David Cronenberg Talks About Rob, 'Cosmopolis' and Fans

At first glance, Packer appears to be a soulless character. He initially exhibits little to no outward emotion, not while receiving updates about his dwindling finances, not during sex, not ever. That sense of detachment is enhanced by the limo, which is smooth-running, soundproof and bulletproof, with tinted windows that minimize Packer's view of outside events and prevent prying eyes from looking in at him.

"You can see his soul as the movie progresses, as he approaches his childhood," Cronenberg said, "because, really, we begin to realize that the barbershop represents his childhood. It's his childhood barbershop. It's where he used to live. It's where he came from.

New Rob & Cronenberg Interview WIth Detroit Free Press

Talks about shooting 'Cosmopolis', celebrity-driven culture and independent movies

It's Day 3 of the Robert Pattinson publicity tour, an event marked by widespread curiosity about ... well ... you know.

Yesterday, he was given ice cream on "The Daily Show" as a setup for Jon Stewart's humorous effort to dish with him about relationship breakups. This morning, it was George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" who offered him breakfast cereal.

Is the 26-year-old actor tired of getting media food bribes? "Food bribes," he repeats rather quizzically. "Oh yeah, I got offered some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal this morning. I don't even know (why). I haven't had Cinnamon Toast Crunch for about six years. I actually ate some french fries just before these interviews. I had a carbohydrate O.D."

The pleasant British chap talking on the phone could be any hot young star promoting a movie. Except that he's not just anyone. He's RPattz, the hunk from the phenomenally successful "Twilight" films who's making his first public forays since his long-rumored girlfriend and "Twilight" costar Kristen Stewart made their relationship official. With a public apology to him. After some photos surfaced of her dalliance with her "Snow White and the Huntsman" director. Which caused an online/celebrity media frenzy approaching the level of the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes split.

Awkward! Only Pattinson is handling it about as well as anyone could. He's already made it clear on his TV appearances that he isn't going to discuss such personal matters. 

David Cronenberg talks about Robert Pattinson with St. Louis Post Dispatch

Then the director snared Pattinson, one of the hottest actors on the planet. But “Cosmopolis,” which opens locally Friday, is not a multiplex-ready entertainment or even a horror film. Based on a novel by Don DeLillo (“White Noise”), it's a day in the life of a paranoid billionaire who runs his empire, beds his lover and checks his prostate in the back seat of a limo that's circling Manhattan.

To get the movie made, Cronenberg, 69, had to enter the sanctum of the same kind of kingpin who is satirized in the movie.

“One of our investors in this film is known as the French Warren Buffet,” Cronenberg told me when I passed the distributor's background check and was able to chat with him on the phone recently. “One of the reasons he wanted to get involved is because he says he deals with people like Robert's character all the time. They live in a kind of bubble of unreality. They handle billions of dollars every day but they never really touch money. He felt that this story was strangely accurate.

“These days, any director of an independent movie also functions as a producer. You end up talking with various distributors and investors from around the world to assemble this financial Frankenstein from private and government and corporate sources. It's very tricky.”

The ace up Cronenberg's sleeve was Pattinson, who attracted investors and then delivered a performance that leveraged his vampire persona from the “Twilight” movies. “I don't mind the metaphor of a blood-sucking businessman,” Cronenberg said, “but by the end of the movie, as he's thinking about his past and visiting his childhood barber, he's a much more vulnerable character.

Read more here | via

New Rob and Cronenberg Interview from Cosmopolis NYC Promo

As you may have heard — it has been in the news here and there — Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart broke up this summer. 

Actually, everyone has seen the stories — including Pattinson.“Yeah, I read it,” the 26-year-old British actor says during an interview at a New York hotel. “It’s my life. You sort of want to read it. You feel like you need to read it. It’s one of those things where you keep picking a scab. You know you shouldn’t be doing it, but it’s a weird kind of addiction. You desperately want to stop.”

