As I keep saying, I hope Robert Pattinson never stops saying words. I forgot how much I enjoy his promotional work, because he is now (and always has been) a GREAT interview. As in, he’s quotable, self-effacing, slightly judgy, funny and usually pretty humble. He was like this during the Twilight era too, but he’s gotten more interesting as he’s gotten more perspective away from the Twilight stuff. Sparkles has been promoting Life for a few weeks, and he has a new interview with The Irish Times. I love this interview. Some highlights:

Preparing to film in Colombia for ‘The Lost City of Z’, whether he’s had his shots: “Ha. Are you reading my emails? I was talking to another actor yesterday and he was telling me about all these different shots. I don’t have anything yet. Should I be worried about this stuff? Because I had been thinking that maybe I should just butch it out.”

Filming in a real jungle: “They did have all these crazy ideas involving smaller crocodiles in the river. But I think my character is going to be a pussy. I’m a little worried about the monkeys. There are hundreds of thousands of monkeys everywhere in Colombia. There are more of them than birds. Have you seen the video of the monkey saving the other monkey’s life? They may take over.”

Whether he’s avoiding mainstream films: “Only in the sense that with all the massive mainstream things I come across, the characters all become a little homogenised. And so it is kind of like you either play a cliché or do an impersonation of another actor. If a big movie came along that [has] a weirdo character, then I wouldn’t be scared off.”

Whether he’s a film buff: “Hmm. When I was younger, I was a real film buff. When I lived in London, I would watch an enormous amount of films. I seemed to have more patience with German New Wave films and so on. Now I don’t know what’s happened. I feel I have had a minor stroke and all I can watch is reality TV. I am grabbing on to the few remaining brain cells.”

Playing the real-life photographer Dennis Stock: “He has that thing. I don’t know if it’s a typical thing for actors. Maybe other actors push it away. But it’s always at the forefront of my mind: thinking you are a fake and trying to get back that confidence to start performing. There are parallels between myself as an actor and him as a photographer. Something within you is telling you to do it when every other aspect of your mind is saying ‘you’re a fake, you’re a fraud’. Dennis Stock has a sort of desperate self-loathing. He is one of those people who is so incapable of loving himself that he can’t love anybody else.”

The Rpatz nickname: “They call everybody something, I suppose. I would love to know what the reason was for that. I always like to think its contempt masquerading as admiration.”

His mom reads gossip: “My mother has Google Alerts. It’s the most abominable compulsion. The most embarrassing thing is looking yourself up. Nothing can affect you at all if you don’t look it up. People who do pay attention to that stuff think they are trying to connect with the real world. But comments on the internet are not the real world. Thankfully.”

Whether he enjoys acting: “Well, it’s weird. Because I didn’t really set out to be an actor. At school my drama teacher told me, whatever else I did, to not act. So when I started acting I always felt like the underdog. I felt I have to prove something. Fifteen years later I still have that deep- seated memory. I will probably always have it. Oh, well. What am I saying? I think that brain damage is kicking in again.”

[From The Irish Times]

Imagining the words “maybe I should just butch it out” coming out of Robert Pattinson’s mouth have given me extraordinary joy today. And Rob is absolutely crazy for not even considering getting all of his shots. He could get some very serious diseases/infections/whatever. As for his nickname… I don’t see why it’s any kind of big deal to call him RPatz? That’s better than what I call him (Sparkles) and what others call him (Armpit Licker, Edward Cullen). And I’m not contemptuous at all when I call him “Sparkles” – I see it simply as a cute nickname for a celebrity I enjoy!

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.