Robert Pattinson, found in space
He takes on another risky role in “High Life.”
NEW YORK – Take a seat, “Fifty Shades Freed.”
The kinkiest movie of the year is undoubtedly “High Life,” which made its U.S. premiere Tuesday at New York Film Festival, and follows a sex-crazed scientist (Juliette Binoche) who recruits a bunch of unknowing ex-criminals for a mysterious reproductive experiment in space.
Robert Pattinson plays Monte, a sullen yet tender astronaut caring for his infant daughter on a wayward spaceship. We quickly learn that father and daughter are the only surviving members of a peculiar mission in which men’s sperm was harvested in hopes of impregnating women onboard. While Dr. Dibs (Binoche) and other crewmates regularly pleasured themselves, Monte chose to stay celibate, until his sperm was taken against his will and used to make the first space baby.
“High Life,” which earned raves from critics at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, is the latest artsy endeavor from Pattinson, 32, following well-received turns in “Good Time” and “The Lost City of Z” last year. But the “Twilight” star wasn’t the first choice of French filmmaker Claire Denis, 72, who conceived the erotic sci-fi drama years ago with Patricia Arquette and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in mind.
The original idea was to have “this older man, tired of his life, at the end, wishing nothing but (to) die,” Denis said Tuesday at a festival news conference. “Robert was bringing something I had not expected, but I was a little bit afraid, to be honest: Not of his youth, but maybe he was too good-looking or precious to me. I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I have to be aware of that and not be afraid (of ) his charisma.’ “
Pattinson said he tried eagerly to work with Denis after seeing her 2010 film “White Material.”
“All of her actors have total unselfconsciousness and really seem to inhabit their physicality,” Pattinson said. “As a person, I don’t totally inhabit my body, so I thought I could use (this movie) as a therapeutic exercise, like, ‘Maybe if it’s happened to other people, it could happen to me.’ “
Since the “Twilight” franchise came to a close in 2012, the actor has taken on a slew of risky characters in experimental art-house films, including “Damsel,” “Maps to the Stars” and David Cronenberg’s apocalyptic “Cosmopolis.”
Before signing on to “Cosmopolis,” he conceded to Cronenberg, “‘I don’t know how to do anything,’ “Pattinson said. “And David said to me: ‘ Yeah, me neither. I have no idea what it’s about, but it seems juicy, right?’
“Now every job I’ve done from that point on, I have to say to the director from the beginning: ‘I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t know how to act. I’m just rolling the dice on a take-to-take basis.’
“That’s probably why I don’t do many commercial movies, because you can’t really do that in a corporate machine.”
In addition to starring in “High Life,” Pattinson also sings the ballad “Willow” that plays over the closing credits, written by Stuart A. Staples of the English band Tindersticks.
Although he has sung before in “Twilight” and “Damsel,” “I was just trying to imitate (Staples’) voice,” Pattinson said with a laugh. “He was like, ‘ Just sing it your own way,’ and I was like, ‘I want to do it exactly how you sang it.’ ”
A24 acquired “High Life” after its Toronto premiere last month, although no theatrical release date has been set.