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What is Cronenberg’s involvement? I’ve heard there are no rehearsals.
SG: No, we don’t do rehearsals. But David does a very thorough blocking of the scene before going to camera. It’s like a mini rehearsal where we work out the movement of the scene. But I feel less rehearsal added to the project. There’s so much secrecy, security and mythology surrounding Rob as a person that when you arrive on set and do your scene with this actor and never spend any significant time with them, it feels bizarre. That’s what our characters are like: Two people who don’t know anything about each other. They never seem to find each other and when they’re together and it’s like they’re speaking two different languages. And then they both disappear into the city.

So what commentary does the film make? The book is pretty condemning—
SG: Yeah! This is for the one percent descending from their yacht at Cannes to watch a film that points to a gap in society. I think the movie lends itself to a meta-critique of the film industry. Take casting someone like Rob at the centre of this film. He is the symbol of pop cinema, the symbol of capitalism. The film is about the breakdown of that.

And his character’s so hubristic. He tries to tap into this technological system that’s supposed to order the world around him, the dollars and cents of his life, the free market. And we watch it all fall—really hard.
SG: When I read critiques of the film, I think people miss what you’re saying. They ask, “Why is Robert Pattinson in this movie?” Even for David to cast somebody like me who is blonde, blue-eyed and twenty-five and normally reads scripts where I am hyper sexualized or solve everyone’s problem with my smile. He cast me as a character who will not allow her romantic lead to project anything onto her that she will absorb, it’s kind of unheard of. And there is a difference between [Elise] in the book and the Elise that David wrote. In that the last scene between Eric and Elise, in the book, Eric projects onto an accepting Elise. For me, the best part about ending their narrative in the restaurant, in the movie, is that she ends it and she’s out and that’s it.


Source | Via

The British actor Pattinson looks set to become the renowned sci-fi horror director’s new muse. Playing the financial genius Eric Packer – who heads across New York in a white limousine in search of a hair cut – he appears in every scene of Cronenberg’s new film Cosmopolis, which competed for the Palme D’or at the years Cannes Film Festival and opens in UK cinemas June 15.

Cronenberg today described the star of the Twilight franchise as “a beautiful actor who often responds to scenes without even realising what he’s doing. That’s why I love him.”

Pattinson will perform opposite Viggo Mortensen, best known for his role as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings franchise, who starred in Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method. The two are regarded as creative partners.

Speaking in London today, the Canadian director of The Fly, Scanners and eXistenz said: “There’s a brilliant script by an author friend of mine called Bruce Wagner. All of his books are fantastic. I tried to get this script off the ground five years ago, but I couldn’t get it made. In a way its like Cosmopolis; it’s a difficult sell. It’s edgy in a nasty, disturbing way. It has emotion, but it has a weird emotion like Cosmopolis.

“It’s hard to make difficult movies. When you have very credible actors who bring a lot of attention like Viggo Mortensen and Robert Pattinson, you think it would be easy to raise 15 million dollars, but it’s not.”

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{click on the image to read or transcrpt under the cut}

Translation 

The movie just got screened for the press, did you get any reactions yet?


I did and so far I only got compliments for David Cronenberg on the movie. A lot of people were thrilled to finally discover the movie. I read an article in a daily newspaper that David will be the winner of the ceremony by K.O. It's a phrase that's delightful to hear even if I saw other movies at Cannes that are really good and on a high level. We know that Cosmopolis is a big movie that is extremely contemporary and modern. I told you when we saw each other a few days ago, I recommend everyone to go see it because it has not only a great director and a strong subject but it's also Robert Pattinson and the other actors that give everything they've got, and who act on an amazing level.

A little word about Robert Pattinson, he's attracting all the attention today and he took a lot of risks by working with David Cronenberg. Do you think he succeeded on his big break since Twilight and that he became a credible actor when it comes to cinema?

It's obvious that he's a big start when you see the crowds he draws in on the croisette. He's a huge star but he's incredibly serious, an extraordinary movie fanatic and he's incredibly intelligent compared to the image the media tried to paint him with for a few yers now. He's such a wonderful boy, he's a movie star in the popular cinema for sure but he belongs in the auteur cinema too, in such a natural way. He's an amazing guy! He has looks that help him become an actor but he uses them, put them on a different level. It's all about his spirit, his heart and the emotions he has that talk and express themselves in this movie. He doesn't show off/uses his looks. He's really, really good.

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Rough translation via google

I'm 41 years and I understand what is the problem, says her/his character in the film. Life is too contemporary.

Don DeLillo's writing - and the film is very faithful to the novel - it was for me the extraordinary discovery of a universe.

A cold world, without humanity. That forces us to face the nightmare of desire, anxiety to possess everything, the obsession to win, to climb higher up, looking for a "more" is not there.

Although his character is very contemporary, mixing sex and business, and perhaps no longer believe in anything, not even art. What effect did it?

Didi Fincher is a lost woman, just like Eric Packer is lost. It's just one person, its apparent weight is actually a hiding place where reigns anxiety. Cosmopolis speaks of our need to procure money, sex, power and mix everything. A very dangerous game.

Io Donna: Robert Pattinson, who is the lead in Cosmopolis, is a global icon, a living image of beauty and youth. A perfect choice.

Juliette: I met Robert for the first time on set. I must admit that I had not seen his films. And I found in him a fierce passion for cinema, he knows the cinema much better than me. It was lovely and fun to work with him, he's a man who's very ambitious to produce and direct his films one day.

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Great new details about Cosmopolis with quotes from Rob, Cronenberg and the rest of cast and crew.