Cronenberg Talks About Rob and Twilight During Cosmopolis Paris Promo

He talks about Rob and Twilight at 2:50

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Cronenberg Talks About Rob at the Lincoln Center Q&A

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David Cronenberg and Paul Giamatti Talk About Rob

David Cronenberg

From Oregon Live: (click to read the full interview)

Given the heavy New York atmosphere of the film, it’s something of a surprise that Cronenberg should have chosen the British actor Robert Pattinson for the lead role. Pattison is best known, of course, for the relatively featherweight demands of the “Twilight” films, which reveal little of the heavy, internal and intellectual stuff that “Cosmopolis” demands. After declaring that “casting is a black art: there’s no rule book to guide you,” Cronenberg explains that he watched some of Pattinson’s non-“Twilight” work, especially “Little Ashes,” in which he played the young Salvador Dalí, and felt he’d found his man. Still, he admits, there is, in all such matters, a leap of faith.

“It’s just intuiting that he can do the role,” he says. “Because you’re asking him here to do things he hasn’t done before. But I was convinced by the time that I had done all my work that he was the right guy. I knew he was good, and he surprised me by how good he was.” 

Cronenberg Talks About Casting Rob & Discusses His Career

Of course everybody wants to ask you about your star, who unfortunately has decided not to join us today. I guess he has his reasons. How and why did you wind up casting Robert Pattinson?
Well, it begins in a very pragmatic way. You get a list of 10 people from various producers and agents, and you start with the basics. How old is this character, and how old is the actor? This character is young, his age is given as 28. So that’s where you start. Does he feel like the right guy? Eric talks about working out a lot and is very physical, so you’re not going to cast someone who’s overweight. It’s simple stuff like that to begin with. And then you get to the pragmatics: How big is your budget and what kind of star power do you need to get the movie financed?

And here’s something people don’t think about, which is the passport of the actor. This is a Canada-France co-production, so you’re really restricted in the number of Americans you can use. There’s only one American in this movie, even though it’s set in New York, and that’s Paul. So the fact that Rob is British helps, because he can fit into the co-production thing. So that’s the long way round, and ultimately you get to: Does the guy have the chops and charisma to hold the movie together? Because this character is in every scene of the movie, without exception, and that’s very unusual, even for a star.

So I looked at everything I could find that Rob had done, including “Little Ashes,” where he plays the young Salvador Dali, and I thought, yeah, he could really do this. And I think he’s actually extraordinary. It’s ultimately intuition on my part, and casting is a huge part of directing that’s very invisible. Making-of documentaries don’t usually cover the casting process, but for a director it’s a hugely important part of your art. Juggling all those other balls that I was just talking about, and still coming up with the right guy.

I realize I’d be better off asking him that question, but do you think Rob is eager to change his image after “Twilight,” and push into doing different kinds of characters? After this role, and playing a sadistic sociopath in “Bel Ami,” it certainly looks that way.
Well, I know from doing interviews with him in Europe that he’s not really thinking in terms of his career. He gets offered a lot of stuff, and it’s usually very conventional, boring stuff. He’s always been interested in doing unusual stuff. He’ll tell you that when they started with “Twilight,” he thought it was kind of an indie film. Which it sort of was, you know! It had Catherine Hardwicke as the original director, and it was an unusual, off-kilter vampire story. Nobody knew that it would be the kind of mainstream success that it became.

In a way, “Cosmopolis” is a lot closer to his heart than “Twilight,” you know. When he read it, he told me that he was also struck by the dialogue. He thought it was incredibly fresh and new and surprising and engaging, and he immediately wanted to do it. He was afraid, because I think he still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that he’s actually an actor! He didn’t grow up thinking he wanted to be an actor. As with many actors, and not just young, inexperienced ones, he wasn’t sure he was good enough! He wasn’t sure he was the right guy, and he didn’t want to be the guy who would bring down this terrific project. So my job, at that point, was to convince him that he was indeed the right guy. That took me about 10 days, I suppose.

Are you telling me that you have actually watched the “Twilight” movies? That’s a bit hard to imagine.
Yeah — or no, I watched about one and a half of them. I’m interested in everything, frankly. I’m not a snob, you know. I really am curious about everything. If something’s hugely popular, it doesn’t automatically mean I’m going to look at it, but sometimes I’m curious as to why something is really popular, let’s say. In the case of “Twilight,” I was watching it for Rob, that was the thing. It’s not like – I mean, I hadn’t seen them before that.

