Robert Pattinson & Bong Joon Ho Talk Mickey 17, Future Roles & Guilty Pleasures | Epic Conversation

Where did you come from? We did a lot of weird things together in Seoul and went straight to Paris. We ate a lot of weird things in Korea. We officially apologize. What did you do in Paris? There was a color match in Korea. I think that's what happened. They said that all the colors I had in the movie looked terrible on me. So I'm wearing... Is it magneta? Is that even a word? What's the name of the color? Magenta? Magneta? Magenta? Magenta. Is that magenta? I guess we'll find out. We'll find out on the video. In the comment section. I was curious about his real skin tone. But when I saw him on Good Time, he had a completely different skin tone. So I was wondering which of the two would be closer to his real skin tone. When we first met in L.A. because of Mickey, I saw you coming in from the cafe and thought, That's it. That's Mickey's skin tone. I looked like a mouse in the restaurant, kind of terrified of being stepped on. Did you start acting naturally from then on? Even though you weren't acting on purpose. You want the job. You don't want to show too much. But you're also trying to figure out, What is it that's going to look like I'm the correct person for this job? And I'm looking at your changes in facial expression when I'm saying certain stories and trying to portray myself in a certain way. It's funny though. I just started producing stuff. Because you think when you're going to castings as an actor, you think all these little things you're doing are going to somehow influence the director. But do you not think that a director's decided within one second that you just look at someone's face? But at the same time, as a filmmaker, I was also very nervous. Because when an actor I met for the first time comes in, I'm kind of worried that I might look like a stupid film geek or director. But when I came in, I already felt like I was 17. I felt at ease. Didn't the studio give you any tips? The quality of your acting in Murderous Memories, I've already seen it in your film. In your film, The Lighthouse, the part where you go crazy with Captain William. And even in Batman, you look like a very down-to-earth character, but in reality, you look very anxious. There are some strange nuances. Maybe you're a little bit sick of this question, but how did you feel when you killed a seagull in The Lighthouse? I don't know. It was a rubber chicken with some feathers stuck on it. It's funny. With a movie like that, it always feels like you're just taking a flying leap into the unknown. There was just something about the way Robert Eggers directs, but you knew there was a certain amount of energy and rage that you had to give to it. I just always find it fascinating what the movement of a camera can do. A director doesn't need to say that much to you about your motivation or something. It's just that you can feel there's a certain movement and tension in the camera movement that you understand what it's going to need in the movie. I just remember it was a slight arc that he was doing, and I'm like, I just think... Because I think you were only supposed to hit it once. And it felt like the right thing to do. And then also, it had blood inside it, and it started... I think it was quite satisfying seeing the blood come out. And it was squeaking every time I hit it on the wall. Yeah, I mean, I definitely... I kind of gravitate, I guess, towards people with sort of social anxiety, I think, and just generally anxious kind of characters. I think that's where a lot of the energy comes from. But, I mean, I think with Mickey, it's such an unusual part because he's sort of... Because a lot of other people on the spaceship who also seem like a total idiot, and even the total idiots are looking at him going, like, you're such an idiot. And he kind of just keeps, I don't know, he keeps repeating the same mistakes again and again and again without any kind of thought about consequence. Maybe he's hiding it. Maybe he is. It's funny, I think just Nasha's kind of a freak herself. I mean, she starts dating him knowing that he's not even human. I mean, not really. Like, he's made out of stuff that everyone's thrown in the trash hole. But, I mean, I guess some girls do like that. And, in fact, the girls here like me. Also, she can't even tell the difference. She can't tell the difference between a guy who's suddenly totally different. And she's like, cool, I like this. I think, yeah, maybe that. I think probably the whole sequence at the end. I mean, I don't want to give away spoilers. Actually, no, probably when they're literally fighting against each other. Because I think, in general, I will do a take and I want to do the next take totally different. Because then I feel if I'm repeating myself, then I'm always afraid the director's going to see it as fake. Because you're kind of, suddenly the illusion is broken. I wanted to feel like, oh, it's just coming out of you or