Falling for ‘Damsel’
Pattinson adds to offbeat repertoire with comedic Western
BERLIN — Robert Pattinson returned to the Berlin Film Festival on Friday with a comedic Western, “Damsel,” that’s a long way from “Twilight.”
His Samuel is a hopeless romantic, a believer in “pure true love,” so naturally that was the first question at the Berlinale “Damsel” press conference.
“Do I believe in pure true love?” Pattinson, 31 and single, began with a laugh. “I think, yeah. It’s obviously more complicated. Samuel, my character, is a fantasist. Literally, he’s completely delusional. He likes believing in a poetic version of reality. Life is more complicated than how he perceives it.”
Pattinson’s life became globally complicated virtually overnight in 2011 when the “Twilight” trilogy began, buoyed by its ferociously dedicated fan base.
Asked about the stress of headlining a film franchise, he replied, “I wasn’t traumatized at all. I had a great time doing that. I’ve never a bad experience on any movie I’ve done. Maybe one.”
Yet this English actor’s subsequent films register as a slate of offbeat independent films (“Maps to the Stars,” “The Lost City of Z”) rather than big-budget studio pictures.
“How do I choose? It’s just to try and find something that tickles you, something a little original. As soon as I read this, I wanted to read it aloud.”
His upcoming “High Life” is with the critically revered French filmmaker Claire Denis, making her first English language picture.
“I just wanted to work with Claire forever.”
As for returning to a bigbudget franchise someday, he sounded cautious.
“If you have a big budget, you have more people on you saying, ‘Do it this way or you’re fired.’ If you keep a budget contained, you can experiment more.”
As for the fans patiently standing outside on a chilly day waiting to see him, he said, “It’s great. In Berlin especially, it’s crazy. These are movies without enormous budgets and to have people really excited to see it is always great — and that it’s still happening.”