I don’t know about you, but after seeing Netflix’s The Devil All The Time, whenever I hear “delusions,” it will forever play in my head exactly as Robert Pattinson’s reverend character says it. The actor really went for it with a bold performance in the drama also starring Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan and IT’s Pennywise, Bill Skarsgård, making for a particularly memorable role for the Twilight actor ahead of his turn as the Batman.
Since the Antonio Campos film dropped on the streaming platform, viewers of the film have been talking all about Robert Pattinson’s role-- especially since he debuted a Southern accent which he wasn’t coached for and reportedly kept from the director until the camera’s started rolling. The actor recently explained his mindset going into the role with these words:
Some people like watching skateboarding videos where they can do the trick and other people like watching them when they fall off and crash. I think I’m more of the watching people fall and crash type of person. And I want to be that kind of actor… the one who bombs or gets as close to bombing as possible.
Now, keep in mind Robert Pattinson’s specific personality here as you read it over. The Twilight actor is regularly a joker and a bit self-deprecating, but there is definitely something to be taken away by these words in association to his Devil All The Time role. He doesn’t mind going for the more adventurous choices when it comes to a performance like this one and that’s perhaps purposeful, because he finds entertainment himself in watching that kind of adrenaline on screen.
While speaking with Antonio Campos for Netflix Film Club, the actor talked about this newfound freedom he’s found with his work in recent years when he learned how to have fun again. As he discussed with Campos, when he first started acting it was done with a playfulness that he lost somewhat when becoming a professional actor at first. With a role such as Reverend Preston Teagardin in Devil All the Time, he reclaims this freedom to fall. Hey, I think he nailed it and achieved exactly what he was going for, but some might see it as a bit much.
Now onto the accent. Robert Pattinson also specifically talked about what he was going for in The Devil all the time and told Netflix he crafted his own Southern draw without an acting coach:
There’s something about some pronunciations that really tickle me. And I was just wandering around and I would say something, and I was just recording things on my phone. Kind of just making myself laugh, like just walking around sets. I mean but there’s only so many times you can actually – you kind of have to be walking with like a friend to be able to be like, ‘I just want to do this thing. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense.’ It’s coming from somewhere.
It’s kind of refreshing to hear Robert Pattinson’s methods actually. So often do we hear all this serious preparation actors are doing to look and sound like their characters. But, the Twilight actor really just had fun making it his own and playing around with the twisted preacher character.
What did you think of Robert Pattinson’s performance in Devil All the Time and his “crash and burn” methods? Vote in our poll below, check out our review of the movie.
This poll is no longer available.
