At this point, it's safe to say Robert Pattinson is a bonafide star. The British actor rose to prominence due to his role as Edward Cullen and, even today, he's still feeling the effects of Twilight’s enduring popularity (which he can't fully wrap his head around). Believe it or not, becoming the subject of a meme is also an indication that an actor his entered the cultural zeitgeist. On that note, Pattinson is now addressing his viral tracksuit meme, and he has an A+ take.
Pattinson joined his Primetime co-star (and fellow DC actor) Skyler Gisondo to speak with Entertainment Weekly about their new movie. However, I didn’t expect the conversation to pivot to the aforementioned meme, which has ties to Josh and Benny Safdie's 2017 thriller film, Good Time. When addressing that shot of himself standing in the tracksuit and looking surprised, Pattinson confessed something:
There’s one from a fitting from Good Time, which I still to this day do not understand. It’s one of those things where it makes me feel very, like, boomer, where I’m like, ‘I don’t get it.’
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As mentioned, the meme he's referencing was birthed from a wardrobe fitting on the Good Time set. The Safdies' acclaimed movie follows a small-time criminal (Pattinson) as he attempts to get his developmentally disabled brother (Benny Safdie) out of police custody. It's not exactly the kind of flick you’d expect to inspire a quirky meme. Of course, Pattinson is far from the only actor to have an unexpected meme go viral in his honor.
I mean, who could forget the Sad Affleck meme? That was made after Ben Affleck promoted Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and looked so sad during an interview. Also, who could forget that Nicole Kidman clapping meme from the Oscars, which even she has a good attitude about. It's funny that Pattinson is confused about his own meme, but what I really love is that he seemingly doesn't mind the continued interest in it. Check out his assessment down below:
As far as I know, Pattinson's acclaimed performance in Primetime, which sees him play Chris Hansen, hasn’t yielded any memes. Of course, the heavy subject matter may have something to do with that. More recently, though, fans did have a lot to say about the “daddy” line he delivers to Tom Holland in The Odyssey trailer, and it resulted in many viral jokes. However, in this instance, Pattinson is just as guilty. The actor revealed that he would troll Holland on set, telling him, “I want to be your daddy.” So this viral moment can be greatly attributed to Pattinson's eagerness to chew scenery.
Whatever the case, there’s still a chance for fans to create another viral Robert Pattinson meme before the year’s over. You can see him on the big screen again when Dune: Part Three hits the 2026 movie schedule on December 18. And, for those who want to see the movie that spawned the track suit meme, check out Good Time, which is streaming for free on Tubi.
