Robert Pattinson is talking about his “ferocious masturbation scene” in The Lighthouse.
The 33-year-old actor revealed that the shocking scene was the first one he shot for the movie and he was initially worried that his performance was too much for director Robert Eggers.
He told The New York Times: “It’s always nice to do something massive for your opening shot, and I went really massive on the first take. It was a 180 from everything we’d done in rehearsal, and I could see Robert [Eggers] a little in shock afterward. But I was like, ‘OK, cool, I didn’t get told to stop, so I’ll keep going in that direction.' As soon as I’d done that, it was like the road started getting paved.”
Robert recently spoke about the surprising number of masturbation scenes he has done for recent movies.
He said: “I keep masturbating. In the last three or four movies, I’ve got a masturbation scene. I did it in High Life. I did it in Damsel. And The Devil All the Time. I only realized when I did it the fourth time.”
Willem Dafoe, who co-stars with Pattinson in The Lighthouse, opened up to Mr. Porter’s The Journal about Pattinson’s work ethic on set and admitted he thought it was “wacky.”
“He’s not interested in craft, I think,” Dafoe, 64, told the publication. “He wants to throw himself into deep water and he feels like it will only be true if he’s drowning. Which, for this role, is perfect because that’s the state he’s going to be in. For me, that seemed wacky. But I’m not trying to judge.”
“He has a good sense of the visual, of what’s needed in a close-up,” he explained. Sometimes he’d beat himself up so bad. He’d stick his fingers down his throat, things like that.”
Pattinson, 33, revealed he would pull the trigger, so to speak, to conjure up tears.
“I would sneak off into a corner and gag, away from Willem. I think everyone feels very emotional when they’re throwing up, and it’s quite a nice little trick to get there,” said Pattinson.
“He didn’t know I was doing it until one scene where I was absolutely forced to do it in close proximity.”
Rob Eggers, the director of The Lighthouse,” admitted Dafoe was incredibly wary of Pattinson’s tactics.
“Before every take,” Eggers said, “Rob was sticking his fingers down his throat. Willem gave me a look as if to say, ‘If this guy fucking pukes on me…'”
Watch the trailer for The Lighthouse here.