Only posting Rob mentions but you can download the whole kit here

CAST

David Cronenberg and long-time collaborator, casting director Deirdre Bowen, have assembled a remarkable cast, with talent from America, Canada, England, and France. The script is character-driven—much of the plot involves short, intense encounters between the protagonist and the secondary characters. The dialogue is central and often demanding. Eric Packer’s personality and psychological journey unfolds in a series of close interactions with the people of the cosmopolis—his employees, lovers and enemies. Choosing the lead actor was crucial, of course, and because the rest of cast would have to work briefly but intimately with the lead, supporting roles also required strong casting.

“Casting is a black art,” proclaims David Cronenberg. “You can kill your movie by making a mistake before you’ve even shot film.” When Robert Pattinson’s name was proposed for the lead role of Packer, Cronenberg watched much of his work—including the young actor’s role as Salvador Dali in Little Ashes—and he was sold: “Rob was the most interesting and exciting actor suggested for COSMOPOLIS, and I knew that he would bring something wonderful to the screen—maybe even something he didn’t know he had.” Under David’s direction, Robert delivers an edgy, understated performance. In fact, Robert notes that he has never felt “utilized to this degree as an actor,” and fellow cast member Paul Giamatti describes Robert’s casting as “genius.”

ROBERT PATTINSON—ERIC PACKER

Eric Packer is a selfish young member of the ruling class, at the top of the super-rich 1%. He is an anti-hero whose privileged reality is decadent and isolated. Casting Robert Pattinson in this unsympathetic role wasn’t obvious. Robert’s super-stardom perhaps gives him some insight to the pressures of success, but his pressures include the attention of a zealous fan base that might expect him in a different role. And he is younger than Eric Packer was envisioned, an age difference that influences the rest of the casting process. On the other hand, young billionaires and tech-savvy traders are not unusual in today’s society. Plus, casting Robert presents an opportunity to attract a new generation to Cronenberg’s work.

Ultimately, the choice rested on Pattinson’s talent and experience, with or without celebrity. Cronenberg found Robert mature and willing to challenge himself: “...Rob is not deluded about his fame; he understands that popularity is not the essence of being a good actor, and recognizes the danger of taking projects to please others rather than himself.” Bringing the egomaniacal Eric Packer to life required Pattinson to forget being a sympathetic character.

Cronenberg observes, “Some actors worry about not being appealing or sensitive, but that was never an issue for Rob; it was always about finding the often unlikeable truth of who Eric is and what it means to be a 25-year-old billionaire.... Rob is incredibly likeable, but he doesn’t need to be liked.” So Eric Packer, a financial god, perhaps soulless but with feet of clay, is realized by the charismatic, modest Robert Pattinson.

Great interviews!! Must read!



ROB'S INTERVIEW

Were you familiar with Don DeLillo’s novel?
No. But I had read some of his other novels. I first read the screenplay David Cronenberg sent me, and then the novel. One is incredibly true to the other, it is faithful in a way that seems impossible, for a novel that see med impossible to adapt. But even before reading the book, what impressed me the most about the script was the quick-paced rhythm and the unrelenting tension.

What was it about this film that appealed to you the most?
Cronenberg, obviously! I have played in only a few films, and none of them came close to what I expected working with him would be like. I wasn’t disappointed… I knew he would be very creative, and that it would be a real experience. And I was appealed by the writing of the script, like a kind of long poem. And a mysterious poem too. Usually when you read a script, you quickly know what it is about, where it is going, how it will end, even if there might be unexpected or sophisticated twists and turns in the plot. But this time it
was completely different, the further I read, the less I could figure out where it was leading, and the more I wanted to be a part of it. It doesn’t fit any film genre whatsoever, it is in a league of its own.

When you first read the script, did you see yourself in the role, could you imagine what it would look like visually?
Not at all. The first time I spoke to David, it is exactly what I told him, that I didn’t visualize anything, and he thought it was a good thing. Besides, I think that at this point, he wasn’t thinking much ahead, it all evolved in a progressive, organic way, starting from the text, towards the many visual choices that shape the film. It is a living process. Even during the first week of shooting, we were all still wondering what the film would look like once finished. It was fascinating, I felt like the film was fashioning itself.

David Cronenberg's next film, "Cosmopolis," may have won MTV's Movie Brawl thanks to the support of die-hard Robert Pattinson fans, but one of his co-stars told MTV News the film will be far from what Twilighters are expecting.

While promoting "Goon," a film he stars in and co-wrote, Jay Baruchel shared his experiences working for a short period of time on the Manhattan set of "Cosmopolis." Unfortunately for the Pattinson fans out there, according to Baruchel, Cronenberg's next movie might be too strange for them.

"An exceedingly strange movie," Baruchel said, describing "Cosmopolis." "All the Team Edward girls won't be seeing this one, I don't think."

Grazia Daily: You’re working on Cosmopolis with Robert Pattinson now, what’s that been like?

Denise Cronenberg: Oh, he’s lovely! He’s such a nice, sweet kid. He’s intelligent and smart; he was very brave to take on something like this because I think he was quite hesitant at first. But David is wonderful with actors and he’s a father of three, so he uses that. He and Robert had a wonderful relationship. It was an unusual film to do, very unusual. We had to do a rave, street fires and have cars exploding for this film! David and I decided what we thought we’d put Robert in. I then talked to Gucci who were incredible and gave us all his clothes. He’s dressed from head to toe in Gucci from the tie to his socks! And we had no money, like really, no money so we could never have done it without them.

Thanks @KristensLegs | via