I promised warmth and joy – and there’s nothing that represents warmth and joy like finger and hand hearts, especially when they come from the most unlikely person to give finger and hand hearts!
Robert Pattinson is in South Korea with Director Bong Joon-ho to kick off promotional activities for Mickey 17. For all the times that he’s travelled the world on press tours, this is Robert’s first time in SK. And he’s finding out that when in SK, you do as Koreans do. Many major movie stars before him have had a similar experience, from Tom Cruise to Ryan Reynolds and more. Which is that when you’re posing for photos, you do aegyo.
Aegyo is Korean for being cutesy, some might say corny. Here he is making a hand heart with Director Bong at the photo call…
— robert pattinson gifs (@pattinsongifs) January 20, 2025
…and again at the premiere in Seoul tonight.
Robert Pattinson and Bong Joon-ho at the ‘MICKEY 17’ premiere in Seoul pic.twitter.com/XMs2kqBBli
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) January 20, 2025
He wasn’t quite as successful with the finger hearts, LOL FOREVER.
— robert pattinson gifs (@pattinsongifs) January 20, 2025
The reason I find this so amusing is that, well, as we’ve seen over the years, Robert Pattinson is easily mortified. So I can imagine what was going through his mind when he was compelled to aegyo. This is not to say he was forced to – it’s more like, when you’re there, you go with a certain flow. But also… also as we’ve seen over the years, in general where celebrities are concerned, they behave differently when they’re overseas. Here’s an example: as IF Robert Pattinson would stop and sign for fans at LAX.
When it’s Incheon though, and it’s customary for fans to gather at the airport and greet celebrities who are either departing or arriving, and for media to be informed in advance about departures and arrivals, it’s a different story.
Robert Pattinson has arrived in South Korea for promotional his new movie with director Bong Joonho ‘Mickey 17’ pic.twitter.com/20C3qnLc8H
— ㄱㄷㅇ💙 (@affectueuxred) January 19, 2025
Robert Pattinson attending fans at the Incheon in Seoul!
— Robert Pattinson Photos | Fansite (@pattinsonphotos) January 19, 2025
(Kixx0703)
pic.twitter.com/IfVA5kP2k8
I’ve posted before about Hollywood celebrities leaning into Korean pop culture and Korean variety show culture in particular. Both Tom and Ryan have been on Running Man, Ryan did King of the Masked Singer, Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet were on You Quiz on the Block – these are very highly rated programs with big viewership, both domestically and abroad…
And it turns out Rob will also be making an appearance on Running Man but, in typical RP fashion, it was unplanned and random. Turns out the cast of Running Man (it’s a show with several regular cast members and every episode features them being chaotic while trying to perform “missions” all over town) was filming where RP happened to be sightseeing…and he ended up getting pulled into the shoot.
Show producers confirm that they’ll have him on but it’ll be a brief cameo because, again, this was totally unexpected. Expect this to go viral because between Running Man craziness and RP’s weirdness, this will be good TV.
#RobertPattinson To Make Brief Cameo On "#RunningMan"https://t.co/Hevo1xLBwA pic.twitter.com/NRfhEbSq2h
— Soompi (@soompi) January 20, 2025