Why Robert Pattinson Really Thought He F-ed Up His Tenet Audition

Robert Pattinson in Christopher Nolan's Tenet
(Image credit: (Warner Bros))

Over the next year, Robert Pattinson will star in the two of the most high-profile roles of his career (yes, more glowing than Edward Cullen’s skin). He’s starring in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet this summer and Matt Reeves’ The Batman next fall. Not unlike the whirlwind of emotions that happened right before he was named the next Dark Knight, Pattinson thought he blew his Tenet audition when he gave into his sweet tooth in front of the Inception filmmaker.

Robert Pattinson recalled the first time he met with Christopher Nolan about the genre-bending epic, saying that he had no idea what he was there for until shortly before the end of their three-hour meeting. The actor explained the moment he thought it was all over with these words:

There was this pack of chocolates on the table. I had a massive blood sugar drop by the end of this conversation. I thought I was going to pass out because we’d been talking so much. I was trying to concentrate so much. Finally, I asked for one of the chocolates and he immediately ended the meeting. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I fucked it up.’

That’s right, due to Christopher Nolan’s strangely timed exit from their initial meeting, Rob Pattinson totally thought he was offended by him grabbing for his nearby chocolates. Imagine if that had really been the end of their working relationship? Thankfully for The Lighthouse actor, Nolan doesn’t mind sharing his candy.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Robert Pattinson said when he and Christopher Nolan met, he didn’t have anything in the works and was “panicking” about what he’d do next. A year and a half later, Pattinson's gearing up to play a key role in one of the most highly-anticipated summer releases. How long do you think the actor sat with the idea that chocolates ruined his chances?

Robert Pattinson’s audition process for The Batman was stressful for the actor too because news that he was up for the role leaked just as he was on the way to the Cannes Film Festival to promote The Lighthouse. On the flight he shared with Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie, he thought he might lose the role due to public reactions to the casting news that had not yet been finalized. The actor will soon resume filming for The Batman in London.

What Tenet is about is still mainly a mystery, but we do know it will center on the concept of “time inversion," which Christopher Nolan recently elaborated on more, and we have a few theories about too. The writer/director has also disclosed some confusing words about Pattinson’s character in the film:

Rob plays a character called Neil in the film — or we think may be called Neil. You never really quite know what’s going on with these identities. But he’s the very definition of a fantastic supporting character. He’s a very important character to this film, but he’s very much in support of John David’s character.

Tenet is Nolan’s most ambitious film yet, reportedly costing over $200 million to produce and featuring some massive set pieces that take place across the globe. The movie hits theaters on July 31. Check out CinemaBlend’s 2020 movie calendar for more release dates.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.