Robert Pattinson on stealing socks from The Batman set

Fear is a tool, but when that light hits the sky, it's not just a call, it's a warning. Wasn't there a leak that you'd got the gig before you thought you could tell other people you'd got the gig? I hadn't got it and it kind of came out, I kind of thought I had it. I thought it was sort of in the bag and then everything changed very quickly after that and I suddenly thought, because it wasn't me that leaked it, so I literally didn't tell anybody. Christopher Nolan was calling up everyone. Yeah, exactly. Scoop. But yeah, it was very, there was a hairy couple of days before my, I hadn't even done the screen test and I did the screen test under extreme duress. Super pressure screen test. If the rumours say you have it and then you... And then you're terrible, that's, yeah, that's awful. Yes, not so good. How are you supposed to be? Vengeance. When you knew it was yours, how did you celebrate and how long was the panic? I mean, I got it, it was my first week on Chris Nolan's Tenet. Whoa. I just had a premiere in Cairn that weekend, which I was also terrified about. I mean, I found out like all in the course of like four days and I thought I'd kind of lost the part before I'd even got it and blah, blah, blah. And it was definitely, it was a slightly overwhelming moment and then, yeah, it was a bit unbelievable. I mean, it kind of, it felt extremely surreal. Who are you under there? What are you hiding? Who was the first person you told? I think I called up my parents. That was, yeah. Mum, dad, I'm Batman. Yeah, because normally like the parts where you kind of call up, even if you really care about them, it's very, very difficult to get other people excited. It's one of the only parts where you're like, guess who I am? Guess, I'll give you one guess. You tell the story about how you were in the Val Kilmer bat suit, which is fascinating. Can I persuade you to take a sandwich with you, sir? I'll get drive-through. And your actual bat suit is much more articulate. You're pretty good at that. You can move much more freely. How many of the somersaults in the movie are your own? The somersaults? So I'm confused. But I thought a somersault was when you go sideways with your hands. Do you mean jazz hands? Oh, it is a cartwheel. Now I think about it. That is not a somersault. But you're doing a roly-poly as Batman. I'm doing roly-polies. Watch out, Batman's about to do a forward roll. It's funny as well, because I also... I used to find roly-polies very difficult. And on Tenet, I didn't. She went on a crash course how to do roly-polies really well. And when I pretended to the Batman stunt team that I didn't know how to do them, even though I'd spent about two months learning how to do very action-packed roly-polies. And so I did my first one. I was like, what? That's the first roly-poly I'd ever done. Didn't even know what it was called. And they were very impressed. And so I actually did a significant amount. That was my main stunt. There's a roly-poly situation. We need to bring pants in it. Step back, everybody. He's got this. He's going to do a pants and poly. And you've also got the bat flap, I'm calling it. I gather when Ben Affleck was walking around a costume store once, Christian Bale happened to be in there. And the first thing Christian Bale said was, make sure you have somewhere to take a leak. Wait, that happened to him too? In that suit. He was very generous and kind. He's a wonderful guy. And he said, you know, make sure they put a zipper in that suit. I did three movies with no zipper in my outfit. So he gave me some very practical advice. That's crazy. And didn't that happen to you out of your rhino? He just likes Christian. Just like saying that to people. You gotta... Seriously. Make sure you... Christian obviously had a lot of access. Yeah. He's very concerned about it. A lot of the intensity and the gruffness is actually him just really bursting. That's it. I'm done eating now, man. He needs this. You're gonna love me. The number one priority. Trust me. What have been your favorite Batman moments in the other Batman films? What are the standout iconic moments for you? Oof. Maybe Let's Get Nuts. And he had a... Now you wanna get nuts? Come on. Let's get nuts. Yeah, I loved the bit in Batman Returns when Michelle Pfeiffer whips the heads off the mannequins. That's kind of awesome. I mean, just so much from the Nolan movies. I mean, I was kind of obsessed with those growing up. A little fight in you. I like that. Then you're gonna love me. And I love Danny DeVito as well. Batman Returns is like... I just think it's... I love Batman Returns. It's a masterpiece. What do you want? Ah. The direct approach. I admire that in a man with a mask. We've got this amazing car behind you. We need to get you a duck car as well. Batman Returns is terrifying. You didn't invite me, so I crashed! And so it's amazing what you could kind of... It's like with this, it's kind of... You know, you try and think, is this gonna scare away the children? And Batman Returns, I remember watching as a little kid. Even watching it now, it's one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. It's freaky, for sure. It's like a little risqué as well. Yeah. A lot of stuff that I only got as an adult later. Yeah. Ben, think of you. Oswald Cobblepot, willing to fill her void. You've talked before about mask acting in Tenet. Driving basically blind backwards, trying not to knock people over. Wait! I mean, literally when you're completely blind, like 100 degrees, there's so much sweat in your eyes and you can't see out of the windscreen and stuff, everything's blowing up around you. I mean, it was one of the more terrifying things I've ever done in my entire life. What's the trick to acting when your face is being pulled back? It's all your jaw. Like, how do you do it? Oh, and there's no eyebrows. Yeah, the eyebrows are a problem. You kind of, yeah, you always think that acting is your eyes, but it's actually your eyebrows and you find out really quickly when you eliminate your eyebrows. It's a strange