Robert Pattinson Talks Sex in Cosmopolis and "Living in the Present"

"I'm trying to hide my belly," the heartthrob joked during an MTV First chat about one of his film's racier scenes

By Natalie Finn Aug 17, 2012 1:24 AMTags
Robert PattinsonBen Gabbe/Getty Images

Robert Pattinson got a well-deserved respite today from the inquiring minds who would have him talk about Kristen Stewart, or at least have him address his possibly ex-girlfriend by asking him questions about his feelings and how he's doing.

So when Pattinson said, "I was very close to killing myself or killing her," sorry, he was only talking about Cosmopolis costar Sarah Gadon, who when they first met asked him the always loaded question, "What did you do to prepare for this?"

"You want to get tears, you've got to give me the big bucks," the 26-year-old actor said in a mock-gangster voice when MTV First's Josh Horowitz promised that there would be no Dr. Phil or Oprah talk during their film-centric chat.

Not that their interview didn't produce plenty of juicy nuggests—the actor admitted to peeing in cars "many times," for goodness' sake!

"Well, not all over the car—in a bottle!" explained Pattinson, clad in what appeared to be the same striped polo shirt, jeans (zipped all the way, thank you!) and backward baseball cap as yesterday.

And, like his Cosmopolis character Eric Packer, Rob has also shot a gun (the guy on the poster at the LAPD shooting range apparently resembled his dad) and has had at least two pies thrown in his face.

So, he had a little life experience to draw from when he accepted the role of a filthy rich wunderkind banker whose day goes awry while he's headed across Manhattan to get a haircut. But Pattinson also admitted that getting the offer from director David Cronenberg was "one of the first times I actually considered myself an actor."

"It was total luck, like a gift to get the job," he said. "I sort of fell into acting, it's not like I've been striving since I was a kid. I like movies more than acting, I think. I like the idea of being in movies that I like, so at least I've contributed something.

"I don't know about validation," he continued. "As soon as you feel validated, you're a bad actor. You need to constantly feel like there's a 99-percent chance of failure, devastating failure...You should feel with every job, there's a chance you'll never get one again. It's all about actually living in the present."

Pattinson's utter lack of cockiness has always been one of the most charming things about him, don't you think?

Speaking of which, the Twilight star may be a sex-scene veteran by now, but the Cronenberg twist in this case involved a naked woman crawling all over Rob in his character's limo during a constant stream of dialogue.

Pattinson said that the sex wasn't even in the original script and that Cronenberg came up with the idea later and informed him what he'd be doing that very morning on set.

"It becomes funnier [as you go along] as well," he recalled of shooting the scene. "The mechanics of a sex scene, 'There's a climax' and stuff. You're trying to figure that out...That was my idea, the climax scene and saying, 'Do you find this interesting?' afterwards. We're doing it in one take, you have to figure out what to do. I'm trying to hide my belly."

Probably unnecessary, but fair enough.

Asked how it feels to be getting the best reviews of his career to date, Pattinson admitted, "It's a relief not to get s--t on. I've had a lot of s--t on my head."