Robert Pattinson has been talking to Jimmy Kimmel (via The Hollywood Reporter) about how his initial ideas for the character of The Batman – including doing a whispery voice and wearing grungy Kurt Cobain-inspired clothes – were deemed ‘absolutely atrocious’ and he was told to stop.
Pattinson told host Kimmel that he initially wanted go with a “radically different” voice from the low, raspy ones that previous Batman actors have used. “Everyone does this kind of gruff, gravelly thing, and I’m like, I’m going to do the opposite — I’m gonna go really whispery,” Pattinson recalled. “And I tried to do it for the first two weeks, and it was just absolutely atrocious – they told me to stop doing it.”
Pattinson did discover that he’s not the only Batman actor to have experimented with the voice, however; “I found out from Nick, who was putting me in the suit every day, that’s what Christian Bale did on Batman Begins as well,” Pattinson said. “And if you listen to the first Batman Begins teaser trailer, you can hear the original voice. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago. But you can feel when it feels right. You put the suit on, and you have to speak in a certain way.”
The voice wasn’t Pattinson’s only terrible idea, however; “One of the first things that Matt said to me — he’s like, ‘He’s sort of inspired by Kurt Cobain,” the actor said. “I’m like, Really? That’s kind of the opposite of what I imagined Bruce Wayne to be.”
The actor said he then pitched Reeves on having his version of Wayne dress in the late Nirvana frontman’s signature grunge style, but the director didn’t go for it. This led Kimmel to quip, “So you had a lot of bad ideas to start with.”
However bad Pattinson’s ideas for The Batman were, none could ever be as bad as his idea for a hand-held pasta snack made with penne, cheese, sugar and cornflakes. Yes you read those words correctly.
If you’re brushing up on the Batmen – including Christian Bale’s version – before the release of Matt Reeves’ The Batman in March, check out our guide to watching the Batman movies in order.