Pattinson Relives Three-Hour First Meeting with Christopher Nolan: ‘I Was Going to Pass Out’
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Robert Pattinson read the “Tenet” script while locked in a room under a lot of security supervision, but that kind of pressure was nothing compared to his first meeting with director Christopher Nolan. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pattinson reveals his first meeting with the prolific director lasted three hours. The actor went into the meeting not knowing why Nolan requested his presence.
“I went to meet him, and we kind of talked for three hours, and I have no idea what I’m meeting for, what the subject is,” Pattinson said. “I was actually going back through his filmography to kind of try and predict what sort of genre he would go into next. And then, after hours of talking, he finally kind said in the last two minutes, ‘So, I’ve been writing this thing and would you like to come back and read it?'”
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That’s the extent to which Nolan mentioned “Tenet” to Pattinson during their three-hour meeting. The actor would not reveal what else they discussed, although the conversation went on for so long that Pattinson was exhausted to the point of nearly passing out. Pattinson at one point requested to have a snack since the meeting was lasting so long, and at the time he thought that might cost him the job.
“There was this pack of chocolates on the table,” Pattinson said. “I had a massive blood sugar drop by the end of this conversation. I thought I was going to pass out because we’d been talking so much. I was trying to concentrate so much. Finally, I asked for one of the chocolates and he immediately ended the meeting. I was like, oh my god, I fucked it up.”
Pattinson stars in “Tenet” as an operative character named Neil, although not even Nolan will confirm the name. As the director told EW, “Rob plays a character called Neil in the film — or we think may be called Neil. You never really quite know what’s going on with these identities. But he’s the very definition of a fantastic supporting character. He’s a very important character to this film, but he’s very much in support of John David’s character.”
Warner Bros. is opening “Tenet” in theaters nationwide July 31.
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