calibration and it's also such a strange character because you're so still and so controlled and you've got to have so much going on in your head and you're just hoping something will come across. Who's the mustache? And super long dialogue scenes, as Batman. That's Kinsey. Narcotics. He's the one with the iceberg lounge. What are you saying, Kinsey Moon Knight for the Penguin? You're like in the movie, not as Bruce Wayne for most of the film. All right, Moon Knight's just a cop. 155-day shoot. Was it like 14 hours a day and then you had to work out before and afterwards? Yeah. Is this the toughest gig you've ever had? Oh, like by miles. The suit is so well designed and you feel really good in it the first couple of days and then just anything when you're being restricted, I mean, anyone who's been in like a neck brace kind of can kind of relate. If you kind of put 60 pounds on a neck brace your entire center of gravity is basically in your clavicle. Now act. Yeah, and it's kind of after a while your body just starts rejecting it. But it was fun though. I mean, it's very few parts where you're like, I can feel the importance and every day right up until the last day, you're like, you can't. It's never a day when you're like, oh, I'm just going to phone it in today. Yeah, exactly. You know, you know. This is an easy one. Yeah, it's always, you know people are going to be on you. What would you say defines your interpretation of the Batman? Because to me, he's that kind of reclusive rocker. You know, we see Nirvana, hear Nirvana in the film, but he's not okay, hun. Like he's not a happy guy. No. I mean, I just think the traditional telling of the Batman story, it's always been, he's got really, really control, like a lot of control over his personas. And there's his playboy persona and then there's Batman and then there's Bruce at home. And I just thought that in the script was the first thing I noticed because he's not a playboy at all. And so it kind of opens up a million different opportunities where he hasn't, he doesn't really know who he is as Batman or as Bruce. And there's this kind of crossover between the whole thing. If this continues, it won't be long before you've nothing left. I don't care what happens to me. The defining factor of Batman a lot of the times is his control over himself and he's mastered himself. And in this, he hasn't mastered it at all, but he thinks he has in a lot of ways. I've been trying to reach you. And so he keeps going into these incredibly dangerous situations and he doesn't really know what he's doing. It doesn't go perfectly. This is going to be the big scoop that will win me awards, but how comfortable are you with the phrase slash word, Arbats? I know, I literally get away from one of them and then it's because immediately another one is born. I mean, look, it's better than Patman. It is. That's what I was called in school. It's literally cow pat. Well, take a look at me now because I'm the Batman. It's just kind of popular name as well. It's literally like, you know, not everyone is called Patterson. It's called something always associated with poo. Look, my surname is Plum. Rhyming is fun. So thanks, childhood friends. I know you don't have the suit at home. You wouldn't be allowed to have it at home and you wouldn't be able to do those kids' birthday parties everybody wants you to. But what Batman bat paraphernalia have you managed to get home? This is like, it's impossible to take anything home from it. I think the only thing I really got was, I did get a lot of socks. All of my socks are all from Batman. These are bat socks. Oh, nice. No, they're not. They're actually penguins, which isn't an intentional joke. My eyesight is so bad. Oh, yeah. Same thing. But you genuinely have bat socks at home? Yeah, there was always, and I kept getting told, and one brother's like, you know, it's fine to have a few, but you take them every day. Like, how many socks do you need? We've been shooting for a year. You have two feet. Come on. What do fans typically say to you when they see you on the streets? Because are you aware after this movie, a lot of it's going to be, I am vengeance. I am, oh, I thought you said, I am legend. Wait, what? You were in the Will Smith one, you were the dog. Yeah, I'm so curious what's going to happen after it. Because, I mean, up until now, when I was shooting it in London, people were all very nice and sort of super excited and enthusiastic about it. And it's kind of, it's funny, it's like with the Batmobile, it's a totally different fan reaction because everybody wants to just know what it's like, because it's kind of, they want to experience it themselves. And it's kind of lovely. Everybody wants to know how the Batmobile drives and everybody wants to know what it feels like in the suit and stuff. From little kids to kind of old people. Yeah, I've never done a movie like that before. And actually, whilst I remember, I should bring up the fact that you are in the suit, you are being shot at at one point, you're in a corridor, right? What's happening when you're being shot a bit? It's like little squibs and things. That shot took such an enormous amount of time to shoot. There wasn't any lighting set up. And so you'd come in and no one really thought, so you kind of have, everyone's using their phones to see anything. And you can't see anything in the best of times when you're in the Bat suit. I mean, to try and do a fight scene in absolute darkness, I mean, it's astonishing. And that is a testament to the stunt team who are just, like, unreal. I don't understand how that scene was completed. And then you've got to sneak in a roly-poly. Yeah, definitely. I was like, wait, can I just suggest something? Roly-poly down the whole corridor? They'd never be able to shoot you. Squibs? Rob, thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to subscribe and click the bell icon to keep up to date. You can listen to my Radio 1 movies and TV podcast, Screen Time, on BBC Sounds. And you can find these interviews in full on BBC iPlayer by searching Movies with Ali Plumb.