Twilight: Robert Pattinson Crafted A New York Accent For His Recent Role

In his recent movie “Good Time” Robert Pattinson played Connie who is from Queens, a small-time crook from Queens.

Robert Pattinson was a guest at The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Stephen: Was it hard for you to get a Queens accent down?

RP: Um, I mean not really. I mean, it’s kind of-it’s you know, I think when you do, like a New York Movie, there’s something so cinematic about general New York accent, but if you really- like a Queens accent is kind of- it’s quite specific and I always find it kind of interesting to get some kind of regional dialect. It makes the part seem more specific.

Stephen: Was there a hook or something that gets you into a New York accent? Is there something you have to say first sort of to find it?

RP: Um, I mean, there was- well, I’m basically doing to my ear, I’m doing the director’s accent. So, I’m kind of doing that all the time.

Stephen: Does he know that?

RP: He always says, “You’re not playing me. Stop telling people you’re playing me, because you’re playing a psychopath. (Laughter) If you hadn’t noticed.

Stephen: I’m sorry, you’re going to say there is a hook you use. Oh, there was a thing- it’s this documentary.

RP: Do you know John Alpert? He did this amazing documentary called “The Year In the Life Of Crime” and it’s about some petty criminals, and you see these guys and there’s an innate charisma, and guys who are basically living from shoplifting, and they’re just so cinematic. There’s something- they’re so charismatic and that was really what got me and the way they speak and the way they move that was kind of it.

Stephen: Now, I have a clip here. You have a brother- your brother is this is- has mental impairment. He’s developmentally disabled.

RP: I am giving him a life experiences, as a good big brother does, which means taking him out of his psychiatrist’s office and taking him immediately to rob a bank.

Stephen: It doesn’t go well.

RP: No, it doesn’t go well.

Stephen: It’s that intensity.

RP: It’s that level of intensity the entire movie. It’s kind of- I think me and the directors have coined a new genre, which is just called “panic”. It’s a “panic” – if you want to experience what a 90-minute panic attack is in the cinema, this is what it feels like.”

Source: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, CBS