the circus animal doctor in Water For Elephants? “As soon as you set foot on the desert where the set was, you were transported to the era of the 1930′s,” he says. “So it was very easy to lose yourself, it didn’t take so much preparation. I did watch a lot of Gary Cooper movies just to get the body language of that era, because he had a similar frame as mineI also watched a great documentary about the Depression called Brother Can You Spare Me a Dime?”
But what about the circus itself? “I really really like the fast food at circuses, I’m a big fan of hot dogs,” he jokes. “Seriously, I’ve only been to a circus once in my life: my sister told me the clown died when they did a stunt. I was only like 7 years old, so I freaked out when she said that. When she was 29 she told me that she made it up. But I was always knew that circus life is like a whole other world.”
Its great to see Pattinson laughing, making eye contact and much more relaxed than his brooding shyness in our earlier encounters. Is he more comfortable around women in general now? What changed him? Is it the female elephant or the female fans? He laughs. "Oh definitely the female elephant. The female elephant seems more logical. She likes peppermints and she’ll do some tricks for me for peppermints. The female fans? I don’t really know how they think at all!"
Water For Elephants is a huge departure for the young star, but he has other exciting non-vampire projects in the works as well. Besides the two Twilight Saga movies –Breaking Down Part 1 due to be released this year, Breaking Dawn - Part 2 in 2012, we’ll also have a chance to see Rob in Bel Ami later this year and David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis next year. What kind of role would you most like to see him play?
Cine Premiere | Via
