Robert Pattinson Talks About The Paparazzi with LA Times

LA Times interviewed Robert Pattinson and director David Cronenberg for their film Cosmopolis recently. Obviously, Rob did not want to talk about his personal life, but he did speak about the tabloids.

“Media culture is a monstrous thing,” Pattinson lamented Wednesday afternoon, jamming fries into his mouth between puffs on his electronic cigarette. “You can’t win. The annoying thing is that you can’t attack them, but you can’t defend yourself. The best thing you could possibly do is punch a paparazzi and give them their big payday.”

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The nerves are somewhat surprising, considering Pattinson’s part in “Cosmopolis” doesn’t seem all that distant from his own life. Like his character in the film — who remains isolated in a limousine for hours as he slowly traverses Manhattan to get a haircut — Pattinson said that since “Twilight” opened, he has “had four years of gradually being put more and more into smaller and smaller boxes, and you have a desire to break out.” He’s also a part of the 1% — according to Forbes, he earned $12.5 million for the last two “Twilight” pictures — a number he says is “completely not true.”"Weirdly, I went to the bar the other day and there were a bunch of people protesting some 1% thing,” he recalled. “I drive this kind of [junky]-looking truck sometimes because I started surfing — it’s this 2001 Silverado I bought off of Craigslistfor, like, $2,000 or something. So I was hiding in the back of the truck when I saw the protest thinking, ‘I don’t want to get involved in this.’”

The demonstrators, Pattinson said, didn’t recognize him and a friend. “When the protesters saw us, they were like, ‘We’re not even shouting at you. You’re driving this piece of …. You’re not part of the 1%.’”

Pattinson insists he’s terrible with his finances: “The only thing I’m good at with money is blowing it. I don’t even understand [what I spend it on]. I have the exact same lifestyle as when I was 15.”

“Look at the way he dresses,” chimed in Cronenberg, alluding to Pattinson’s informal, almost frat-boy get-up of a polo shirt, jeans and backward cap.

The actor said he feels a pressure to appear “unbearably conservative” because he senses his every move is being scrutinized. He says he’d like for bankers to be hunted by paparazzi and TMZ instead, but knows that’s unrealistic.

“The tabloid industry does terrible, terrible things for the world. It makes people stupid,” he said, his cheeks flushing. “People say [tabloids] are about escapism, and people have got to get away from the misery of the world. It’s like, ‘No, people are lazy, and they don’t want to try.’ … Every time I’ve looked at a magazine like that, I’ve regretted it. I gain absolutely nothing from it. And neither does anyone else.”

Read the entire interview at LATimes

Category: Cosmopolis, Robert Pattinson