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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Cronenberg Gives 'Cosmopolis' Post-Production Update

UPDATE 12/5: Added Cronenberg talking Rob to Moviefone & MTV 12/6:

Watch on YouTube or below.



Your casting of Robert Pattinson in 'Cosmopolis,' someone whose acting might not be as critically lauded as Mortensen's, was obviously a well-thought-out decision, then.
Well, Keira's acting doesn't always get praise from high-brow critics, either. I would use that parallel. You have a young actor who's found success with a franchise just like Keira did with 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' who's underrated because of that. In each case, they're too pretty and too successful so people are jealous. As a result, people assume that they can't possibly be good actors.

So what was the exact motivation for casting Pattinson in 'Cosmopolis'?
He's the right age, he's got the right screen presence, and when I looked at his other work I thought he'd be really interesting for the role. Casting is a black art – it's a bit mysterious how you come to these things – and it's subjective, too, of course. As a director, there are no rules to guide you. You have to go with your gut, ultimately.



After heavily promoting A Dangerous Method (and Rob) in the last few weeks, David Cronenberg tells The Playlist he's taking a break from awards season to focus on Cosmopolis:


Cronenberg said he's finishing the sound mix in France because the film is financed as a Canada-France co-production. "The movie will be done sometime in January, but it won't be released for about a year, this time next year," he projected. "Robert Pattinson is brilliant in it." No whether or no Cronenberg means the film won't be released theatrically or hit the festival circuit until next fall is unclear, so we'll just have to wait and see.


Read the rest at The Playlist.


New York Magazine also talked to Cronenberg:


What was it about Robert Pattinson that made you think he was the right guy for the lead?

He's the right age. He looks right. He looks good in a suit. He looks like he could be a young, tough, billionaire. And I've actually thought he was quite a good actor who was very underrated in a similar way to Keira Knightley, I think, when I was thinking of her for Dangerous Method. Both of them have had great financial success and are stars based on franchises, but of course to do that you have to have a kind of screen charisma, you have to have a presence, which you can't buy or create; you either have it or you don't. That doesn't mean you're necessarily a good actor, though. But you have at least that. I looked at all the stuff that he's done, and I thought he's a really good actor. And then I spoke to him, and thought not only that, but he's a really smart actor. And he's funny, and he's very sweet. That’s when I tried to convince him to do the movie, which he was a little afraid of, just because I think he doesn't know how good he is, basically. And I think now that he's done the movie, he's starting to understand how good he is. Because he's terrific. 


The director goes on to tell a cute story about Rob's love for everything cinematic. This is an excellent read at New York Magazine. Don't miss! 

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