Robert Pattinson's movie 'torture'

6 November 2018

Robert Pattinson almost "punched" his 'Lighthouse' director.

Robert Pattinson

The 32-year-old actor felt like he was being "tortured" when filmmaker Robert Eggers had him keep reshooting a scene where he was sprayed with water and he admitted the conflict caused some "interesting energy".

He recalled of the scene: "That's the closest I've come to punching a director.

"However much I love Robert [Eggers], there was a point where I did five takes walking across the beach, and after a while I was like, 'What the f**k is going on? I feel like you're just spraying a fire hose in my face.' And he was like, 'I am spraying a fire hose in your face.'

"It was like some kind of torture. It definitely creates an interesting energy."

The 'Twilight Saga' star admitted he chooses his movies because he thinks he "can't" cope with what's expected of him and he can't help but confide in his directors that he has "no idea" what he's doing.

Speaking to his 'Lighthouse' co-star Willem Dafoe for Interview magazine, he said: "With every single movie I've done, I've felt a compulsive need to tell the director on the first day that I have no idea what I'm doing.

"And I think in a larger corporate structure, people just don't take that well. I don't think I'm ever going to get to a point where I feel like, 'Oh, I'm a professional actor with a set of tools ready, and I'll be able to tell the story using whatever colours you need.'

"I mean, I'll literally do a movie specifically because I think I can't do it. You just hope you don't drown. And then when you don't drown, you hopefully figure out how to swim."

Robert went on to compare being an actor to his dad's job as a car salesman.

He explained: "When I'm making a movie, I don't think about who'll watch it at all. I mean, I do want to help get people to the movie. That's really the only time I think about it.

"There's a part of me that likes the art of marketing. I feel like a lot of actors don't even want to think about the commercial prospects of a movie.

"My dad was a car dealer, and I used to love listening to him talk about sales techniques. It's a performance of reading your audience and seeing where you can lead them. Selling something is pretty similar to playing a character--kind of."