whatever. Because of the technique we're using to play against yourself, I had to be much more specific and decisive about saying, okay, this is the take we're going to do. We had to decide the take right there and then. And I felt deeply uncomfortable about saying, you know, I guess this one. And then to repeat it afterwards, it always really scared me. So probably, yeah, when we're like, the two characters are fighting against each other, that was probably the scariest thing. Actually, on set editor, we have. Was it a little bit helpful to you? Or sometimes it's disturbing? No, I thought it was great, especially for this. I don't even know if I'd be able to do it. Because you kind of, especially for things which are really just physical, and you're playing two different parts and you don't even have dialogue to separate them. Because sometimes you think you're doing something with your face, but it's not the right thing at all. And you can just slightly change it, and then it suddenly looks way more like 18 or 17. I just enjoy it. I just push the button. No, you were so organized about everything. It was like, yeah, I was just going like, I didn't even know what I was doing. I was just doing, I was just trying to make you laugh. Like, I love this scene. Split, kind of. Yeah, I love that movie. It's funny, because when I first read the script, I was thinking like, oh yeah, you just played two different parts. Because they were so distinctly written. But then when you get that, the issue is, you have a girlfriend in it, and you have a love interest, and you have to conceivably be the same guy. You can't just have a different accent all of a sudden. So it's kind of how to calibrate that differentiation. And actually, You know, when you're going to bed at night, and you have the voice in your head saying like, why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that? Oh, you're such an idiot. But by the morning, when he falls asleep, by the morning, that person's gone. And I kind of feel like that's 18. But a personification of that, so he's not only a voice in your head, but it's a guy who's screaming at you and punching you in the face. No, definitely. I mean, you always say this, but you'd like to have this evil to win. Stop punching everyone. That's like my worst nightmare. Everyone does have that. You just have to get drunk. When did you wake up and decide, I'm going to be a director? Did you see something that inspired you? When I was nine years old. Nine? Yeah, I watched this man's movie. You were watching a Hitchcock movie at nine? Yeah. Which one did you see first? This movie, Psycho. You watched it at nine? Broadcasted in the TV, maybe. Recently, Rob, I think I saw your list of your all-time best movies on the internet. One of those lists overlaps with mine. Oh, really? It was The Vengeance Is Mine, Shohei Imamura, the Japanese movie, Masterpiece. Yeah, it's such an incredible movie. When did you watch that movie? I watched that when I was doing Twilight. I watched it in my trailer on my computer. On a DVD? On a DVD, yeah. On the Criterion DVD. I'd never heard of Imamura before, and I just liked the cover of the DVD. Because I remember I used to always go to Amoeba Records. They had such a good DVD section. Second floor. Now it's changed. The structure changed. But I remember going to shoot Twilight, and I'm pretty sure it was such a long time ago, I don't even think there was an iTunes store and stuff. So I went with a bunch of DVDs to watch on the shoot. And I watched that. I remember I had a lot of time in my trailer. You had not so much information about the movie or filmmaker at the time, just watched the film. And I was like, this is so shocking. And one of the best performances I've ever seen. And the ending. I remember going back, I had to shoot a scene afterwards, and I was so stunned by that ending. And it had such a profound effect on me. And I was like, I couldn't believe just throwing the bones up, and then the freeze frame on the bones, and then reacting to... His father. Yeah. And there's so many lines. I remember so many lines. It's a really crazy story. It's a story based on the real case in Japan. It's a story about a serial killer. And I was also influenced by that movie when I was preparing Memories of Murder. Because Memories of Murder is also based on the true story. I met many people related to that murder case. For example, detectives and journalists. But the person I couldn't meet was the killer. Because the killer wasn't caught, I had no choice but to be inspired by the movie. And the person in Vengeance is Mine is a real killer. So I was inspired a lot. It reminds me of your work where it's kind of like... He just makes these decisions which are just absolutely crazy. There's a scene when he's walking through the fish farm. Do you remember that? And it's got an orange filter on it. Just out of nowhere. None of the rest of the movie has this filter on. Very bold and strange. Yeah, really strange. But it feels very correct. Every single decision. I love that movie. Do you want to play the role of serial killer? Lovely serial killer. I almost did. I think one of the best performances I've ever seen is Henry's portrait of a serial killer. Michael Rooker. No, but Bedrand. Terrence Malick. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. It's funny because I remember I used to watch a lot of really dark stuff when I was younger and just think like, yeah, this is cool. And now I'm too sensitive. And I watched Henry again the other day. It really frightened me. It's strange how you would think it would go the other way around. As you get older, you become less frightened of things. I can't watch horror movies anymore. Maybe it's because you're a dad. It happened before that. Sorry. But yeah, maybe it has added to it. But it's strange. I get very, very, very frightened. What did I watch the other day? I had to do a meeting with the director and he'd done this horror movie. And I watched it and I kept thinking that someone was breaking into my house. And so I was sitting on my sofa with two kitchen knives waiting for the person to come in. And then I fell asleep with them basically in my neck on the couch. And my girlfriend came in and she was like, what is happening? Why do you have two knives in your face? And you're sleeping. Yeah, I was probably a squirrel. I think there's something about... I mean, I guess a musical could be done in a multitude of different ways. But there's something... When you see movie musicals and there's something about like when the song is about to start and then suddenly they're pushing me. There is always a moment of the song begins. And then suddenly the song starts. I think that's when it's really hard to endure. I'm just talking comfortably and then suddenly... I think I'm going crazy. I think it's a little easier if you just keep singing from start to finish. Have you ever sang and danced in your career? I seem to be in almost every movie. There's some moment where they're like, okay, now here's the dancing scene. Except for Mickey. The amount of times... And my equivalent of Mickey's life where you're just like a living hell every day. You danced during Batman? No, I don't think there was a part in Batman. But almost every movie. And everyone's like... Especially if there's a writer director and they're like, okay, they've just written... And it's like, yeah, and they dance. And it just seems totally normal if you're like a person who dances. Like I did this movie with Lynne Ramsey and she's a really good dancer. And Jennifer Lawrence, really good dancer. And they just find it so easy and they're like, just dance. Just music playing, just dance. And I'm like, I'm telling you I'm going to have a mental breakdown when this happens. We need to either choreograph it or cut it. And they're like, no, just dance. Stop being a little freak. And it came to the day and I was sweating so much. The insides of my trousers were wet. That's a little exaggeration. I would love to do something like that. The opening of that movie is one of my favorite things I've ever seen. Maybe drop as an Italian. What I'm attracted to doing as an actor is I always want to do the most complicated parts most of the time. And what I want to watch as an audience member is always love stories. I love rom-coms. But it's funny, everyone's so afraid of doing them. Because it's very difficult to come up with a concept that will feel like, I don't know. Because it's like, what are you going to do? You literally have people sending each other texts on Tinder or whatever. I used to be like, I kept sending her an aubergine emoji again and again and again. She never responds. Do you have a guilty pleasure movie? Do you remember the movie called Pitch Black? Sci-fi movie. Oh, yeah, yeah. With Vin Diesel. Yeah, Vin Diesel. Such a good movie. Yeah. Our poster, Mickey 17 poster, the background color is quite similar to, slightly similar to Fantastic Mr. Fox and Lufthansa. I always watch Braveheart. Braveheart, man. Matt Gibson. It's not even a guilty pleasure. I literally like, freedom! I mean, just literally, it gets me every single time. It's more my birthday movie than my guilty pleasure movie. I think his Scottish accent, he's really, he has a good Scottish accent. I mean, I find Scottish accent so difficult to do. Sean Connolly. Yeah. He played a game of two for dare. I just like the sound. I've actually never been to Pittsburgh, but I like the sound of, I like the name of the city. It's crazy. I've lived in America for like 20 years, and I don't know anything about America. I don't know. Well, maybe it is. Who knows? That was the one thing, I remember you talking to a Korean interviewer about Premier League football, and I just felt so embarrassed. It's like, I wish, I wish I could be with the guys and like talk about sports. But like, I don't know. You were talking to me about... I like football. The only thing I know is like conspiracy theories on Reddit.