Every actor has an audition horror story, even the A-listers who star in your favorite films and TV shows. For years, Backstage has collected the best of the worst from today’s top performers. To make you feel a little less alone on your own journey to stardom, let’s look back at some iconic tales of in-the-room disasters, self-tape trip-ups, and chemistry reads gone wrong. Today’s callback: Robert Pattinson.
Years before Robert Pattinson was sparkling with bloodlust in the “Twilight” films, doing unspeakable things to seagulls in “The Lighthouse,” or scowling with emo kid energy in “The Batman,” he was just another struggling actor willing to do whatever it took to land a gig. And by “whatever it took,” we mean some truly questionable choices.
“I slept on the street once and ate a box of cigarettes,” he says of the wildest thing he did to try and get a role. “I came in with all the tobacco in my mouth, and then I kicked over the casting director’s camera. I didn’t get the job.”
Even this bizarre attempt at embodying a gritty character pales in comparison to Pattinson’s worst audition story. “The only thing you had to do in the audition was be in your underpants and pretend to carry imaginary rocks from one side of the room to the other,” he explains.
It’s unclear whether this audition predated or followed the cigarette incident—nor do we know what kind of project would even require such an absurd audition—but together they paint a picture of an actor willing to push boundaries (even if those boundaries occasionally include good judgment).
When we last talked to Pattinson, he’d settled into approaching his roles by “sprinting up to a cliff and just jumping off it.” While that might sound like the same impulsive energy that led to the camera-kicking incident, his process has evolved into a more intentional commitment to shocking himself and his audience into authentic reactions.
“Sometimes it doesn’t even work at all and it just looks like you’re a lunatic,” he said. “But then sometimes it stops your thinking, which is my favorite place to be.”
And thankfully, no casting director’s equipment has been harmed in the making of his recent performances…we think.