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Cronenberg Interview with Rotten Tomatoes - Talks About Rob

Robert Pattinson. There were plenty of people who were a little surprised when you picked him for the role, but I have to say he gives a really sublime performance. You knew what you were doing, clearly -- so what was it that drew you to Robert?
Cronenberg: Well, casting always starts in a very pragmatic way. It's, "Is this guy the right age for the character?" "Does he have the right sort of physique, the right screen presence?" "Is he available, and if so, can you afford him? Does he want to do it?" You know, all of those things. But then you do your homework as a director, more specifically, and you watch stuff. I watched Little Ashes, in which Rob plays a young Salvador Dali; I watched Remember Me; I watched the first Twilight movie. And I watched -- interestingly enough, I suppose, because people wouldn't expect it -- but you watch interviews with the guy on YouTube, you know. I want to get an idea of his sense of humor, his sense of himself, the way he handles himself, his intelligence -- all of those things you can't really tell from watching an actor play a role in a movie. I suppose in the old days you meet the guy and hang out, and go to a bar or whatever -- [laughs] -- but these days nobody has time for that, or the money, and so you do it some other way. And once I'd done all that stuff, I thought, This is the guy I want. I thought, He'd be terrific and I actually think he's a very underrated actor -- and it would be my pleasure to prove that by casting him.

I think a lot of people will share that opinion after seeing the film. Was he difficult to get? I mean, he's clearly up for it, based on his performance, but how do you go about getting Robert Pattinson?Cronenberg: Basically, I wrote the script before I went into production on A Dangerous Method, so Rob got the script about a year before we were really shooting. He's a very down to earth guy, and he was surprised that anybody would want him. [Laughs] It sounds odd, I know. Of course, he knows that his name adds value because of his star power, but he knew my movies, and he knew I was a serious director, and I think he was nervous, you know -- I think he was afraid, because he knew it was good. He immediately loved the script, especially because he thought it was very funny -- and the movie is funny; a lot of people maybe don't see that the first time around -- and the script was funny as well. But also he had seen enough of the now conventional stuff that he gets offered to see how different this was, and how it stood out -- and the quality of Don's writing, because the dialogue is really 100 per cent from the novel. 

New Rob & David Interview With Moviefone

Most movie junket interviews do not have hordes of paparazzi and two burly security guards standing outside them. Then again, most junket interviews do not feature a subject who is currently in the midst of a tabloid scandal. Unfortunately, this is where Robert Pattinson finds himself right now, as he attempts to promote his new movie, "Cosmopolis."

Thankfully, if anyone can handle the pressure, Pattinson can. Case in point: when I sat down with him and "Cosmopolis" director David Cronenberg, the 26-year-old "Twilight" star was relaxed, as he discussed his new film and its decidedly more adult tone. The movie, based on the Don DeLillo book of the same name, follows Eric (Pattinson), a billionaire asset manager who takes a ride across town in a limousine to get a haircut. Along the way, he deals with financial loss, random sexual encounters and an angry anti-capitalist, Occupy-esque crowd.

Here, Pattinson and Cronenberg talk about the fandom surrounding "Cosmopolis," the movie's stance against one-percenters and what it's like filming an extended prostate exam in front of the camera. 

Cronenberg Talks About Rob With Estadao

New/Old interview from Cannes. He talks about Rob at 2:58
"He's not afraid to play a difficult character"



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Rob & David Cronenberg to Ring the NYSE Opening Bell Tomorrow - August 14, 2012

 

Live Stream

Actor Robert Pattinson and Writer-Director David Cronenberg Ring the NYSE Opening Bell on 8/14

Who/What:
On Tuesday, August 14, actor Robert Pattinson and writer-director David Cronenberg will visit the New York Stock Exchange and ring The Opening BellSM to promote Cronenberg’s latest film, COSMOPOLIS. Pattinson, aka Eric Packer, plays the lead role in the film based on the 2003 novel by Don DeLillo. COSMOPOLIS premieres in Manhattan on August 13th,opens in New York and L.A. on August 17th and nationwide on August 24th.

