From his iconic portrayal of a lovestruck vampire in the “Twilight” series to his latest role as a disturbed lighthouse keeper in director Robert Eggers’ frightening drama “The Lighthouse,” it’s clear that Robert Pattinson is drawn to playing dark and brooding characters.
While that might make his casting as Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ upcoming adventure “The Batman” seem like a no-brainer, Pattinson admitted to Jennifer Lopez during an appearance on Variety’s Actors on Actors series that his interest in the role raised some eyebrows at first.
“With Batman, it’s a strange one with me,” Pattinson said. “Even my agent was like, really?”
Yet the idea of playing Gotham City’s moody caped crusader wouldn’t let him go. “I was very, very focused on it, and I don’t know why. It just kind of kept coming back into my head.”
Portraying Batman as a gallant figure, however, is the furthest thing from Pattinson’s mind. “I have no interest whatsoever in playing someone who’s heroic,” he told Lopez. “The only time I want to play someone who an audience knows they’re supposed to like is when they really shouldn’t like them. That’s the only time.”
Pattinson sees the Dark Knight as a deeply disturbed individual. “He’s a very troubled person. I always found it interesting that Batman is always struggling a little bit, especially in some iterations of the story. He doesn’t know if he’s that great or not, and that’s kind of interesting.”
Echoing “Twilight” fans around the world, Lopez believes that Pattinson is the perfect choice to play the legendary superhero. “I think you’ll be a great Batman. An awesome Batman! Seriously, because he’s a dark character.”
“You would be as well!” Pattinson replied.
“Huh? I could be Batman?” Lopez exclaimed. “Why not!”
Variety’s “Actors on Actors” will be published in November in a special issue of the magazine timed to Academy Awards voting. The companion TV series premieres on Jan. 2 on PBS SoCal.
More from Jennifer Lopez and Robert Pattinson:
