Sarah and I wrote about Variety’s Actors on Actors series yesterday - she posted about Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans interviewing each other and I posted about Brad Pitt and Adam Sandler. Neither one was all that exciting, and neither had the randomness that makes these features interesting. Jennifer Lopez and Robert Pattinson on the other hand...
As noted, these Variety celebrity hookups are part of award season campaigning. JLo is in contention for her first ever Oscar nomination for her work in Hustlers. Robert Pattinson has an outside shot at a nomination for Best Actor for his batsh-t performance in The Lighthouse and he’s been picking up momentum but that category is competitive, with Antonio Banderas and Joaquin Phoenix positioned as frontrunners, Adam Driver coming on strong, Robert De Niro is in the mix for starring in a Martin Scorsese movie, and Leonardo DiCaprio is thirsting for another trip to the Dolby, and of course there’s Eddie Murphy too. Even if they run RP in the supporting category he’d be up against Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and so many more major names. But I like that he’s out there letting people know that he’s down. That he’s willing to participate. And here he is fireside chatting with JLo, telling her that he saw Hustlers in the theatre, that he’s a fan of The Cell, and talking to her about wanting to play a ballerina.
Like I said, the Variety Actors on Actors series is best when it’s two people you least expect, when it’s two people you never would have thought to want to watch interacting with each other. And even though the snarky side of me might have been inclined to think that RP would have preferred to be paired with Brad Pitt, the way Zac Efron used to reverently friend-wish himself at Leonardo DiCaprio, for what would have been an excruciatingly boring conversation between a veteran actor and a fanboy actor, this is exactly the right matchup for Robert because if there’s anyone who would respect his work in Twilight, it’s the woman who starred in Maid in Manhattan. JLo is never going to judge. JLo understands the choices people make in the business. And she was interested in his Twilight experience, even though she mischaracterised it as a big budget experience and when he explained that, initially at least, Twilight was supposed to be this niche thing, she got it right away. “Lost Boys?” That’s an underrated skill and she doesn’t get enough credit for this. Jennifer Lopez, THE JLo, can find a way to relate. I mean she’s a cultural phenomenon but there’s always been a part of her image that feels human and tangible. In this case, she’s there as a 30 year veteran of the business respecting Robert Pattinson and coming to him with curiosity and appreciation. I especially like the part where he, very astutely, talks about Method acting:
”I always say about people doing Method acting, you only ever see people doing Method when they’re playing an a–hole. You never see someone just being lovely to everyone going, “I’m really deep in character.”
She laughs. It’s true and she laughs. She says she never thought about it that way but he’s right. And he is. Method acting is an excuse when people are being dicks, yelling at crew members for getting in their eyeline, or whatever it is that Christian Bale popped off about a few years ago. Are we gonna call it method acting when Emily Blunt is sweet to everyone on and off the set of Mary Poppins?
That said, because JLo is JLo, and even though their conversation is mostly serious, there’s a moment where she brings out the other side, in a cute big sister way - she calls him “Bobby”. Lololololol. To JLo, Robert Pattinson is “Bobby”. Whoever interviews him next should ask him about this. We know you normally go by “Rob” so is JLo the only one who can call you “Bobby”?
Click here to watch or read JLo’s interview with Bobby at Variety.
Attached - Jennifer Lopez out in New York the other day.
