There's no doubt that Robert Pattinson has kept the press tour leading up to his starring role in Matt Reeves' The Batman interesting. And while we may now have to second guess every on-set anecdote the actor has ever given, that doesn't mean we have to discount everything he says... right?
In a new interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Pattinson opened up about the surprisingly involved process of portraying the Dark Knight, talking about everything from finding the right voice to the importance of having "easy access" in the batsuit. According to Pattinson, part of the lengthy audition process involved trying on every batsuit from Michael Keaton's to Christian Bale's. Clooney's pronounced nipples may not have made the cut, however Val Kilmer's did end up being the right fit.
Additionally, Pattinson claimed that all of the various costumes were rolled out by Warner Brothers staff dressed in Robin outfits, but knowing his track record, that bit could just be the actor stretching the truth again. He also revealed that one of the many words of wisdom Bale had imparted after the two compared bat-notes is that when designing a good batsuit, it's important to take into account some of the more practical needs. It's not just about the aesthetics.
“I bumped into Christian Bale, like, next to him at a urinal,” Pattinson told Kimmel. “And I guess it kind of inspired him to say, ‘The first thing you need to do in the Batsuit is figure out a way to pee.’ And so when I went to the costume department, I said, ‘First things first, I need a patch. I need a flap on the back.’ Easy access.”
Pattinson also went on to talk about wanting to take a different approach to Batman's voice, explaining that "I just thought because everyone does this kind of gruff, gravely thing, I’m like, I’m gonna do the opposite. I’m gonna go really whispery. And I tried to do it for the first, like, two weeks and it just looked absolutely atrocious and they told me to stop doing it.” A crew member would later go on to tell Pattinson that Bale had tried this approach as well but ended up dropping it in favor of a huskier voice in the end too.
Check out the full interview below.
Photo via Getty/ MEGA/ GC