When/Where:
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
NYSE Security Checkpoint/Tent at corner of Exchange Place and Broad Street
9:00 a.m. Media escorted into the building
9:30 a.m. The Opening Bell rings/photo ops on the trading floor

Movie Synopsis:
From director David Cronenberg (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, DEAD RINGERS, THE FLY, EASTERN PROMISES) and based on the prophetic novel by Don DeLillo, comes COSMOPOLIS, a contemporary thriller that turns into a wild, hypnotic odyssey through our new millennium’s obsessions with power, money, control, information, technology, violence, sex, mortality, revolution, destruction and ultimately, redemption.

Unfolding in a single cataclysmic day, the story follows Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) – a 28-year old financial whiz kid and billionaire asset manager – as he heads out in his tricked-out stretch limo to get a haircut from his father’s old barber, while remotely wagering his company’s massive fortune on a bet against the Chinese Yuan. Packer’s luxe trip across the city quickly becomes dizzyingly hellish as he encounters explosive city riots, a parade of provocative visitors, and is thrust into a myriad of intimate encounters. Having started the day with everything, believing he is the future, Packer’s perfectly ordered, doubt-free world is about to implode. Produced by Paulo Branco and Martin Katz, COSMOPOLIS also stars Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, K’Naan, Emily Hampshire with Samantha Morton and Paul Giamatti. COSMOPOLIS will be opening in New York at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center on August 17th. 

Facebook/Twitter/YouTube:
For photos and video of the bell ringing, connect with NYSE Euronext on Facebook (NYSE Euronext-Official Site), YouTube (nysetv1), and Twitter (@NYSEEuronext), #NYSEBell.

Full press release at NYSE

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David Cronenberg Talks about Rob and "Cosmopolis" With "The Village Voice"

 

"Each adaptation is a completely different project," Cronenberg said during a recent phone interview. "I don't have an approach I try to impose on that process because each book is different, and I'm different, and what I try to achieve with the movie is [different] in each case." He added: "The two media [i.e., film and prose] are really different, and you are inevitably making choices. There is no exact way to translate something directly to the screen. We're creating a new thing. You have to accept that. You will therefore be making all kinds of changes, consciously or not."

Similarly, another key change to the book's narrative came when Cronenberg cast Pattinson, who, perhaps appropriately, plays a young hotshot who's prematurely contemplating his own obsolescence. Cronenberg said that he never really talked to Pattinson about the film's main themes or what Eric symbolized. Instead, he said Pattinson was more concerned with whether Cronenberg thought he was good enough to play Eric. "We didn't discuss any of these abstract things," Cronenberg recounted. "You can't shoot an abstraction. You cannot photograph an abstraction. And likewise, an actor cannot act an abstraction. You can't say to an actor, 'You will be the embodiment of American capitalism.'"

Village Voice | via Pattinson Ladies | via RPLife

Audio + Pics of Rob & David's Interview With Kermode and Mayo's Film Review

During the London press junket for 'Cosmopolis' Rob and David Cronenberg sat down with Kermode and Mayo's Film Review to discuss the film. 

Listen to the audio of Rob & Cronenberg’s interview here.

Pics during the interview

 RobPattzandKrisStew | via Strictly Robsten

Updated Info on New York Times 'Cosmopolis' Q&A With Rob & David Cronenberg on August 15th

Dear Friend of The New York Times:

Thank you for purchasing a ticket(s) to the August 15 TimesTalks with David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson. At this time, we would like to remind you of our standard event policies:

- Camping outside the venue overnight is not permitted. The area outside The TimesCenter is private property and building security will remove anyone who remains overnight on the property.
- The doors to the lobby of The TimesCenter will open early for this event, at 4pm, and patrons may queue up at this time. We encourage you to arrive no earlier than 4pm.
- Doors to the theater will open at 6pm. Only ticketed patrons will have access to the lobby and theater of The TimesCenter.
- Any photography, video and/or audio recording are strictly prohibited in the theater. Violators may be subject to removal.
- This event is being filmed and Webcast live on new.livestream.com/nytimes. Video of the event will be available on demand, also at new.livestream.com/nytimes.

We will not have a live audience Q&A for this event.

We are, however, accepting questions in advance. Our moderator will choose a select number of these questions to read to Mr. Cronenberg and Mr. Pattinson during the interview. If you wish to submit a question for consideration, please email TimesTalks@nytimes.com and please include your name and location.

The Pattinson Profile | RPLife