Robert Pattinson has admitted that a dancing scene in his upcoming sci-fi film Mickey 17 pushed him to his limits, even causing what he called a “mental breakdown.”
The Twilight star sat down with director Bong Joon-Ho to promote the film, where he revealed his ongoing struggle with dance scenes on set.
In a conversation with GQ, he said. “It seems to be in almost every movie, apart from Mickey 17, there’s some moment where they’re like, ‘Now here’s the dancing scene.’”
Pattinson compared the experience to his character’s struggles in the film.
He added, “Dancing on set was my equivalent of Mickey’s life, where you’re just like living a hell every day.”
He also recalled a similar challenge while working on his upcoming film Die, My Love, directed by Lynne Ramsay and starring alongside Jennifer Lawrence.
He said, “I did this movie with Lynne Ramsay, and she’s a really good dancer. And Jennifer Lawrence is a really good dancer.”
When the day finally came, Pattinson admitted he was so nervous that he started sweating uncontrollably.
He also shared that he actually begged director Lynne Ramsay to either cut or choreograph a specific scene because he was genuinely worried about it.
However, Ramsay and Lawrence, both skilled dancers, refused to budge.
Recalling the moment, the Tenet actor said, “I was like, ‘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.’”
“It came to the day, and I was sweating so much, the insides of my trousers, with sweat, were wet.”
While promoting the film, Pattinson admitted he would have been scared of taking on such a role in the past.
“This is a role that I would have been probably quite afraid of a few years ago,” he told PA Agency.
He added, “But I’m approaching my job as a practice. Every job I do, I try to get better, and it’s kind of trial and error.”
“I’m taking it easy on myself and trying to have as much fun and stay as present as possible. And I’m just loving the journey.”
In Mickey 17, Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a man who agrees to work as an “expendable” for a new human colony in space.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize that his job involves taking on the most dangerous tasks, dying repeatedly, and being cloned each time to continue his work.